Rectory Barn Farm is a family-run, mixed farm owned by Peter and Anita Burdfield. The mixed farm nestles on the north-west slope of a ridge of hills running from east to west across the Sussex Weald. On a clear day both the North and South Downs can be seen easily. The farm raises free range turkeys (available to buy dressed every Christmas) pigs and honey bees, with arable crops.
The Burdfields have probably been farming in Sussex since the time of William the Conqueror, and the farm and surrounding area, are rich in natural and archaelogical heritage and is bordered by hedgerows dating back to medieval times.
In fact Itchingfield was so well hidden that it was omitted from the Doomsday Book. Also, nearby are Iron Age and Bronze Age sites, the famous Roman archaeological sites of Aldfoldean and the Baystone Tileworks, and the Downs Link walk which stretches for miles, from Guildford in Surrey, across the rolling Sussex landscape to Shoreham by Sea. Many literary figures such as Shelley and Beloc, were born nearby.
The vision is to manage their farmland to create conditions in which wildlife can flourish, investing in its people, and achieving a profit while having high animal welfare standards and enabling livestock to express natural behaviour.
We have recently planted some of the edges of our fields with Nectar Flower seeds for the Pollinators, as well as seeds for birds. Whilst our Carbon Footprint has always been Zero, we have continued to plant trees in our Whapplegate Orchards.
The Burdfield family own and maintain Rectory Barn Farm, Sussex Free Range Turkeys and West Sussex Honey