About Louma

Find out more about Louma and all there is to discover

Our Ethos

We created this because we believe it can, quietly and softly, make a big difference. We can gently change some thinking, quietly remind people of the deep beauty of simple things, and in so doing so, profoundly change some lives – not just for this generation, not just for now. The people who come here as children will one day return. We’d love to think that they will, in turn, bring their children too. Because what people will take from here is a renewed love of nature and an appreciation of the world around us. These are things that will live on long, long, long into the future. And that is a difference worth making.

Meet the Team

Rachel Hayball – Head of Farming

Perhaps it’s in the name (as well as the blood), but since I was tiny I have lived and breathed farming. It’s my absolute passion.

I was born and raised on a small family farm in Long Bredy, Dorset, loving the animals we worked with and cared for. This led me to study animal welfare and behaviour when my own children were very young. Once qualified (and six children later) I set up an animal welfare charity before returning to farming. I have worked with a wide variety of farmers on different types of farms, alongside building my own flock of 80 sheep.

I am delighted to be applying my lifetime’s knowledge to my work at Louma. I see it as a brilliant opportunity to help reconnect people with the food they eat. I believe that our farm here at Louma showcases how farms can produce high quality meat and dairy, while ensuring the highest welfare standards and caring for the rich soil beneath our feet.

Jon Davison, Head Gardener

Growing up in the heart of the Green Mountains of Vermont infused me with a deep love for the natural world and a feeling of responsibility to care for it. After leaving school, I focused this passion on the food system and spent the next nine years developing my skills as an organic farmer. Volunteering and working my way around Europe, I learnt about organic food production, permaculture and regenerative methods of land use. Finally settling in Dorset in 2018, I co-founded an organic Market Garden and CSA and spent three years growing a variety of produce for local veg boxes. I joined the Louma team in 2022 and tend the various gardens, orchards and meadows around the farm.

Jonathan Atkin, Vineyard Manager

My family and I moved to Dorset from York, where I managed one of the UK’s most northerly vineyards, Dunesforde. I originally started my viticulture career as a hobby, to help with my mental health, but knew instantly that this was the path for me.

After a couple of years of working in a traditional viticulture system, I found Regenerative Farming, and the practices that showed me a much more beneficial way to grow and tend to the vines and the surrounding landscape, which I, along with my brilliant team, have been applying to our Vineyard at Louma since 2021. In my spare time I balance being a dad with keeping physically, mentally and spiritually fit.

Joe Leighton, Head of Grounds

I grew up in a low impact self-sufficient community which gave me a passion for living close to nature and an attitude of repair before recycle. Being home educated until the age of ten helped me develop the skills to make this happen. After full time education I went on to study Engineering for several years. During this time, I discovered a love and understanding for all things mechanical and went on to work in the automotive trade. I’ve always worked in the local area learning practical skills such as timber framing, forestry and joined the Louma family in 2021. Using these skills, I care for the overall maintenance of the Louma site.

For the Love of our Land

A special walk through the woods
When we arrived at Louma we were lucky enough to inherit a Victorian arboretum, known locally as Spence Plantation. Previous owners had begun planting it between 1888 and 1901, making some of the trees, which include non-native turkey oaks, plus sycamores, beech and hazel, more than 120 years old.
Louma’s Wellness Products: a world of Bees and Rosemary
Louma’s Wellness products are based around some of the natural ingredients that our special patch of land provides. Over several years we worked with artisan makers to create eleven bespoke products for your skin, hair and mind. These are hand-made in small batches, making them both nourishing for you, and great for the environment.
Protecting Our Pollinators
We are dedicated to helping bee populations to flourish. This vital work includes installing a range of hives that attract colonies to move in, monitoring colony health, and establishing the habitats they need to thrive.
Spring Grazing
The awakening of spring may seem like a gentle period, but much is afoot on our farm at Louma. The animals are busy bringing new life into the world and our farmers, sewing new seeds for the season ahead.
The Lifesource of Louma
Water is integral to everything we do at Louma, feeding our ponds, animals, gardens, buildings, and us. This vital system is maintained by our Head of Grounds, Joe Leighton.
Restoring Our Woodland
Follow our Victorian woodland, Spence Plantation, and its journey from the dense undergrowth of invasive species to a thriving and diverse habitat for all the enjoy.
Stone Age to the Norman Conquest
Discover the deep history of our West Dorset, from the time of the building of Stone Henge, to the Norman Conquest that shaped England.
Development of Louma - Part 2: Cultivating Community
Follow the journey of Spence Farm, from a 30 acre vineyard, surrounded by pasture to a diverse and sumptuous family retreat, cultivated from a communal love of the land.
Development of Louma - Part 1: Learning the Land
When Louma’s founders discovered Spence Farm, they saw that it was a magical place to be enjoyed by many. Follow the development of Louma to a diverse and sumptuous family retreat.