The Shop
Farmhouse counter, maturing cave belowRaw-milk farmhouse wheels from small UK herds, many under 70 cows. Kirkham's Lancashire, Hafod, Stichelton, Tunworth, vacherin in season. Cut to order from the wheel. Free nationwide delivery over £60.
Andy and Kathy Swinscoe opened The Courtyard Dairy in 2012 as a specialist cheese shop and maturer. After the 2017 move to Crows Nest Barn, the site holds three things on one footprint: the shop and underground cave, a free museum on British farmhouse cheese, and RIND, a cheese-led cafe run by The Cheese Bar London.
Raw-milk farmhouse wheels from small UK herds, many under 70 cows. Kirkham's Lancashire, Hafod, Stichelton, Tunworth, vacherin in season. Cut to order from the wheel. Free nationwide delivery over £60.
A permanent exhibition on the history of British farmhouse cheese. What unpasteurised raw-milk cheese is, why a 70-cow herd matters, how affinage shapes flavour. A viewing window onto the make-room next door where wheels are turned, brined and pressed.
A satellite of The Cheese Bar LDN. Hot raclette boards, fondue, toasties built with whatever is at peak on the counter next door. A short cheese-led menu that changes weekly with what the cave is doing.
Kirkham's Lancashire, the only raw-milk Lancashire still made. Mrs Kirkham herself, three generations on the farm at Goosnargh. We carry the tasty (12 months) and the creamy alongside.
On the counter todayStichelton from the Welbeck estate (the unpasteurised one, made the way Stilton was before pasteurisation became law). Beauvale, Cropwell Bishop, Yorkshire Blue. Cut fresh from a whole.
Blue room of the caveTunworth from Hampshire (the British Camembert, twice Supreme Champion). Stinking Bishop washed in perry. Rollright. Vacherin Mont d'Or in winter, spooned with a wooden spoon from the box.
Soft room of the caveHafod from Bwlchwernen Fawr, the Welsh organic cheddar that started this whole revival. Ragstone, Sinodun Hill, Brefu Bach. A handful of long-aged Alpine wheels (Comte, Gruyere) selected by Andy from the trip he takes every winter.
Goats and sheep roomThe cave rotates. Specific wheels vary by week and season. Phone 01729 823 291 or ask Andy at the counter for what is at peak today.
Andy Swinscoe grew up in Cumbria and trained as an affineur in France, apprenticing with Herve Mons in Roanne (one of two cheese affineurs in the world to hold the MOF title). Kathy worked in fine dining in Edinburgh and then in wine import in Bath. They opened The Courtyard Dairy together in 2012 as a specialist farmhouse cheese shop and maturer, a combination rare anywhere in the UK and almost unknown in Yorkshire.
In 2017 the business moved into Crows Nest Barn, the converted falconry centre at Austwick. Underneath the new building runs the maturing cave, the full footprint of the site, with separate rooms for hard wheels, blues, washed-rinds, and goats' and sheep's. Above it stand the shop, the museum on the history of British farmhouse cheese, and RIND, the cafe run by The Cheese Bar London. Three venues, one site, one philosophy.
An amazing cheesemonger, a lovely little cheese shop in the middle of nowhere. You are in for a treat. Nadiya Hussain · BBC Remarkable Places to Eat
A cheesemonger buys finished wheels from a wholesaler. An affineur collects young wheels direct from the farm and ages them in a cave tuned for each style. Andy trained under Herve Mons in France, brought the practice back to Yorkshire, and built the cave underneath Crows Nest Barn in 2017. Wheels arrive young, at three or four weeks; they leave the counter at fourteen weeks, twelve months, or twenty-four, depending on what they are.
The cave below the barn is climate-tuned for five distinct cheese styles. Humidity and temperature are set separately in each room. A Stichelton blue sits at 8 degrees and 92 per cent humidity; an alpine hard sits at 12 degrees and 84 per cent; a washed-rind needs daily brining at 10 and 95. We turn, brush, wash, and taste every week.
Crows Nest Barn sits on the south side of the A65, the road between Settle and Ingleton on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Free parking on site. The shop, museum, and RIND cafe all share the same front door.
December: late nights to 19:00 on 18 to 21 Dec. Early close 15:00 Christmas Eve. Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day. RIND cafe lunch service Wed to Sun, 12:00 to 15:00.
Phone the counter on 01729 823 291, or fill in the form. We answer most enquiries within a working day. Wedding cakes need six weeks notice ideally; cheese boards for a Saturday can be assembled on the Friday before.
For RIND bookings, head to thecheesebar.com/rind. The kitchen takes its own diary.
Yes. Walk in alongside the shop, no booking, no entry fee. The exhibition runs all year during shop hours. A viewing window looks into the cheese-make room next door so you can usually watch a wheel being turned or brined.
Yes, nationwide. Insulated boxes with sheep wool and ice packs, Mon to Wed dispatch so cheese arrives by Friday. Free delivery on orders over £60. Wheels cut to order, never pre-cut.
Yes, that is the point of the counter. Tell us what you like, what is on the board, what wine you want it with. RIND next door also runs cheese-and-wine flights if you want to taste a board sat down with a glass.
Crows Nest Barn, Austwick, near Settle. LA2 8AS. Two minutes off the A65 between Settle and Ingleton. Free parking on site, dogs welcome in the cafe garden.
Yes, stacked-wheel cheese cakes are a standing service. Six weeks notice is ideal. We sit down with you, work out the right wheels by season, write the order, and you collect on the morning of the wedding.