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Ferndale Store

Our story

A general store that decided to make things properly.

Ferndale Store has stood on Sheep Street since 1908, selling whatever the village needed. These days that means skincare made in the back room and home goods from makers we can name and visit.

  1. No. 01

    The back room

    Everything with our name on it is made in the old storeroom behind the shop: balms, salves, soaps, and creams, in batches small enough to stir by hand. If you visit on a making day you will smell it before you see it.

  2. No. 02

    A morning's drive

    Our rule for ingredients and makers is simple: we should be able to drive there and back before lunch. Beeswax from the Windrush valley, lavender from Snowshill, borage oil from Coln Rogers, fleece from the hill above the town.

  3. No. 03

    Batches, not stock

    We make what the season gives and label every batch with its number and month. When something sells out, it comes back when the next batch is cured, pressed, or poured. We think the wait is part of the product.

  4. No. 04

    Honest packaging

    Amber glass, tins, and paper, all chosen to be refilled or actually recycled. Bring any Ferndale jar or bottle back to the shop and the refill costs less than the first fill. The label says so.

Provenance

The people behind the shelves

Eleven growers, keepers, and makers supply the store. Each one is listed on the shelf edge beside their product, with the miles from Ferndale in brackets. Nothing on our shelves has an anonymous origin.

The shelves

The proof is in the jars