The Farm
We bought Penlan Farm in 2013 with the aim of bringing a 300 year old farm back to working life
The Mangalitza Herd
Having been told that we have the purest Mangalitza herd in the UK, we aim to maintain that, based on commitment to uncrossed pedigree breeding across colour and bloodline
The Owners
After successful careers in PR and IT Hugh and Katharine decided to realise their dream and returned to Hugh’s family’s roots to forge a new life in farming
About Mangalitza Pigs
Mangalitza pigs are a woolly, rare-breed lard pig, originally bred in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to provide meat of outstanding flavour for the Habsburg Imperial Royal family. But, under communism, standardisation in farming left the Mangalitza facing extinction. When Hungarian animal geneticist Peter Toth began his work of rescuing the breed in 1989 there were reprted to be just 200 left. Today, thanks to Peter's work and to the tireless commitment of people like Christoph and Isabell Weisner in Austria and more recently Barbara Meyer Zu Altenschildesche in Holland, the breed is on the up again.
Mangalitza pigs were created by cross-breeding with wild boars. There are three surviving varieties - the original blonde, the red, and the swallow bellied (black pigs with tan coloured underbellies). They take upwards of 18 months to reach maturity by which time they will have developed a wonderful layer of soft, yielding fat and a generous amount of succulent rich meat.
Get in touch
To enquire about stocking our meat, or for a friendly chat, please email
hugh.brookes@penlanheritagebreeds.com
