Westerhill Farm & Nashi Gold: A Kent Fruit Farm with an Emerging Vineyard
Set high on the rolling slopes above the village of Hunton, just south of Maidstone, Westerhill Farm is a third-generation Kentish fruit farm that has, in recent years, turned a careful eye toward the grape. Run today by the Baxter family under the trading name J.L. Baxter & Son, the farm combines more than eighty years of top-fruit husbandry with a brand-new vineyard and a small, characterful range of artisan pear products sold under the Nashi Gold label.
A family farm in the heart of the Garden of England
Westerhill Farm sits in what the Baxters proudly describe as the "Heart of the Kent Countryside, The Garden of England" - and the position delivers exactly what you would hope for from a Weald of Kent orchard. The name gives the view away: "Westerhill" because the land rises to the west, and from the top of the farm the family say you can see some of the best views across the Weald.
The business was founded in 1943 by Jack Baxter and his son Gordon - hence the company name, J.L. Baxter & Son. More than seventy years on, the focus has not really changed: to deliver the highest-quality fruit that exceeds the expectations of the family's many and varied customers. Today the company is led by Clive Baxter as Managing Director, supported by Farm Manager Anna and Administration Manager Ingrida, and is held to industry-recognised standards under the RED TRACTOR, LEAF, SEDEX and GRASP accreditations.
An unlikely neighbour
Westerhill is also home to two businesses that share the farmland but operate in quite different worlds. Westerhill Physiotherapy has been established on the farm since 1995, offering specialist musculoskeletal and sports-injury care, while The Old Pump House is a beautifully converted holiday cottage available to rent year-round - a quietly perfect base for anyone wanting to walk the Kent orchards.
From apples to Albariño: the fruit grown at Westerhill
The Baxters are, first and foremost, top-fruit growers, and the orchards at Westerhill yield an extensive list of varieties. The orchards and tunnels currently produce:
- Pears - Concorde, Conference, Doyenne Du Comice, Louis Bonne, Black Worcester, Papple, Piqa Boo and Qtee
- Apples - Braeburn, Bramley, Cox, Discovery, Egremont Russet, Falstaff, Gala, Galmac, Golden Delicious, Howgate Wonder, Jazz and Worcester
- Apricots - Anagat, Bergeval, Congat, Digat, Orange Summer, Playa Cot, Rouge Cot and Vertige
- Cherries - Colney, Kordia, Lapins, Penny, Regina, Skeena, Summer Sun, Sweetheart and Sylvia
- Plums - Hagenta, Jojo, Marjorie, Opal, Victoria, plus Damsons and Greengages
- Quince
The breadth is deliberate. The Baxters grow many different varieties of fruit and some unusual ones too, with availability changing through the season.
The vineyard at Westerhill
The most interesting chapter for a wine-focused directory is the one the farm has only just begun writing. The family notes: "More recently we have established a vineyard and are very excited about the prospect of this!"
The grape varieties planted are classic, cool-climate choices that should feel very familiar to anyone who has toured Champagne or the South Downs:
- Chardonnay
- Pinot Noir
- Pinot Meunier
- Albariño (listed on the farm as "Alberino")
That selection points clearly toward English sparkling wine in the long run, with a small white still-wine arm in the Albariño. As a young planting, the Westerhill vineyard is not yet producing commercial volumes, and no estate-bottled wines are currently for sale - but it is the most obvious direction of travel for the business.
The Nashi Gold range
While the vineyard matures, the farm already has a confident consumer brand in Nashi Gold, built around an unusual heritage fruit: the Asian pear (also known as nashi, Chinese pear, Korean pear or, confusingly, "apple-pear"). Nashi Gold is the pure juice of a European pear crossed with an Asian pear - the so-called Papple, Piqa-Boo and Piqa-Rio varieties grown in the Westerhill orchards.
Nashi Gold Pear Juice
The flagship product is a clean, single-ingredient Asian pear juice, sold direct from the farm. Three pack sizes are available for UK mainland delivery:
- 3 × 250ml bottles - £8.99
- 12 × 250ml bottles - £33.00
- 24 × 250ml bottles - £55.00
The juice is positioned with a heavy health-led message. Peer-reviewed papers suggest that Asian pear juice, consumed before alcohol, may speed the metabolism of alcohol via the enzymes alcohol dehydrogenase (ALDH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ADH), and further benefits commonly attributed to pears include vitamin C, cholesterol management, constipation relief and anti-inflammatory effects. The recommended "dose" cited in the research is around 220ml. The product information adds: the best way to avoid a hangover is, of course, not to drink in the first place.
Nashi Gold Pear Cider
The next step up the range is the Nashi Gold Pear Cider, a lightly sparkling, refreshing 8% ABV cider presented in a 750ml bottle. It is described as "a great alternative to wine," best served chilled and a particularly good match for spicy food such as Indian cuisine or for seafood. The standard 18+ purchasing requirement applies to this product.
Nashi Gold Liquor
Rounding out the trio is Nashi Gold Liquor, a distilled Asian pear spirit bottled at 30% ABV in a 200ml format, with a 500ml bottle also available. It is positioned as a port-style drink - an aperitif or after-dinner pour with cheese, mixing well with ginger ale or ginger wine, and tasting similar to whisky or apple brandy but softer. Like the cider, the 18+ age-verification requirement applies at checkout.
Where to buy Nashi Gold
Nashi Gold products are available through the brand's dedicated online checkout at Four Daughters for the juice, cider and liqueur, where full retail pricing and age-verification are handled. Delivery on the wider Westerhill shop is by Royal Mail, typically within 2 - 4 working days, and the farm is unable to accept returns on perishable products - though damaged-in-transit items are replaced on contact with info@westerhill.com.
Heritage fruit: Black Worcester and Quince
Beyond the Nashi Gold range, the farm also offers two of its more unusual orchard products direct to the public.
Black Worcester - Cooking Pear
Black Worcester is a medieval English pear with a higher acidity than dessert varieties, which makes it ideal for cooking in both sweet and savoury dishes. The fruit keeps very well and is in season from October to May. Orders and enquiries are handled by emailing ingrida@westerhill.com.
Quince
The farm also sells whole quince - a highly aromatic fruit commonly turned into quince jelly or membrillo-style quince paste. Quince is in season from September to November and enquiries again go to ingrida@westerhill.com.
Partners and customers
Although the farm sells direct through its own shop, the bulk of its fruit goes to some of the biggest names in British retail. Trade partners include PrimaFruit, Worldwide Fruit and Hushheath, alongside the supermarket chains Tesco, Waitrose, Lidl, Aldi and Marks & Spencer. That customer list is a useful indicator of the scale and consistency of the operation - and of the kind of rigorous auditing that underwrites the farm's RED TRACTOR and GRASP accreditations.
Visiting Westerhill Farm
The farm itself does not currently advertise a cellar-door shop, formal tours, tastings or a public events calendar, and is best understood as a wholesale-fruit and direct-mail-order business rather than a visitor destination. Visitors interested in the produce can buy Nashi Gold online via the Online Shop and the linked Four Daughters checkout, while enquiries about the orchard crops go to info@westerhill.com or, for fruit orders, ingrida@westerhill.com.
How to find the farm
The farm address is Amsbury Farm, East Street, Hunton, Maidstone, Kent. The Hunton lane runs south off the A229 between Maidstone and Yalding, and the full postcode is available on request. The farm's main telephone line is 01622 820844. The team is small - Clive, Anna and Ingrida - so a quick call ahead is the simplest way to make sure the right person is available.
Seasonal work at Westerhill
The farm hires seasonal workers each year. Applicants must be at least 16, available for at least one month, and prepared to work in all weather conditions. Applications are accepted in English, Russian, Polish and Lithuanian, and should be sent to anna@westerhill.com. More detail on current roles is available from the farm's vacancies listing.
What to watch at Westerhill
The most interesting story for a UK wine directory is the one that has not yet fully unfolded. With Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier already in the ground alongside Albariño, Westerhill Farm looks set to become one of a new generation of Kent vineyards drawing on deep orchard expertise to put still and sparkling English wines into the bottles that already carry the Nashi Gold name. For now, the vineyard is a young planting on a farm with a very long memory, and the team at Westerhill are tending it with the same patience they bring to their pear and apple orchards.