About Us
The Matthews family has been farming in Surrey since 1935 when they moved here from a dairy farm in Kent. At that time the family had one landlord and a tenancy of 381 acres
Laurence and Paula Matthews now farm in partnership with their son Christopher, across a holding of 3,000 acres of owned and tenanted land with four full time employees. Their three sons have all spent time working on the farm with harvest, fencing and livestock. However, it’s Christopher who is passionate about farming; buying his own flock of Hampshire Down sheep when he was 13 years old, taking part in ploughing matches with a classic Massey Ferguson 135, and now more at home driving the larger farm kit and helping to manage the farm having graduated from Harper Adams University.
Laurence began a major restructuring of the farm business in 1989, rationalising the farm and updating equipment; a process which continues to this day for the business to adapt and evolve with ever changing climate, commodity prices and increased costs of production.
Laurence has been representing Surrey members of the South East Region of The National Farmers Union (NFU) Combinable Crops Board since 2003 and was the Board's first Chairman; a position he held for 11 years. He was also the Surrey County Delegate for the NFU Council 2011 -2023. These positions are held by working farmers representing the Agricultural industry, lobbying and advising on Agricultural affairs and representing NFU members' interests.
Laurence sat on the Red Tractor Combinable Crops and Sugar Beet Board for 12 years and became Chairman of the Board in 2014. He is on the council of the Surrey County Agricultural Society and has been a Steward since 1978, becoming Head Beef Steward and helping the Society to run the Surrey County Show and the Surrey County ploughing match.
In 2007 Paula and Laurence established a framework for educational visits, having achieved full accreditation for Manor Farm to host school visits through Countryside Educational Visits Accreditation Scheme (CEVAS). Paula organises educational school visits to Manor Farm for local and inner city schools, with hundreds of children visiting the busy working farm without charge.
Manor Farm has been awarded the Quality badge by the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom.
Paula trained in Countryside Recreation; balancing habitat management such as heathland, chalk downland and woodland, tree planting and hedge laying with access to the countryside.
She has worked as a countryside ranger for local authority and the National Trust, trained young people in rural skills and conservation in preparation for the work-place and as a district, then senior Rights of Way Officer in Surrey. For ten years Paula was a director of Countryside Venture a National charity which provided bursaries for training courses in practical rural skills.
Paula can now be found bringing together hundreds of volunteers to plant 6km of new hedgerows in the farmed landscape, sharing life on the farm via social media, organising farm visits and managing the Belted Galloway herd for conservation grazing and the sale of pasture raised beef.