The Shropshire Black Ham Story

This most flavoursome of hams is the direct descendant of the historic Bradenham Ham. The Bradenham didn’t begin its life in Shropshire, or Wiltshire for that matter; it was invented by Lord Bradenham in 1781, and migrated from Bradenham Manor in Buckinghamshire in the 19th Century. The story is that the butler there fell out with his employer, moved to Wiltshire and took the recipe with him. He set up the Bradenham Ham Company in 1781, and continued to manufacture on that site for almost 100 years.

Sadly, the unstoppable march of big business took its toll, acquisition after acquisition took place, and before long the manufacture of so-called Bradenhams was a very unimportant part of a big corporation. Eventually, the management decided to stop production.
Fortunately we were able to recreate the recipe and although we are unable to use the name Bradenham Ham, this wonderful ham lives on as our Shropshire Black.

We only use British pigs to produce our Shropshire Black Ham.

Please note - the Shropshire Black Ham comes ready to eat and we do not remove the characteristic "black" skin so you can enjoy the visual as well as gustatory feast.