Newburgh Priory Estate: Festive spirit alive and well despite connections to Oliver Cromwell's plans to cancel Christmas

The estate and the British Christmas Tree Grower’s Association believe that there will be a higher demand for locally grown and sold trees due to costs incurred to import from Europe and a growing consumer trend to be more sustainable.

Trees at Newburgh Priory, in the care of The Wombwell Family since 1538, are being sold from a spot underneath the tomb containing the alleged headless torso of Oliver Cromwell – part of a myth that Christmas was banned in June 1647, when Parliament passed an ordinance banning Christmas, Easter and Whitsun festivities, services and celebrations, including festivities in the home, with fines for non-compliance.

Nordmann fir trees make up 80 per cent of its crop but Newburgh also grows a wide range of other trees including Fraser firs, Norway spruce, Serbian spruce and Blue spruce.

The trees are being sild up until Christmas Eve unless they sell out sooner.

Stephen Wombwell, the owner of Newburgh Priory, said: “We were absolutely delighted last year to have enjoyed great sales, selling our entire stock of British grown Christmas trees. This has given us the confidence to harvest more than ever before - with 29,000 trees currently being readied for sale, through both the wholesale and retail market.

“Last year was an unsettling year for many, with the cost-of-living crisis, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the lingering effects of Covid and the continuing fall-out from Brexit. This year we are still in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, but we remain optimistic.

“For we believe that nearly everyone wants to continue to make memories and celebrate at Christmas as best they can – and at the heart of that festive family time is a real Christmas tree.”

Newburgh Priory diversified parts of the Estate for Christmas trees, shortly after Mr Wombwell and his family took ownership of the Estate in 2010 and Newburgh Christmas Trees is a joint venture between him and his childhood friend William Standeven.

They now sell trees from the Newburgh estate, Methley Farm and also to wholesale customers across the north of England.

Newburgh is fast becoming one of country’s biggest Christmas tree growers with 288,000 trees across 120 acres and despite having success throughout the Covid years, it has also faced rising input costs to grow and prepare the trees for Christmas customers.

Mr Wombwell said: “Since the pandemic, we have had three record- breaking years however inevitably as a business, we have been hit by rising prices, with the costs of raw materials including wood for pallets, labour, fertiliser, labels and transport soaring.

“Nevertheless, we are determined to make this Christmas equally successful and special. While we estimate our costs have risen by 20 per cent, we are happy to confirm that our retail prices will increase by less than five per cent.”

The Newburgh Estate has invested in new leading technology, in the form of machinery which cuts, packs and stacks the trees on-site in the fields to ensure a swifter, more sustainable and more efficient operation.

The operation at Newburgh employs five-six people full-time but it can grow to up to 24 at peak seasonal times such as planting or harvesting.

The number of jobs created throughout the year will continue to increase exponentially as the operation expands.