5 of the best cheesemongers in the South East and Channel Islands

South East England is well travelled by many, so it’s easy to think you know what to expect when visiting the region. But have you visited its best cheeses shops? From retail destinations to high street heroes and picturesque farm shops, there is something for everyone to enjoy - and they always keep you guessing. When it comes to the cheeses made on their doorstep, South East England is spoiled for choice, so make sure you sample the local fare when you visit.

Just a hop, skip and a jump to the south takes you to the lesser-explored Channel Islands, and our list features a stand-out deli based on Jersey that has become well-known for its French cheese expertise.

Secretts Farm Shop, Milford

It takes a lot of hard work, determination and passion to become an independent retail destination, and a whole lot more besides to become a go-to for Michelin-starred chefs amongst other local foodies. “Having opened in 1977 to meet the needs of the local community, it has become an important food hub for Milford and the surrounding villages,” begins Mel, buyer at Secretts. Today, the shop is a must-visit for locals and visitors thanks to being “referred to by Surrey Life Magazine as a Surrey Powerhouse and revered by Michelin Star chef, Steve Drake.” 

Having Surrey’s largest and best-stocked cheese counter – “with a fantastic range of British and imported cheeses”– is worthy of applause, that’s not to say that running it has been stress-free. Of course, Covid-19 impacted the Secretts Farm Shop team as it did many other independents, but by thinking outside the box the team was able to evolve their offering to suit the demands at hand. “During the pandemic we started cutting and wrapping our cheeses to reduce queues and keep customers apart. This was really popular, and we have continued to do this long since the pandemic restrictions ended.” 

The future for Secretts’ winning cheese counter looks bright. “Our plans include increasing our range of cheeses and deli foods and making sure our customers love our product ranges,” says Mel. “We are always on the look-out for new cheeses especially if they are made in the South East.” 

Newlyns Farm Shop, Hook

Like many farm shops, Newlyns began life in order for the Janaways to sell the livestock reared on their family farm. Starting off with a small shop focusing on butchery – plus fruit and vegetables, a small deli counter serving homemade products from the kitchen, and British cheese and charcuterie – the business soon grew. 

“Over the last 20 years the shop has grown considerably,” begins Jo Moody, assistant store manager at Newlyns Farm Shop, “and in 2018, when space became available, cheese moved into its own purpose-built room.”

Newlyns Farm Shop is luckily to have some of the very best British cheeses made locally, including Spenwood, Wigmore, Waterloo, Maida Vale, and now Barkham Blue from Village Maid, and Winchester and Stoney Cross from Lyburn. The Cheese Room also hosts a handful of iconic Continental cheeses which there aren’t quality UK-made alternatives for. 

“The room itself is unique,” explains Jo. “It is temperature and humidity-controlled to give the perfect conditions for keeping cheese. During the day it is set to a nippy but customer-friendly 10-12 degrees centigrade, and this allows us to have all our cheese unwrapped and cut to order. At the end of the day everything is carefully wrapped up and the room drops to normal fridge temperature overnight.” 

In addition, says Jo, “the Cheese Room has a ripening chamber which allows us to nurture cheeses so they are ready to eat and enjoy as soon as the customer gets home.” 

Gershon & Sons, Old Amersham

This shop would be nothing, says founder Katherine Gershon, without the support and help of her ‘guardian angel’, Alan Hayes of Capital Refrigeration Services. “Alan came and designed and installed the cheese counter for me. It was no mean feat. The shop’s been an apothecary since the 16th Century, and the door’s only 68cms wide. Alan had to take out the window to get the counter in. Thank God for him, because this never would have happened otherwise.” 

Katherine says she’s very lucky that, not only is she positioned amongst several other brilliant independents, but she’s also endowed with such a visually appealing shop. “Because it’s an old apothecary we have beautiful cupboards, several hundreds of years old, around the shop with Latin written across them.” 

All that rich heritage has been preserved, while giving the premises a contemporary twist – from a bold navy colour scheme, to the striking Italian glass counter. “You get that real contrast between feeling like you’re walking into an old shop, and a modern-day approach,” Katherine explains. 

The counter split between British and continental cheeses at Gershon & Sons is about 60/40 - erring on the side of European varieties. “If I could eat one country’s cheese for the rest of my life I would choose France,” Katherine reveals. “I’m a huge champion of British, and I really believe in supporting small producers and farms, but if you miss out continental cheeses, you’re losing out on sales. If people come to you and you don’t sell Comté, Gruyère and Taleggio, they’ll walk out and go to the supermarket!” 

She works as closely as possible with specialist suppliers, or direct with makers if she can. “When we opened, Ballylisk was winning awards. I called up Mark Wright, who makes the cheeses, and said, ‘I really like them, who can I buy from?’, and he said, ‘me’. I’ve sold all his cheeses since day one, and I’m hugely proud to be one of the only places in the Southeast you can buy them apart from Fortnums.” 

The Cheese Box, Whitstable

Having enjoyed a childhood where her ex-farming family were fans of quality, locally-produced food, it was perhaps only natural that Dawn Hackett would go on to create a business sharing the joys of artisanal cheeses from her region. 

More than two decades ago, she set up a mobile British cheese van – The Cheese Box – in South London, which brought traditional regional cheeses to people in her local area. 

A few years later, Dawn moved to Kent’s Whitstable and opened a bricks-and-mortar shop. “It was a big move for me,” says Dawn. “I wanted the customer to feel like we were still outside with the van or on a market, and be welcoming to all.” 

Education is key to The Cheese Box’s mission. “We focus on being available to all and take great joy in dispensing cheese history and cheesemaking information, and connecting it to the cheeses we sell.”  Offering tasters of the cheeses on offer has also proven to be a valuable exercise, as has flexibility. “We open at times accessible to locals wanting to pop in for cheese boxes or platters to take home, so early evenings are great. The option of having a great cheese board and filling the gap around restaurant times, prices etc has worked very well in our area.” 

“I don’t think one rule fits all with a specialist shop,” continues Dawn. It’s been very important for The Cheese Box to stay very focused on its message of selling British cheeses and offering varieties from Kent and Sussex, which has helped The Cheese Box to flourish. 

Relish Delicatessen, Jersey, Channel Islands

“Cheese is one of those things I find quite extraordinary,” says owner Florian de Poray. “When I was younger, studying fine art in Florence, I was reading a Medieval manuscript, and found the people there got an awful lot of cheese from England. I thought it was strange. In the 80s, cheese in England wasn’t considered very good. Why would they come over here to get it? It transpired it was really good!” 

Relish was a small but reputable shop when Florian took the reins – mostly selling wines, with a few cheeses and accoutrements. “I felt this was something I could take on that wasn’t too scary to begin with! The idea was to gently expand it, because my knowledge of the market wasn’t very good. It had to be done in a slow way.” 

Little by little he’s put his stamp on the business, including closing (due to Covid restrictions) the restaurant and original location, and moving to new premises. 

Indie shoppers in Jersey have quite different expectations to those on the mainland, Florian explains. Being so close to France, “people are much more interested in French cheeses than English, as much as I try to push them”. The ratio, he says, is 20-30% British to 70-80% continental. 

Increasing the number of cheeses at Relish was a no-brainer for him. “The very obvious thing was that cheese was the direction for the shop. It’s a small island, with only 100,000 people, there’s not much competition.” Around 100 varieties fill the counter at any time, with goat and sheep cheeses continually rising in popularity, he says, adding that a number of customers have asked for these due to their intolerance to cow’s milk. “They’ve become really important.” 

Florian’s art background has come in handy. “I’ve tried to ensure it [the shop] is as artistic as possible. It’s beautifully laid out, with beautiful music. The whole thing is a beautiful experience. And that’s the way you have to go with marketing shops these days. You always have to be different to everyone else.”