Bridestowe continues a long-held tradition
Lavender has been used for centuries in medicines, perfumes and household luxuries. The Romans used lavender to scent water in their bathhouses and laundries, while the soldiers used it to heal wounds and treat infections.
Lavender has featured as one of the most important herbs throughout history and this continues today. Lavender oil and flowers are used to enhance flavours in cooking, promote health and beauty, and even repel insects.
There are about 39 species of lavender but Bridestowe Lavender Estate only grows Lavandula angustifolia – the single species suitable for both perfume and culinary use.
Bridestowe’s lavender oil will forever change your perception of lavender
Bridestowe was founded using lavender seeds hand-selected from France and each year the plants with the best qualities were selected. Bridestowe’s lavender was selected specifically for low camphor levels. Camphor gives lavender scent an unpleasant ‘moth-ball’ top note and overpowers the desired sweet and musky tones of the perfume. Five strains were selected in these early years and these are still grown at Bridestowe today with the same care and consideration.
We grow all of the plants from cuttings to make sure that the oil and flowers are of consistently high quality.
That’s why Bridestowe’s lavender oil is the finest in the world.
Pure and natural lavender oil – no processing, just distillation
Flowers harvested on the farm are placed in a large drum which itself is placed in our steam distillation unit and heated. The steam gently extracts the lavender oil from the flower as a vapour. This water and lavender oil mixture is then cooled until it becomes pure liquid lavender oil again and can be easily separated, the oil floating to the top of our separation vessel and collected.
It’s that simple. A very ancient, tried and true method that produces clean, pure lavender oil without any additives. Visitors to Bridestowe can watch distillation in action on our farm during harvest in January.
It takes about 100 kilograms of flowers to produce just one kilogram of lavender oil. Historically the majority of our oil was exported for use by high quality perfumeries. More recently, the farm has continued to develop new and exciting products that showcase its unique aroma and calming properties.
You can buy Bridestowe’s lavender essential oil on its own or in our lavender products online. If you’re coming to see us, you can taste the lavender difference in our café, browse through our gift shop, and even try some of the new products we’re developing.
