Welcome to LOKKELEBERY Vineyard, the Hertfordshire vineyard established by farmers.
Choosing a name for our vineyard
Trying to choose a name for our vineyard was about as difficult as naming a baby or a new pet; that is to say a real challenge! As cereals farmers, we are used to selling our grain through a grain merchant, it is not a branded product which we have to market and sell to the public. Equally trying to individually name each grain we produce would be a rather laborious task! For the first time, we are selling a brand, and so we knew the name would be very important.
So, we did what anyone trying to choose names might do and started a list… a very long list… After several weeks we made little progress, nothing resonated with us as a family or as farmers. So we started a mind map with many inspirations and ideas; links to family history, the farm, wine etc. And still, we couldn’t strike a chord with any of our ideas, especially as they became ever-more abstract!
Then one day my mother was looking through an old document about the farm, which we had compiled for inspiration and she saw it! LOKKELEBERY! Immediately we all agreed that this had the perfect ring to it: LOKK – ELE – BERY. But not only that, it also perfectly brought together the history and stories which are so vital to our vineyard, farm and lives…
The story of Lokkelebery
According to our sources (listed below), Lokkelebery was one of three early names used for the manor of Lockleys, just outside of Welwyn, Hertfordshire, in the early 14th Century (c.1303). In the 14th Century, the manor of Lockleys was a large estate owned by the Valence family, part of which is now known as Lockley Farm.
The name Lokkelebery (although I am no expert), contains the old English suffix ‘bery’ which in Old English indicated a ‘mound’. This is highly appropriate given the hilly terrain on which the modern day Lockley Farm is found, and of course the sloping new Lokkelebery Vineyard. The Germanic linguistic roots of ‘bery’ hint at a soft fruit or grape, which of course could not suit a vineyard any better!
We debated about modernising the spelling of LOKKELEBERY to make it easier for a modern-day audience. However, with these subtle linguistic hints to the past, as well as the very nature of its Old English spelling, we felt it was as historic and unique as the farm itself.
New life for Lokkelebery
The fact that the name LOKKELEBERY was a historic name for the land we farm is such a fitting reminder of the heritage under our feet, from which our cereals have grown for centuries. Soon this very soil will produce our new vineyard crop, and we will be able to taste the fruits of this historic terroir.
From today, the Vineyard at Lockley Farm becomes LOKKELEBERY Vineyard, one year on from when our grape adventure began! Welcome!
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Sources:
- Heritage Network
- British History Online
- Word Sense Online