Place and People

A part of Coquetdale

Hepple Whitefield is a privately owned estate in Northumberland National Park. It has been managed for decades in an unhurried, gentle manner - a style we plan on retaining. It is a wild place, partly due to its rugged topography but also due to sympathetic past management, where shy species have had space to live and breed with little human distraction.

80% of our 4,000 acres are open access, and we are committed to providing access for both locals and visitors from further afield in such a way as to keep disturbance to a minimum. We are incredibly proud to be part of the Coquetdale community, and are grateful for the experts, volunteers and enthusiasts who we work with, and who visit.

The Home Team

  • Philip Chapman

    Keeper Ranger

    Philip has years of experience as a gamekeeper and today wears two hats - managing habitats and infrastructure.

  • Mary Gough

    Conservation Manager

    Mary manages our approach to ecological improvement and monitoring as well as the funding streams to make it happen. She also has an excellent line in hats.

  • Lucy Riddell

    Owner manager

    Lucy is always on the look-out for the strange, the beautiful and the very, very gory and is only rarely separated from her trusty hand-lens.

  • Walter Riddell

    Owner cocktail-maker

    Walter grew up at Hepple and co-founded the Hepple Spirits Co to celebrate the wild spirit of the place. Hepple Gin makes possibly the best martini in the world, but it needs to be cold.

  • Stewart Whitfield

    The Oak of Hepple

    Having lived and worked at Hepple for most of his life, there is simply nobody who knows the hills and this valley better.

  • The Robson Family

    Stock and woodland management

    Robsons have been farming at Hepple Whitefield since 1952 and are widely admired in and beyond the valley for their livestock expertise. We are very lucky to have them running our extensive grazing regime.

  • Richard Thompson

    Hepple Wilds Ecologist Guide

    Richard has taken a lead of our Hidden Hepple events and experiences. He has a keen passion for telling our story as well as recording various birds, mushrooms and wildflowers across the estate.