Diddly Squat is a Cotswolds farm made famous by former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson in his Amazon Prime series Clarkson's Farm. Find out more here about the farm, its shop, cafe and pub.
History of Diddly Squat Farm
Before Jeremy Clarkson bought the land in 2008, Diddly Squat Farm was part of the Sarsden estate in Oxfordshire. This area included Curdle Hill Farm. At the time, the land was farmed by a local contractor, who grew a rotation of barley, rapeseed and wheat, three of the most common arable farming crops in the UK. He retired in 2019, at which point Clarkson decided to take on the mantle of farming the land himself.
Jeremy Clarkson decided to rename the farm Diddly Squat due to its lack of productivity, as 'diddly squat' is slang for 'nothing'.
In 2021, the first series of Clarkson's Farm aired on Amazon Prime, a show that followed Clarkson's experience of being taught how to run his own farm by a group of local farmers and agricultural experts. This motley crew included Kaleb Cooper, a local farm hand who had worked on the farm under its previous manager, Howard Pauling.
Diddly Squat Farm size: how big is Jeremy Clarkson's farm?
Diddly Squat Farm is estimated to be around a thousand acres (400 hectares).
What does the farm grow?
Diddly Squat Farm grows crop and raises livestock. The crops grown include barley, rapeseed and wheat, as well as potatoes and echium. Blackberries are also harvested on the farm.
The livestock at Diddly Squat Farm includes sheep, pigs and chickens.
At the Diddly Squat Farm Shop, you can buy vegetables from the garden and sourdough bread made from flour that uses the wheat produced on the farm. Clarkson decided to open the shop when he had a particularly good harvest and accidentally produced 40 tonnes of potatoes. He then decided to buy beehives to produce honey, along with apple juice and milk from a local dairy.
The Farmer's Dog: Clarkson's pub
Following the success of the Diddly Squat Farm Shop, Jeremy Clarkson decided to open a 'proper British pub' nearby, called The Farmer's Dog. The pub was previously known as The Windmill, and was reopened to the public in August 2024.
What's on the restaurant menu?
Clarkson's aim was to sell as much British produce at The Farmer's Dog as possible, particularly British-reared meat. This is paired with Hawkstone beer, which the pub brews in collaboration with the Cotswold Brewing Company.
When The Farmer's Dog opened, Clarkson commented on the difficulties of making a pub serving British products profitable. "If I take one of our pigs and we slaughter it and butcher it and we turn it into sausages and we sell it here, it costs us 74p. If I buy imported pig meat it is 18p. So, something is wrong with the food system in this country," he told BBC News.
Where is it? Directions to Diddly Squat Farm
Jeremy Clarkson's farm is in Chipping Norton, a market town in the Cotswold Hills in Oxfordshire. If travelling by public transport, the closest train station is Charlbury.
Visit Diddly Squat Farm: opening times
The Diddly Squat Farm Shop is usually open from Wednesday to Sunday, 9.30am-4.30pm, but is closed in January and February, reopening on 1 March. While you're there, you can also visit the Big View Café, where dogs are welcome.
The Farmer's Dog Pub Shop is open Wednesday to Sunday, 9.30am-4.30pm.
When is the next series of Clarkson's Farm?
The fourth series of Clarkson's Farm is coming out later this year, with filming already underway. The previous three seasons of the show are still available to watch on Amazon Prime.