Made in Wensleydale since 1150, when Cistercian monks settled in the dale and established a monastery at Fors, just 4 miles from Hawes. Considered by some as “The best of all English cheese.” The cows or ewes graze sweet limestone meadows rich in herbs. It is this herbage that gives the milk and hence the cheese its special Dales flavor. Firm and flaky, with a thick rind. Pale color. Subtly pungent with a slightly sour taste reminiscent of sour cream. Some varieties are blue-veined and similar to Stilton after aging. Until the 1920's, Wensleydale cheese was almost entirely recognized as the blue veined cheese we now know as Blue Wensleydale. However, as cheese was made on a factory scale in the mid 1900's and beyond, the white, crumbly variety became the fashion and the blue variety became extinct in the dale.

Wensleydale Dairy has now revived the manufacture of the old fashioned type of Wensleydale cheese, by emulating ancient traditional recipes. Blue  cheese is lightly pressed for only 24 hours before being bound in a muslin bandage. It is then transferred to a humidified maturing room, akin to a farmhouse or even monastery cellar; dark, cool & moist. The cheese is turned regularly, pierced to facilitate blue mould development and matured for at least six weeks.