Bilston Creek Farm was first settled in 1851 by Hudsons Bay Company settlers. The settler who purchased the property was Captain James Cooper.

Captain Cooper named his new farm after his hometown in England, Bilston. He brought Thomas Blinkhorn from England to act as a farm manager. Blinkhorn, with his wife and niece, Martha Cheney, soon established themselves on the 350-acre farm.

After Blinkhorn’s death in 1856, the farm was sold and passed through a few hands with names now recognizable as streets and places such as Yates and Burnaby. In 1867, the farm would be bought by John and Charlotte Witty (for whom Witty’s Lagoon below the farm is named) who had come to Victoria from the San Juan Islands during the Pig Wars about 8 years earlier. The Witty family would own it for 134 years. The original farm included the lagoon, but this was sold as parkland in 1969.

Artist credit: Gordon Miller

When Andrew and Melanie Penn purchased the property from the CRD in 2004, it had been neglected for many years and was in disrepair. A trailer, a boat and a 1939 Plymouth Sedan were discovered buried under deep bramble. Over the next 10 years, garbage was cleared away, invasive plants were cut back, and gradually the heritage orchard was revealed.

Section by section the land was cleared, cover crops grown and after much planning was ready for planting in 2016. In 2017 the first lavender crop was harvested, apple juice and cider were made again on the farm after decades of neglect, and bee hives were added for pollination and honey. The farm store opened for 2018, and the first weddings were held in 2019.

Today, Bilston Creek Farm is a family-run business producing lavender, apple and honey products sold on-site and online, and hosting family friendly public events, seasonal markets, private events and weddings.

An audio tour diving deeper into the history of the farm can be purchased at the farm shop and enjoyed during your visit to Bilston Creek Farm.