Day 64. The Cheese Press

The now-disused stone from a cheese press. The grooves held the stone in place; an iron piece in the hole screwed it down.

Cows grazing on the village green or by the roadside were once a common sight. Most farms in Preston kept a few cows, and labourers and craftsmen aspired to keep a cow or two on the common pastures. They began to replace sheep as the livestock of choice following the decline of the wool trade (see Day 63).

There was little market for liquid milk. The slow, arduous journey along the rutted quagmires which passed for  Britain's roads was impossible with pails or barrels of milk, which would be spilled, soured or churned to butter long before it reached its destination. Instead, thriving markets for butter and cheese grew up.

Butter was easily made by churning milk or cream. Cheese-making was a long, skilled process limited to farms and larger households, but a simple 'cottage cheese' was made by cottagers. These products would store for several months, were transported with minimal detriment and made a good profit in the urban markets. All dairy farmers in Preston made cheese in some quantity. John Smith of Lower Farm, who died in 1729, had an incredible 1½ tons of cheese. His herd of 22 cows was the largest known in Preston until the 20^th century.

By the 18^th century, purpose-built dairies were often added to farmhouses for butter and cheese-making. They were typically on the north of the building, were set at a lower level and had flagstone floors for coolness – the milk had to keep fresh for several days without the luxury of refrigeration.

                          An intact cheese press.

Cheese was made by adding bacterial starter cultures and rennet, an enzyme which coagulated the milk to form curds and whey. The curd was milled and pressed into wheel-shaped cheeses, typically 56lbs each, then matured for several months until the rind and flavour developed. Variations in techniques led to the myriad regional cheeses known today.

By the 19^th century, cheese-making was in decline. The advent of the railways and the improved road network allowed liquid milk to be easily transported into the towns and cities. This was the death knell for farmhouse cheese-making, and many speciality local cheeses disappeared forever. 

Park Farm's cheese press became a mounting block for the stables.