Hurstwood Farm is a working agricultural holding of some 45 hectares. The Farm lies at the West of one of the largest remaining wooded areas in Kent.

The Concert Barn was originally built as a pack-house for fruit, and is still used principally for this purpose.

Those parts of the woodland belonging to the Farm have for many years been kept as a private nature reserve. The area has an amazing wealth of flora and fauna. Some 40 species of bird can be seen regularly. The Farm has one of the very few remaining breeding sites for nightjars. Wild orchids can be found in the woodlands, and there are many mammals as permanent residents. In the spring the wooded areas display a fantastic showing of bluebells. The woodland is managed as chestnut coppice producing fencing, pulp wood and tree stakes. This system encourages a high insect population which attracts birds and other wildlife.

The farmland is mainly cobnut (hazelnut) and walnut orchards. The cobnut catkins are at their spectacular best in February. The cover of our Young Maestro series recordings is a photo of the catkins in full display.

The stringent requirements of supermarkets, Sainsburys especially, in hygiene, construction and decoration of buildings where food is processed led to a mutually beneficial association with Sainsbury for production processing and packing of cobnuts for all their stores in the UK. We found ourselves with high grade buildings used for only a part of the year. Tests on the acoustics of the pack-house showed a great potential for using it for piano recitals. We made some adjustments to the surface of the walls to optimize acoustics and began our recitals there in 1993. During 1998 we experimented with television cameras to show a view of the artists at the keyboard. This season we have installed full closed circuit television so that all the audience have a clear view of the piano keyboard during recitals. We believe we are the first recital venue to have used this technique in the UK. The same equipment, with additions, is also be used for making promotional video recordings for young artists.

As well as the Concert Barn, we have Hurricane Barn built from fallen oak trees after the 1987 hurricane when winds up to 130 mph destroyed over ten thousand trees on the Farm. The barn houses our display of pianos.

Visitors to the Farm are welcome to explore the woodland and orchards, to picnic and enjoy the panoramic views of the Weald of Kent and the North Downs.