Cotherstone

Made by Joan Cross for over 30 years using a family recipe, Cotherstone has been a staple of the Neal’s Yard Dairy selection for many years. In late 2023, Joan decided to retire, marking the end of an era for the cheese. Cotherstone is a traditional dales-style cheese, similar to Wensleydale or Swaledale, which has been made for centuries on small farms in the Dales. Joan was one of the few remaining small-scale producers maintaining this tradition. With this heritage in mind, her son Gordon decided to carry on the family’s cheese-making legacy, reviving production in autumn 2024.
Cotherstone was made with raw milk from the Cross family herd until the mid-1990s. Today, it is made with pasteurised milk sourced a local supplier. This rare and characterful cheese can vary from batch to batch.

Most Cotherstone is enjoyed locally as a fresh, unripened cheese. However, at Neal’s Yard Dairy, we salt the cheese the day after it arrives at our maturing rooms in Bermondsey. This draws out excess moisture and helps form a firmer rind. The cheese is then kept in one of our cooler maturing rooms, where it's turned several times a week for about a month. Once the rind reaches the desired texture, the cheese is wrapped and moved to a cold room to further mature, allowing the texture to soften and the flavours to deepen.