Six years ago the founders of Whitby Gin started a project to build a new distillery and gin experience in the shadows of Whitby Abbey. After years of preparation, planning and delays by red tape – it is now starting to take shape.
The Anchor donned hard hats and high-vis to take a look around what will become, The Abbey Lands Distillery this week.
The site, perched on a hill on the east side, below the Abbey car park, is quite unassuming. For years it has been derelict following a fire, and for many more years before that, was a dairy farm.
When Luke and Jess Pentith, the founders of Whitby Gin, took on the site, there was no water, no power, no drains.
In fact, it was such a tricky site to deal with, even English Heritage, to whom it belongs, probably didn’t think the couple were serious about bringing it back to life.
But they were, and the vision they have had since 2019, is what kept them motivated to pursue what has become a dream to create and leave a legacy for Whitby.
“The lease is a hundred years, so it is going to outlive us all”, joked Luke.
The success and popularity of Whitby Gin, when it was first launched in March 2018, was unexpected. Luke and Jess thought they would make and sell gin on the side in their utility room while they continued in their corporate jobs in the city.
It quickly became full-time and it quickly outgrew the utility room and also the current premises on Botany Way.
So they set about an ambitious project to build a new distillery, and also an experience with tours and tasting.
Building on the new distillery started in August last year, and, with a roof and rooms constructed, the architect’s visuals are now becoming reality.
Luke said: “Because it is such a good location, that has helped us keep going. There have been so many moments where we thought ‘this is not sensible anymore’. If we had continued working with banks and solicitors, we would never have got started.
“There are times when we thought ‘the business is fine’ and we can stay at that level and be quite comfortable, but we founded it so we imagined what it could be like and didn’t want to not do it.”
The public will approach Abbey Lands Distillery via the Spirits Walkway, which bears the name in cast iron plates, of people who have supported the project or is in memory of a loved one.
Inside the entrance hall there are glimpses of the distillery through glazed windows, before moving into an event space where it is hoped there will be things such as art, exhibitions, functions and school visits.
A botanical garden, reminiscent of flavours used in the different varieties of Whitby Gin, will also be created on this side of the building which stands in the shadows of the historic Whitby Abbey.
From there, the tour moves to a tasting lounge, commanding panoramic views which stretch from the sea, across the town and harbor and out towards the moors.
The centre piece of the tour will be the still room, dominated by the huge copper still where the gin is distilled.
Unlike many other gin distillery tours, the one at Whitby Gin will take you go behind the scenes and into the bottling room, where it is still done by hand, complete with the labelling, as it always has been.
The building is set to be completed in October and then the internal fit out will commence with an opening date planned for spring 2027.
It is quite the development from selling cocktails at a corporate event for English Heritage to mark the opening of Whitby Abbey’s new visitor centre back in 2019.
Luke and Jess recalled: “We got speaking with the project manager about how frustrated we were at not being able to find premises to expand into. He nodded to the two derelict barns and said ‘you could use those’. I don’t think he thought we would actually do it.”
They had to get permission from English Heritage at regional and national level, then from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
However, getting the go-ahead to release funds from the bank, and the red tape, proved more difficult and cost as much time as it has money.
Luke said: “The bank wanted all funding in place, but then a permit or other timeline would expire, we would apply again and another permission would expire. We couldn’t get anything to align and all the while, the costs were going up.”
Along with the CrowdFunder, which generated 1,000 small shareholders, and what Luke and Jess had saved, with local builders, Oak Construction on board, they had enough to start the build.
Luke and Jess say people have supported the project as it is Whitby – a place which special to people for many different reasons.
Jess added: “When we started the distillery we wanted a hub or a community, when we were in Scotland we saw that alignment and loved that it was run by local folk from that town.
“The Abbey Lands Distillery is not just us, it is about Whitby. If we weren’t living in Whitby and doing this in another area, would it have had that appeal?”
