Located just north of Shaftsbury, Semley in Wiltshire is one of my favourite places to visit to ‘diggle’ for antiques. The sprawling village has two antique centres right next door to each other which often have curious and interesting antiques to enjoy. This summer, I went to see what gems I could find and afterwards asked the man at the counter if he had any local lunch spot recommendations. He told me that at the end of the road, there’s a farm shop that serves lunches. The word farm shop made me instantly curious and I headed off down the road as instructed. Said farm shop was Compton McRae.
Compton McRae is a small local kitchen deli and shop selling lots of wonderful artisan produce and products including fresh loaves of bread and flour from Landrace Bakery, organic pasta from The Cornwall Pasta Company and sundried tomatoes from Isle of Wight Tomatoes.
Their deli lunch menu offers a good selection of freshly made, extremely flavoursome salad options as well as sausage rolls, savoury tarts and quiches, yummy traybakes and cakes for pudding or a snack. Over the last few months, I have returned several times for lunch and to my delight, I have found that the salad and quiche options are always changing. The salads are full of interesting flavour combinations including pulses and grains with fresh or roasted veg and a variety of herbs. It is self-service, and the salads and focaccia bread are charged by weight so you can have as much or as little as you’d like.
Compton McRea farm shop offers an indoor seating area or, if you’d prefer to enjoy your food and drinks in the ‘great outdoors’, picnic tables set up under a stretch tent for a bit of shade. The staff are so welcoming and friendly and nothing is too much trouble.
If you enjoy a gracious cup of tea as I do, you’ll love the tea that is served by Compton McRea. It is by the Good & Proper Tea Company. It is absolutely delicious! I have bought a box every time I have visited – I’m particularly keen on their Earl Grey and their Peppermint tea.
So if you are visiting Shaftsbury, I’d recommend diverting a little north to Semly to enjoy both the antique centres as well as the Compton McRae farm shop.