Sustainable Single-Species Lumpwood Charcoal
Made in Wiltshire from British Woodlands
Add great flavour to your barbecue, while helping the planet by using sustainable British lumpwood charcoal.
A few of our bestsellers.
Ash Charcoal
£5.00 – £24.00 incl VAT
Natural Firelighters
£2.00 – £8.00 incl VAT
Cherry Chunks
£7.50 incl VAT
Blacksmith’s Charcoal
£17.00 incl VAT
Who
Slate Hill Charcoal Co. is a family run business fundamentally set up with the next generation in mind.
Continue on our journey with us:
What
Single Species lumpwood charcoal, UK produced from 100% British hardwoods including Alder and Ash. These trees have been felled under license as part of a woodland management plan in order to preserve and promote the biodiversity and sustainability of our woodlands. Each species brings it’s own characteristics to your barbecue.
Where
Our raw materials are sourced from as nearby as possible to our base in the North Wessex downs. With some just a stones throw from our charcoal retort! Both keeping it local and reducing unnecessary transport is a fundamental part of our philosophy.
Why
QUALITY – our charcoal making process produces some of the finest cooking material available!
SUSTAINABILITY – Unnecessary charcoal imports are damaging tropical
ecosystems and also polluting the planet.
When
We Brits love a Barby come rain or shine. By using our chemical-free Charcoal you’ll be able to enjoy a significantly quicker and cleaner burn. Faster lighting means faster feasting!
How
We make our lumpwood charcoal using the highly efficient retort method, which uses the wood’s own volatile gases to cook itself to pure carbon. As there are no additives, your charcoal can therefore be ready to cook on as soon as it has reached temperature, while more can be added whenever you want.
Some Of Our Recent Reviews
Bob Dynes10 July 2023We've recently started using this charcoal for our BBQ and have been very impressed. It lights easily and can be cooked on within a few minutes giving a lengthy even burn with little flame. Knowing that its locally made from carefully sourced wood makes this a firm favourite and something I'd highly recommend.Katharine Daubney10 July 2023Used the ash charcoal for hosting a large BBQ party. Not only was it easy to light and quick to get to a good cooking temperature, but it produced some consistently great results. Using this charcoal makes BBQing with charcoal easy. Our guests agreed and many are now looking into this charcoal themselves. Fully recommended and far better than any alternative tried.Edward Newnham18 August 2022I am a BBQ fanatic and have been for 40 years. This is absolute top shelf charcoal. I have only tried the ash but will be trying the other varieties they offer. It burns beautifully and is super clean. Tbh it's the best charcoal I've ever used. 10000% recommended.Nicholas Brown29 May 2022Great charcoal for my smoker i used the ash lump wood and was really impressed, there was minimal ash and burns so clean. I also bought the cherry wood and natural firelighter which were totally amazing. The cherry wood gave such a nice flavour to are meat will be coming back again as to get some more charcoal and maybe this time be trying the alder as well of the ash for an experiment. very friendly but defiantly a tucked away GemRaymond King1 May 2022Excellent charcoal, Luke is really friendly to talk to and has plenty of BBQing advice and tips (we often use click and collect). The charcoal lights really easily. The ash charcoal is perfect for low and slow cooking. We are really excited to try some of the cherry chunks for some low and slow cooking with delicious smokey flavour.Chris Wallace11 April 2022I came across Slate Hill Charcoal after searching for a local supplier for a while, I purchased two bags of Ash Charcoal as I mainly cook low and slow, I had a pork shoulder cooking 12 hours on the smoker and the Charcoal was amazing. easy to keep at a steady temp and offers a great char/flavour on the burgers and Sausages. I will definitely be returning and need to grab a bag of Alder for the quick hot Bbq setup.Nigel29 March 2022So good to find a great local producer of absolutely top quality indigenous species charcoal. Ash for the Sunday Roast, Alder for burgers / sausages / steaks. I’m a convert! Fabulous, first-rate good-sized charcoal.Sam Parfitt29 July 2021Great Charcoal!!!! Have used both the Ash and the Alder. Both light so easily and are ready to cook on in minutes. Also used both for hot and fast or low and slow cooks, working just as well for either. Sustainably produced just up the road tops it off👌Ben Toogood23 June 2021Excellent Charcoal. Lights really easily and burns very hot and consistently. I have used the ash charcoal where a kilo or so was excellent for a large slab of pork belly. Also used a 1kg light in the bag version for burgers and sausages for four. Quick delivery. Will buy again.
Why Buy British Charcoal from Slate Hill Charcoal?
Here in the UK, our fondness for firing up the barbie means that we get through more than 100,000 tonnes of charcoal a year. That’s a staggering figure, but what’s even more astonishing is that around 90% of this is imported from abroad. A lot of the barbecue charcoal in our shops comes from countries such as Paraguay, Nigeria and Indonesia where regulation is lacking and deforestation and pollution are big problems.
The barbecue charcoal produced here in the UK on the other hand comes from sustainably managed woodlands, from trees that once cut down and turned into our BBQ fuel or cooking woods, will grow again or be re-planted. British hardwoods produce lumpwood charcoal that is less dense and with a much higher carbon content (up to 95%) than the imported stuff. This means it will light easily (without the need for lighter fluid or other chemicals) and produce a clean even heat to cook on more quickly, a great reason to buy charcoal produced here in the UK.
Regular cutting of our woods here in UK to produce barbecue charcoal (or plenty of other coppice products) helps to create more diverse habitats and improve biodiversity. Add to that the fact that there are no air miles and that you’re supporting local businesses and the reasons to buy British charcoal just keep growing.
100% Renewable.
All of the raw materials for our charcoal and wood are from renewable resources, producing a completely renewable cooking fuel.
Zero Plastic.
We use no plastic in our charcoal, firelighter and wood packaging.
Zero Waste.
We aim to produce no waste in our charcoal production process. All of our packaging is 100% recyclable, right down to the paper tape to seal our boxes.
Check out a recent test of our ‘light in the bag’ Ash lumpwood charcoal:
As Featured In:
We’re in cahoots with these lovely people:
ANDREWS QUALITY MEAT LTD-4 High Street, Marlborough, Wiltshire SN8 1AA
BAYDON VILLAGE STORES– Ermin Street, Baydon, Marlborough SN8 2LH
BISHOPSTONE STORES–Â Cues Ln, Bishopstone, Swindon SN6 8PP
WILD OLIVE @BUTTS FARM–Â Cricklade Rd, Cirencester GL7 5QE
CHRISTIAN ALBA’S TRADITIONAL BUTCHERS– 9, High St, Hungerford, Berkshire
COBBS FARM SHOPS– Englefield, RG7 5EA and Basingstoke, RG23 8P/A4, Hungerford RG17 0SP / Scrapps Hill Farm, 550 Worting Rd, Basingstoke RG23 8PU
COOK AND BUTCHER-17 The Broadway, Thatcham RG19 3HX
GRAPESMITH –Â Barrs Yard, 1 Bath Rd, Hungerford RG17 0HD
HAMPSTEAD NORREYS COMMUNITY SHOP –Â Manor Courtyard, Church St, Hampstead Norreys, Thatcham RG18 0TD
HINTON MARSH FARM SHOP -22 High Street, Shrivenham, Swindon, Wiltshire SN6 8AA
PACKAGING NOT INCLUDED –Â Unit 7 Hughenden Yard, Marlborough SN8 1LT
RAMSBURY BREWERY AND DISTILLERY LTD. – Stockclose farm, Marlborough, SN8 2NN
ROVES FARM– Sevenhampton, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN6 7QG
SHALBOURNE STORES –Â Kingston Rd, Shalbourne, Marlborough SN8 3QF
THREE TREES FARM SHOP –Â The Ridgeway, Chiseldon, Swindon SN4 0HT
UPTON SMOKERY –Â Hurst Barn Farmhouse, Burford OX18 4TH
WOOD STREET FOOD HALL– 22 Wood Street, Swindon, Wiltshire SN1 4AB
10 GREEN BOTTLES – Wroughton, Swindon, SN49AQ
If you’d like to buy our lumpwood charcoal you can visit our shop , alternatively visit our stockists to check availability, or contact us with any questions about our high quality, sustainable, British charcoal.