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.

natural recycled wood firelighters — Natural Firelighters
£2.00 – £8.00 incl VAT

Join our list for 10% off

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.

Charcoal (3)

Smoking (3)

Merchandise (6)

Biochar (1)

Firelighters (1)

Some Of Our Recent Reviews

     Excellent  
     Based on 9 reviews 
    
 
 
   
 
 
        
   Tom 
 2 April 2024
 
 
  Great service and amazing quality, locally sourced lumpwood charcoal. Perfect for BBQs and Kamado smoking, their Ash lumpwood, along with their cherry smoking wood chunks, makes food taste delicious. A really good family business, I'm very lucky to have these guys so local to me. Highly recommended!
  
 
       
   Bob Dynes 
 10 July 2023
 
 
  We'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 Daubney 
 10 July 2023
 
 
  Used 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 Newnham 
 18 August 2022
 
 
  I 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 Brown 
 29 May 2022
 
 
  Great 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 Gem
  
 
       
   Raymond King 
 1 May 2022
 
 
  Excellent 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.
  
 
       
   Nigel 
 29 March 2022
 
 
  So 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 Parfitt 
 29 July 2021
 
 
  Great 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 Toogood 
 23 June 2021
 
 
  Excellent 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?

wood in retort ready to turn into 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.

freshly made sustainable brittish charcoal from wiltshire

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– Cues Ln, Bishopstone, Swindon SN6 8PP

WILD OLIVE @BUTTS FARM– 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 – Barrs Yard, 1 Bath Rd, Hungerford RG17 0HD

HAMPSTEAD NORREYS COMMUNITY SHOP – Manor Courtyard, Church St, Hampstead Norreys, Thatcham RG18 0TD

HINTON MARSH FARM SHOP -22 High Street, Shrivenham, Swindon, Wiltshire SN6 8AA

PACKAGING NOT INCLUDED – 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 – Kingston Rd, Shalbourne, Marlborough SN8 3QF

THREE TREES FARM SHOP – The Ridgeway, Chiseldon, Swindon SN4 0HT

UPTON SMOKERY – 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.