Discover The Wessex Distillery, Godalming

This family-owned craft distillery is proud of its reputation for creating the best English gin using premium ingredients from the English countryside.  

Founded in 2017, the Wessex Distillery has already received global recognition, winning an impressive array of national and international awards.  In 2021 the company’s ‘Wyvern Classic Gin’ received a gold award from the renowned London Spirits Competition and double gold from the world’s most prestigious spirits competition – The San Francisco World Spirits Competition.  The distillery’s ‘Alfred the Great Premium Gin’ also received a double gold at the London Spirits Competition.  

Some homeowners from Beechcroft's Hampton Manor in Godalming recently enjoyed a trip to The Wessex Distillery, and we managed to catch up with Chris Clark, who runs the distillery alongside his father, Jonathan, and his sister, Amy. 

Chris:   It really is a family business.  My father, Amy and I work here and we have a friend who helps out with everything.  It means we’re all involved in every aspect of the business.   

Chris:  Although we primarily focus on selling our gins online, our products can be found in several local businesses including Secretts and Squires.  We also have a click and collect option on our website.

Chris:   This is a two-hour experience which generally takes place on Thursdays.  The groups are small – up to 8 people.  We welcome our participants with a gin and tonic and we provide some history on the company and on gin making.  Once the visitors have toured the labs, they are taught to make their own bottle of gin from scratch – from weighing out the botanicals through the whole distillation process using a small still.  They bottle their gin, wax and seal it and even add their own labels.  Everyone goes away with a bottle of gin as well as the gin that they’ve made themselves.