Henwen’s opened in Forest Hill the day before Halloween. Opening up in the run-up to Samhain might be considered bad luck by some, but for south London butcher shop Henwen’s, it was perfectly aligned with founder Charlie Smith and Sweyn Hall’s approach. When I visit on a Tuesday, one of the shop’s two days off, linocut paper hearts are festooned across the window. Bay leaves hang on the wall, fluttering in the wind like cherry blossoms whenever the door swings open. Copies of Margaret Baker’s Discovering The Folklore of Plants and Moira Buxton’s Mediaeval Cooking Today lounge on the shelves next to tins of laverbread and Tunisian harissa. Even the name ‘Henwen’ comes from a mythical Welsh sow which was said to be “the mother of abundance” and “a symbol of plenty.”
Charlie and Sweyn first met working at Peckham’s Flock and Herd before parting ways professionally only to come back together late last year. Charlie began butchery from a young age in Huddersfield, where he was raised, while Sweyn most recently cut his teeth mastering the art of charcuterie at Newington Green’s Meat Fish Cheese. The seed of an idea for Henwen’s was planted after the two started a short-lived business called Soused Goblins together in 2021 selling what Sweyn, who is a University of London graduate and artist behind the linocuts, calls “weird stuff” like elderflower-cured bacon and bay leaf salt brisket.
“The aesthetic, theme, and idea behind everything we made at Soused Goblins were very folklore-inspired and a little bit spooky,” explains Charlie. “That’s initially how we wanted Henwen’s to look, but then it slightly morphed into something which looks like a pub along the way. I wanted it to feel more like a butcher’s in a pub than anything a bit too on the nose or medieval.”
Squint at the raw counter on any given day and you’ll see fresh merguez, mutton, free-range Sutton Hoo chickens the size of a chihuahua, homemade faggots, wild venison, and – if you’re lucky – a necklace of sausages made using rosemary plucked from a regular named Judy’s garden. Judy’s sausages are extremely popular. Swivel your head to the deli counter and you’ll find everything from traditional hand-raised pork pies and smoked coppa to a rustic slab of paté de campagne, brick-red smoked ‘nduja, and coarse-textured Jesus de Lyon.
Combining elements of old-school butchery and a forward-thinking approach to ingredients, Henwen’s is a new breed of butcher shop. Taking over the space on Forest Hill’s London Road previously occupied by The Butchery – which specialised in pasture-fed, native breed meat sourced from small British farms – caused some trepidation. “I was worried it would feel like we were stepping into someone else’s shoes,” admits Sweyn. “But everyone in the area came around to us very quickly.”
It’s hard not to be won over by the amount of thought and passion which Sweyn and Charlie put into everything. The Henwen’s logo, which is printed on their tea-coloured paper bags and the façade out front, was designed by illustrator and DJ Tommy Brentnall. The sketch of the pig which often accompanies it was drawn by Charlie and reworked by Sweyn’s partner, Abby Sumrie. “There’s a hundred iterations of that pig in a notebook,” says Charlie. “It was very important it had a hand-feel to it.”
The directional aesthetic might get people through the door but the approachable atmosphere, warm service, and quality produce are what keeps the local community returning. “We always knew there was no point in setting up shop unless we were making all the sausages,” says Charlie, speaking literally, not metaphorically. “All the custom spice blends are completely made in-house and we’ve made the bacon here from day one – we get it smoked locally in Bermondsey. We left where we were working before because we wanted a chance to do things exactly how we liked them.”
The more traditional English offering is inspired by Charlie's place of birth, Sweyn tells me. “When we were first working on the pork pie, we visited his parents and did a pork pie tour of Huddersfield. We ate something like eight pies over a very short period just to nail down what we wanted ours to be.”
“We ate in the places where people literally just go in for a pie,” adds Charlie, “because that’s a ritualistic part of what they eat, week-to-week. So, our pork pie is pretty normal in that respect. It's good and honest and then Sweyn has made it slightly fancy, but it’s not too clever.” Not fancy, just solid, Sewyn offers. “We make the lard from the pigs. We make the meat from the pigs. We make the pastry from the lard. We make the jelly from the bones of the pigs.”
Alongside their meticulous approach to ingredients and honouring the traditions of their craft, the pair are looking to expand the definition of a local butchers. Most recently Henwen’s partnered with local wine bar Ancestral Wines to serve up hot mutton pies with mash, peas, and gravy to pair with a selection of low-intervention wines by the glass and bottle. It was an instant sell-out, and Charlie and Sweyn are already dreaming up future events where they can deliver “standard stodgy and traditional food” in a “bonfire night kind of way.” I take that to mean the classics, but with all the ritualistic consideration of communal celebrations.
“This isn’t even our final form,” says Sweyn, as he writes out his and Charlie’s to-do list for the day. The shop will open again tomorrow, the bay leaves will flutter in the wind, and whether they’re seeking a bit of occasion-worthy Peak District beef or lamb scrag for a stew, the regulars will come through. “We’ve got plenty more to give.”
Sweyn wears the Half Placket Linen Shirt, Arlo Garment Dyed Herringbone Jacket and Rory Cotton Linen Twill Trousers. Charlie wears the Half Placket Linen Shirt, Cotton Hemp Herringbone Jacket and Duncan Cotton Hemp Herringbone Trousers.
Words by Lucas Oakeley.
Photography by Sophie Davidson.
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