L. Robson & Sons: the family keeping Craster's kipper smokehouse fires burning

Walk into Craster on almost any day of the year and you will smell it before you see it: the rich scent of oak smoke drifting from a stone building above the harbour. This is the home of L. Robson & Sons, the family firm behind the famous Craster kipper.

The village has a long history of fish curing. In 1887 Craster had four fish curers, among them William Archbold, who mentored a young and entrepreneurial James Robson. James went on to establish his own business and bought the smokehouse in 1906. The building has been used to produce Craster kippers since 1856, and the Robson family has owned it for well over a century.

Today it is run by Neil Robson, James's great-grandson, who keeps the family methods alive. The process has barely changed. Top quality North Sea herring are split, gutted, washed and soaked in brine, then hung on wooden beams, some of which have been in use for as long as the smokehouse has operated. They are smoked for around 16 hours over smouldering whitewood shavings and oak sawdust, and no dye is ever added.

"We've always known that the smokehouse is a special building," Neil has said. "We've always been about quality, not quantity, and we're proud that 'Craster kippers' are known as the best in the world!"

That special building now has official recognition. In 2023 the smokehouse was designated a Grade II listed building by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the recommendation of Historic England. It is a rare survivor of the North East's herring industry, which declined in the 1920s and 1930s, leaving many smokehouses derelict. Craster's kept its fires burning, and it is now one of very few in the UK still producing kippers in the traditional way.

Next door, the family shop is a bustling stop for locals and visitors walking the coast path to Dunstanburgh Castle. Alongside oak smoked kippers there is oak smoked salmon and natural smoked haddock and cod, and the kippers have even turned up on the plates of famous visitors to the Northumberland coast.

The shop is open seven days a week, and for those who cannot make the trip, the Robsons offer free delivery to mainland UK. Opening times and the online shop are on the L. Robson & Sons website.