When Sarah and Dom acquired the old Yorkshire manor house at Barmby Moor in 2017, they embarked on an extensive restoration of the historic property. It was as the couple were refurbishing the old scullery that they stumbled across an intriguing, concealed floor safe which had belonged to a former resident of Barmby Moor House, Sir Owlfred Tyton Hodgins.

Hiding within was a single bottle of Sir Owlfred’s Hooting Owl Signature Gin and an old book containing many of his secret recipes. Tied carefully to the book was a small diary of his development journey which he had titled ‘A Tour of Yorkshire’. The diary, embellished with drawings of his distillery, clearly showed it had been located in the stable buildings to the back of the house, buildings which still existed, albeit in a somewhat dilapidated state.

This extraordinary discovery began a new, exciting chapter in the Hooting Owl story. Sarah and Dom, as Sir Owlfred had done before them, set out on a journey which was to draw inspiration from all four corners of Yorkshire to lovingly distil a range of high quality artisan spirits in the very location it was thought to have begun in 1865.