WITH a name that stretches back more than two centuries, few butchers’ shops can boast a lineage as old and distinguished as that of Jesse Smith’s in Cirencester.

When the shop was first established on Black Jack Street in 1808, George III was on the throne, the Napoleonic Wars were raging, and Jane Austen was an aspiring writer yet to see a novel in print.

And while Cotswold life has changed unimaginably in the intervening two centuries, Jesse Smith’s Butcher’s still prides itself on providing local meat of the highest quality, with a focus on animal welfare and husbandry, and skilled butchery.

Two young, ambitious and savvy twin brothers are the current incumbents running the family business – David and John Hawes are both 25 and, while their father Richard is still managing director, he is taking a back seat as his sons steer the burgeoning business into its third century.

“The business started in the centre of Chippenham, and we still have the same shop,” David said. “My grandfather Sidney Hawes bought the business from Jesse Smith’s grandson.”

The Hawes family took over the business in 1952, soon opened a branch in Tetbury, and then in 1962 took over another butcher’s, WJ Castle, with shops in Burford and Northleach. They still run the Cirencester shop in the original premises – now a Grade II-listed building with a classic Edwardian shopfront, complete with ornate ceramic tiles.

Then, with a look to the future, they opened a new venture in 2016 - Jesse’s Farm Shop in Love Lane. From the outside, the farm shop has neither a rural appearance nor the art nouveau charm of the Cirencester shop – though a huge, black bull on a post outside gives a clue. But once you step inside the building, the Cotswold country heritage is immediately evident in the décor, posters, recipes and displays. Alongside the traditional, however, the brothers decided to take an innovative approach to the look of their butcher’s business.

“When we first opened it, we were bringing a bit of the countryside in the industrial estate,” David says. “And we decided to have glass-fronted fridges to bring in an openness into what we do, so people can see the product.”

Indeed on first sight it is confronting to see two large windows revealed the well illuminated carcases hanging in the fridges and the slabs of beef maturing in the fridge lined with bricks of Himalayan rock salt.

While many of us are happy to buy anonymous blobs of well packaged meat in a supermarket, here there is here no getting away from the fact that we are eating cows and pigs.

“We had no idea how this would go down, and it was a risk, but actually it has gone down really well,” David said. “It’s about educating people. We get children looking in the window, and it brings an honesty into our relationship with food.”

He adds that animal welfare and high standards of animal husbandry are key to their philosophy, and contribute to high quality of the meat they sell.

“We visit all our suppliers, and ensure they are all tried and tested before we use them, so they come up to the Jesse Smith standard. We aim to be the best of the best. We want to see space for the animals, how well they look, the conditions they are kept in and who’s looking after them. We like to know the farmers.

“Low food mileage is key – and the animals don’t have to travel more than 30 miles to be slaughtered.”

The butcher’s supplies Longhorn beef from Nailsworth, as well as Angus beef from Scotland at Christmas. They also stock outdoor and slow-reared Old Spot cross pork from Cheltenham.

“The pigs have chocolate in their diet – it is reckoned to make the pork taste slightly sweet,” David said. “It’s called Pork with a Sweet Spot.”

Free range chickens come from Worcester, and the grass-fed lamb is raised in the Cotswolds. Perhaps surprisingly, David said he was keen to invite vegetarians into the farm shop – as they could find out for themselves about the business.

“I would encourage vegetarians to come in and talk to us about the produce,” he said.

David studied at Cirencester’s Royal Agricultural University, and later started learning butchering and working in the family business.

“I realised I quite enjoyed it,” he said. “It’s a difficult job and physically challenging, and butchering professionally is an art. It is very rewarding, and growing the business has been very satisfying.”

As well as the butcher’s, the farm shop has a delicatessen, a café with marvellously appetising cakes, local bakery goods, fruit, vegetables and groceries. Much is locally supplied, though artisan chocolate comes from Kent. David’s brother John, who trained and worked as a chef, runs the deli and production kitchen, where he makes a range of pies, pastries, sausage rolls, scotch eggs and homemade cakes, as well as jams and jellies. The deli offers a range of cheeses and charcuterie, and has introduced a new salad bar.

Their grandfather’s old butcher’s blocks have been upcycled to make the furniture in the Coffee House, which is open seven days a week and serves a special brunch on Saturday mornings. The business employs some 50 people in total, both full and part-time, with an apprenticeship scheme in the butcher’s. They also supply the catering industry, including top eateries such as the Priory in Cheltenham and Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham, supplying top quality produce in their Signature range, as well as the Best of British value range, delivering six days a week.

The business scooped a host of awards last year – including a Cotswold Food and Drink Award and the Best Butcher in the South in the Butcher’s Shop of the Year Awards.

“The farm shop has been a success,” David said. “We have done two Christmases now and it has grown massively. Consistency is important – we want it is the best steak you have ever had every time you buy from us.”