The Alchemists Cottage food hygiene rating

The rating: 3 - Generally satisfactory

This is a fresh result: The Alchemists Cottage was inspected on 3 August 2026, so the rating reflects what the inspector found very recently.

This sits in the middle for North Yorkshire, where 2% of rated places score below 3 and 95% score 4 or 5. See all North Yorkshire ratings →

Address: Milk Churn Cottage Town Foot, DL8 3NH

How it compares in North Yorkshire

In North Yorkshire, 86% of rated places manage a 5, so The Alchemists Cottage sits behind roughly 5,918 nearby businesses. 3% of the borough shares its 3.

Every rated food business in North Yorkshire

5 out of 5		5,385	86%
4 out of 5		533	9%
3 out of 5		218	3%	← The Alchemists Cottage
2 out of 5		61	1%
1 out of 5		56	1%
0 out of 5		2	<1%

A further 829 businesses in the area are awaiting inspection or exempt, so are not counted above.

What the inspector found

• Hygienic food handling Generally satisfactory
• Cleanliness & condition of the building Good
• How well they manage food safety Generally satisfactory

An inspection scores three things: how food is handled, the physical condition of the premises, and how much the inspector trusts management to keep standards up. At The Alchemists Cottage none of the three raised a concern, the overall rating is only ever as strong as its weakest area, so a clean sweep is what produces a high score.

Understanding this rating

• What does a 0 food hygiene rating mean? A 0 means the inspector found serious problems and urgent improvement is necessary. It is the lowest rating the scheme gives, but it is not a closure order, and a business with a 0 can, and usually does, keep trading while it puts things right.
• Does a low hygiene rating mean the food is unsafe? A low rating tells you that an inspector found problems on a particular day. It is not a measurement of the food, it is not a prediction, and it is not a verdict on whether you will get ill. It is the best single signal a member of the public has, and it is a snapshot.
• Does a business have to display its hygiene rating? It depends where you are. In Wales and Northern Ireland a food business must display its rating where you can read it before you go in. In England it is voluntary, a business there can legally show you nothing.

More food hygiene ratings near here

The Alchemists Cottage is one of 35 rated food businesses in Hawes. See every hygiene rating in Hawes →

North Yorkshire inspects and rates 7,084 food businesses across its whole area. See every food hygiene rating in North Yorkshire →

The official record is held by the council: https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/