William Long opened the original Friars on Keswick Main Street in 1927. His great-great-nephews, Richard and Michael Webster, run the shop today, with their parents John and Gina still working the counter. Four generations of one family on the same Lake District high street, almost ninety-nine years, and the rose creams are still on the recipe William left us.
The same shopfront, the same family, since 1927.
Heritage truffles and creams on the 1927 recipes, hampers and gift boxes in three tiers, the Kakoa plant-based range we launched in 2019, and bespoke corporate gifting for clients from Google to KPMG. Five chocolatiers, one tasting panel, every flavour signed off before it leaves Main Street.
Rose creams and violet creams are still made on the recipes William Long opened the shop with in 1927. Five chocolatiers work from the Keswick kitchen, batch by batch. New flavours (matcha, gin, prosecco, plant-based) sit alongside the classics, but the classics have not changed. Cherry liqueurs (a whole cherry in brandy, hand-coated in dark chocolate) remain the single most-asked-for line on the shop floor.
Heritage boxes for the classic selection, Luxe boxes for the premium tier, and Little Luxe for a smaller-scale gift. Filtered by recipient, occasion, dietary need and flavour profile. Hand-packed in Keswick, shipped by Royal Mail (the lowest-carbon UK delivery option). FSC-certified cardboard cartons, trays from 100% recycled plastic. Free shipping on every order over sixty pounds.
Friars launched Kakoa in 2019 and was among the first chocolate-makers in the country to offer plant-based chocolates with flavoured centres (prosecco truffles, gin truffles, plant-based versions of the heritage creams). About one tenth of our annual sales, growing every year. Same hand-finished standard, same tasting panel, no compromise on what plant-based chocolate should taste like.
Corporate orders are quoted, packed and dispatched from Keswick. Branded sleeves, custom inserts, bulk pricing, and a named contact for the duration of the relationship. Past clients have included Google, KPMG and ASOS. Lead time is two weeks for branded work, three days for unbranded bulk. Sales line answers Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00.
Luxury chocolate nuts
Matcha truffles
Ice-cream chocolates
William Long opened a café on Keswick Main Street in 1927 that sold a few boxes of chocolates on the side. By the 1970s the chocolates had eaten the café and the shop became Ye Olde Friars. The Webster family took the next generation on; today William\'s great-great-nephews, Richard and Michael Webster, run the business with their parents John and Gina still part-time on the shop floor. The Main Street site has never moved. The rose creams have never changed. The 2027 centenary is twelve months away.
We are an online company now primarily which has been a big shift. But the chocolate is still made in Keswick, and the rose creams are still on the recipe William left us.
Richard Webster · In Cumbria, 2024
A heritage chocolatier is the sum of two unglamorous things: a recipe set kept consistent for a long time, and a small enough kitchen that no flavour ever gets waved through. Our heritage rose and violet creams are still folded by hand on the 1927 recipes. The dark-chocolate coat is a single-origin blend we have used for decades, sourced through the Cocoa Horizon scheme so the farmer at the start of the chain is paid properly. Every new flavour the kitchen develops, from the prosecco truffle to the 2026 matcha, passes a five-person tasting panel before a single one is wrapped for sale. If the panel says no, the flavour does not go out. We have killed more candidates than we have launched.
The sales line at sales@friars.co.uk and on 017687 72234 answers Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00. Weekend orders still ship daily from Keswick, we just do not pick up the phone at the desk on Saturday and Sunday. For walk-ins, the shop is open every day 09:30 to 17:30 (10:30 on Sundays). Closed Christmas, Boxing Day and New Year only.
What happens next
Opposite the Moot Hall in the Market Square, between the bus station and Theatre by the Lake. Five minutes\' walk from Derwentwater. Main Street is mostly pedestrianised; the nearest pay-and-display car parks are Lakeside (Lake Road, the largest) and Bell Close (closer to the bus station). If you are walking from the fells via Borrowdale, we are the second-to-last shop on the right as Main Street narrows into the square.
Closed only Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year\'s Day.
Mined from ninety-eight years of phone calls, walk-ins and Tripadvisor reviews on Main Street.
Yes. A team of five chocolatiers works from our Keswick kitchen, batch by batch, against an in-house tasting panel that signs off every flavour before it goes on sale. New manufacturing capacity is being built on Gilwilly Industrial Estate in Penrith, but the recipes and the daily make stay where they started in 1927.
The real cherry liqueurs, by a long margin. A whole Morello cherry in brandy, hand-coated in dark chocolate, finished with a wax seal. The recipe has not changed since the 1970s and the cherries are coated one at a time, the same way they always have been. After that: the rose creams (a 1927 recipe) and the Kendal mint cake truffles (a 2019 addition).
Yes. Our Kakoa range launched in 2019 and was among the first in the UK to offer plant-based chocolates with flavoured centres. Prosecco truffles, gin truffles, plant-based rose creams and plant-based violet creams. Around one tenth of our sales now. Same hand-finished standard, same tasting panel.
Main Street is mostly pedestrianised. Nearest pay-and-display car parks are Lakeside (Lake Road, the largest, five minutes' walk) and Bell Close (closer to the bus station, three minutes' walk). The Moot Hall sits opposite the shop; if you are walking from the Theatre by the Lake the shop is the second-last on the right before the market square.
Yes. We have packed branded sleeves and custom inserts for Google, KPMG, ASOS and a long list of smaller firms. Two weeks lead time for branded work, three days for unbranded bulk. Quote the head-count, the budget and the deadline to sales@friars.co.uk and we will come back the same working day Monday to Friday.
Yes. The rose cream and the violet cream are made on the same recipes William Long opened the Keswick shop with in 1927. The fondant is folded by hand, the rose and violet flavours are real (not synthetic), and the dark-chocolate coat is the same single-origin blend we have used for decades. The crystallised petal on top is the only part we now buy in rather than make ourselves.