Jeremy Clarkson’s hit Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm has spawned plenty of side stories beyond the fields of Diddly Squat—and one of them just ended with a twist. A familiar face from recent clips, hospitality entrepreneur Rachel Hawkins, has been trying to part ways with her Cotswolds country home in an unconventional way: a property raffle with a headline value of £2.8 million. The prize has now been awarded—but the house itself isn’t changing hands.
Hawkins, who advised Clarkson as he launched his locally sourced pub, The Farmer’s Dog, lives a short hop from Chadlington. She bought the Stow-on-the-Wold property in November 2015 for £750,000 and has since made it her base with long-term partner Will Kennedy. Earlier this year, she teamed up with Raffle House to offer the six-bedroom home as a jackpot, with entry tickets starting at just £10. As is common with these competitions, the winner could choose either the house or a cash alternative close to the home’s advertised value—handy if rural Cotswold life wasn’t their dream.
That choice turned out to be decisive. Raffle House has confirmed that the winner, identified only as Heather, opted for the money rather than the keys. “I’m gobsmacked. Is this real? Oh. My. God. I’m in so much shock,” she said after learning she’d won. “I’ve been subscribed since April… I never thought I’d actually win anything. It’s definitely a life-changing amount for me and my family—I’m a mum, with my husband and two children.” Heather also asked to keep a low profile: “I don’t want anyone we know knowing we’ve won a significant amount of money—we aren’t in an affluent area, and it would make me feel awkward with my friends and family.”
Because the winner chose the cash payout, Raffle House confirmed the property remains with its owner. In practical terms, that means Hawkins’ Stow-on-the-Wold home has not been sold despite the raffle’s headline figure. For Hawkins, the outcome preserves her options—she can continue living there, list it on the open market, or consider a future competition—while the winner walks away with a substantial lump sum.
The story lands as Clarkson’s Farm continues to dominate the rural-TV conversation. The series launched in 2021, documenting Jeremy Clarkson’s steep learning curve managing Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire. Since then, four seasons have aired, and Clarkson, 65, said this week that filming for season five has wrapped. Along the way, the show has spotlighted a wider circle of Cotswold characters—Hawkins among them—as they navigate everything from planning wrangles and livestock health to the realities of making farm-to-table ventures work.
In short: the raffle produced a winner, but not a new homeowner. Heather chose the money, and the Cotswolds house stays put with Rachel Hawkins—for now.
