This cheese is named after the Roman name for their fort at what is now St Albans. While Verulamium was the Roman name, its origins are actually more ancient. The Britons named the local river Verulam and the Roman settlers added ëiumí on the end to get the name of their fort.

Elizabeth Harris first looked into making a mould ripened cheese in the mid 1990s. The recipe for Verulamium is basically that of her Childwickbury cheese with the addition of penicilium camemberti mould at the beginning of the make when starter is added. Unlike a lot of goats cheeses which often have a long coagulation and are referred to as lactic set cheeses, Elizabethís two cheeses are made more quickly taking from an hour and a quarter to four and a half hours from starter to cutting the curd depending on what time of year it is. One of the characteristics of this sort of set, accentuated by the fluffy white growth of penicilium camemberti on the rind and the amount of moisture in the curd, is the way that Verulamium softens to a quite liquid layer just below its rind and can become entirely liquid if left to its own devices.

Elizabeth only makes very small quantities of Verulamium and Childwickbury. At one time, she considered expanding production and buying more goats but soon found she didnít like it. Before, she had known each of them by name and could recognise them as they were milked. With a larger herd it felt more impersonal. As a result she decided not to increase size and production, sold a few of her goats and is now back to a manageable number of goats each of whom she can recognise and name.

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