A sceenshot the burnt barn from the River Cottage website.

London - A restored 400-year-old barn on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage farm has been destroyed by a fire thought to have started in a kitchen.

The building is used for cookery courses run by the millionaire chef’s company and has been the scene of ‘feasts’ filmed for his Channel 4 television series.

On Wednesday night, Fearnley-Whittingstall was said to be unaware of the destruction as he is away filming for another of his programmes, Hugh’s Fish Fight, about sustainable fishing.

‘He is on a boat 8,000 miles away in the middle of the ocean somewhere and only contactable via satellite phone,’ a spokesman said. ‘He will be informed as soon as he can be contacted.’

Eight fire engines and 80 firefighters spent three hours tackling the blaze at the 66-acre River Cottage Park Farm near Axminster, Devon. A gardener, who lives in part of the large farmhouse opposite, raised the alarm at around 10pm on Tuesday.

Investigators are not treating the blaze as suspicious. Nobody was in the barn at the time and no people or animals were hurt.

Damage to the single-storey building is thought to run into tens of thousands of pounds. The remains of rows of gas ovens and burnt-out pots and pans could be seen among the charred debris.

The former threshing barn was restored six years ago and is regarded by Fearnley-Whittingstall’s team as ‘the heart of River Cottage HQ’, his spokesman said.

Staff were said to be ‘shocked and upset’ by the fire. They said the building was used for £230-a-day cookery courses and as a venue for celebrations. It could also be booked for private functions.

Fearnley-Whittingstall, 47, who is due back in England at the end of the month, lives with his wife Marie and their four children Budding chefs who were due to attend courses in the barn were advised to stay at home, while those already in the area were offered free breakfasts. A River Cottage spokesman said: ‘Cookery school courses at Park Farm will not be running in the short term, and anyone booked on a course will be contacted by the River Cottage events team as soon as possible.’

A message posted on Twitter by the River Cottage team expressed thanks to the fire service, saying: ‘River Cottage sausage rolls all round for the crews, who were terrific last night.’ Fearnley-Whittingstall moved into the original River Cottage in Dorset in 1998. He went on to write a series of best-selling books based on his philosophy of ethically sourced food and moved his headquarters to Park Farm in 2006.

He also runs the River Cottage Canteen and Deli in the centre of Axminster and last year opened the latest addition to his empire – a second Canteen and Deli in Plymouth. - Daily Mail