The BIRCH school of Herbal Medicine (formerly the irch)

20th July 2026

The BIRCH School of Herbal Medicine was established in 1949, as both a training school and a register of qualified herbalists.

A History of the Birch School of Herbal Medicine

The IRCH has evolved recently into the BIRCH School of Herbal Medicine. Here is a short, but interesting, history of our organisation.

The International Register of Consultant Herbalists (IRCH) has been a recognised school training professional herbalists for many years. However, it has not been as well-known as others, in part due to its name. IRCH didn’t suggest to many people that it was a school as well as a register. Having said that, it did come up on careers centre searches back in 1999 using microfiche and card indexes when I was looking for a study route. The IRCH appeared and was stated as being established in 1960, so already a well-established school and the one I chose to study with.

Whilst we were working on the changes to the website and social media, amongst other things, we decided to delve into our history not expecting to go back any further than the 1960 we had all been seeing on the documentation. What we discovered was far more interesting!

In 1864 National Association of Medical Herbalists was founded (NAMH). This organisation subsequently became the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) in 1954. Sometime in the 1930’s the British Herbalists Union was initiated as one of a number of splinter organisations from NAMH. We haven’t found any reason for this split, nor the names of other groups. At this time, it is possible that professional training courses were already inplace.

In 1949 The Faculty of Herbal Medicine was founded under the direction of the British Herbal Union by Dr James Hewlett-Parsons (1916-1990). It provided students with training in Herbal Medicine in the form of home study followed by clinical and pharmacological experience under the personal supervision of established practitioners. Now, that sounds very much how we continue to present our training – during my training we used the snail mail method in just the same way. So much easier now it is electronic! James Hewlett-Parsons originally trained as a bio-chemist but became disillusioned with orthodox medicine and turned to naturopathy and herbal medicine. He wrote the new curriculum for the GCRCH course in 1960 and was secretary until his death in 1990. He is author of several books including ‘Naturopathic practice: A valuable guide to students’ and others in the principles and practice of nature cure.

Potted Timeline

• 1864 National Association of Medical Herbalists was founded (subsequently becoming NIMH in 1954)
• In 1930’s the British Herbalists Union was initiated as one of a number of splinterorganisations from NAMH
• 1949 The Faculty of Herbal Medicine was founded under the direction of the BritishHerbal Union by Dr James Hewlett-Parsons (1916-1990). It provided students with training in Herbal Medicine in the form of home study followed by clinical and pharmacological experience under the personal supervision of established practitioners.
• The General Council and Register of Consultant Herbalists (GCRCH) was founded on 10th November 1960 by the directors of the British Herbal Union uniting the Faculty of Herbal Medicine and The Homeopathic Foundation, creating a joint professional register and teaching organisation.
• The GCRCH also offered training in osteopathy, naturopathy and psychology for anumber of years. Naturopathy is now an integral part of the Herbal Medicine course.
• In 1997, because of its international spread and the equal status of both the Herbal and Homoeopathic training the GCRCH was re-named the International Register of Consultant Herbalists and Homoeopaths.
• The IRCH ceased to offer Homeopathy training in 2020 placing its focus on its traditional roots of Western Herbal Medicine.
• In 2026, the IRCH becomes the BIRCH School of Herbal Medicine to emphasise the unique education that it has offered for the past 77 years.
• Why BIRCH? Birch is a pioneering tree – we were (and still are) a pioneering School of Herbal Medicine. One of the first training establishments, founded by renowned herbalists and naturopaths. Proud to be continuing to produce well qualified practitioners. (and no, the B doesn’t stand for anything!).

The current BIRCH diploma

The BIRCHschm diploma has undergoneupdating over the past 77+ years to incorporate ongoing research. It is a carefully structured blended learning course leading to a professional qualification.

Its flexible approach offers an opportunity to study at your own pace. It covers fourteen units over four modules (Anatomy & Physiology; Naturopathic Practice; Materia Medica; Herbal Medicine and Practice Management) as well as required Clinical Observations & supervised Practice. Mandatory contact hours include attendance at our summer school, seminars, monthly on-line seminar tutorials and the annual conference.

With all of our tutors experienced and practicing herbalists, it offers a unique training in traditional Western Herbal Medicine and as such does take commitment – it takes approximately 5-6 years to complete the course.