Fiona

Godstone Farm in Surrey

In Tandridge district sits a lovely little children’s farm park, Godstone Farm, which offers a fabulous day out for the whole family. It’s really important to teach children to respect animals and develop a love of nature and the outdoors, at an early an age as possible. Being outside is far more beneficial that being stuck inside watching TV or playing games on a console – it’s been proven that being close to nature has huge benefits for our mental health, as well as being far more interesting! A bonus that you may be interested in – being outside and active will also help to tire your kids out so they’ll sleep better too – got a to be a winner right!

You’ll find lots of beautiful animals at Godstone Farm. Aren’t donkeys just so wonderful and gentle.

Godstone Farm is situated at the Godstone village end of Tilburstow Hill Road. It’s set within the picturesque Surrey Hills so the surrounding views are spectacular. You’ll always get a welcome leaflet on arrival so you know what time the interactive animal sessions take place – you won’t want to miss out on pig feeding or the chance to feed and learn more about some of the animals in the Animal Interaction Barn. It’s really important to know what time certain areas are open too, for example last entry to the Play Barn is 4pm and you will definitely need to make time to pop in there – it’s fantastic!

The adventure playground has plenty of space to explore and also several handy picnic tables , although you could always take your own picnic blanket for alfresco dining. Take away food is available from the Play Barn cafe as well as the nearby snack shop.

Godstone Farm is open all year round, except Christmas Day and Boxing Day and has a great line up of seasonal events throughout the year. Even when there aren’t special events taking place, Godstone Farm is a great family day out. There are over five hundred well cared for animals living at the farm, from the very tiny, such as stick insects, chicks and guinea pigs, to the very large, including llamas, Highland cattle, donkeys and horses, plus a whole load in between. It’s definitely a wonderful place to see all creatures great and small and perfect if you’re looking for somewhere to take the kids for a day out in Surrey.

You’ll find adorable baby animals throughout the year that will delight adults as well as children.

Set in over 40 acres, there’s great opportunities for outside play and they even have sandpits with buckets, spades and digger toys for the kids to play with, a HUGE adventure playground plus a wilding play area – anther great chance to get close to nature and just play!

Let the children create their own fun in the wilding play area with mud kitchen, sandpit and natural play.

If you’re a dinosaur fan you can explore the World of Dinosaur Roar discovery trail in its own woodland setting. These bright and colourful dinosaur characters will have little ones in awe.

One thing about England is the unpredictable British weather but don’t worry – if it rains they’ve got you covered with a massive new Play Barn with four tier soft play main frame containing no less than seven slides plus separate baby and toddler areas. You’ll also find animal barns which are under cover and a smaller indoor play area, Wiglet’s Play Village – with brilliant ball zone fun for the kids (adults I can guarantee you’ll want to join in too!) there are also comfy chairs available for parents – if you can sit still!

The newly built Play Barn at Godstone Farm is such an exciting space for kids to explore. It’s Surrey’s largest soft play centre.

Animal Experiences

You can book animal experiences which are a great idea for a special gift for someone or even a treat for yourself if you love animals – there’s no age limit. The experiences available are with either the meerkats, goats, pigs or reptiles. They also have a Tiny Tots experience for little ones aged one to four and a Farmer Experience for kids aged four to nine. These really are brilliant to encourage children of a young age to develop a love and respect of animals and learn how to care for them. Oh and perfect for couples there’s an adult animal experience which also includes afternoon tea plus an experience tailored to the animals you love. That’s really good value and lasts two hours plus you’ll get entry to the farm for the whole day too!

Timmy, a giant Sulcata tortoise, is a popular reptile with visitors and has his own outside enclosure. In the Reptile House you’ll discover iguanas, bearded dragons, snakes and more!

What will you find at Godstone Farm

  • Farm trail
  • Animal barns
  • Animal interaction barn
  • Reptile house
  • Pond walk
  • Rabbit walk
  • Viewing platform
  • Indoor soft play centre
  • Indoor ball zone fun area
  • Adventure playground
  • Wilding play area
  • Sandpits
  • Ride-on toys for under sixes
  • Picnic areas – some under cover
  • Restaurant
  • Cafe within the Play Barn
  • Snack shop – weather dependent
  • Gift Shop
  • Family toilets
  • Handwashing areas
  • Changing Places room in Play Barn

What you need to know

  • Free parking is available at the farm, you can find your way there by typing RH9 8LX into your navigation system or phone. Be aware that the car park is very bumpy so you need to drive in and around it really slowly, especially if you’ve got a low profile car.
  • You can’t take dogs to the farm, which is pretty understandable as they have a lot of smaller animals and larger ones too that could get quite frightened by dogs, and often there’ll be chickens and ducks just free roaming.
  • Some of the routes around the farm are hilly and the paths are a little rocky in places so wear decent shoes – flip flops and high heels are a bad idea and you definitely want to avoid wearing your favourite designer brands. It’s countryside so wear shoes or boots that it doesn’t matter if they get dirty or dusty and that are comfy for a lot of walking.
  • There are quite a lot of maps on display around the farm, that are easy to follow, you’ll also get a map within your welcome leaflet.
  • There are lots of hand washing stations around the farm, for example outside areas where you will be touching the animals, it’s really important to wash your hands regularly during your visit.
  • You can feed some of the animals – the goats, sheep, cows, llamas and alpacas – with special food that you can purchase either when you’re booking your tickets online, or at the gate or the gift shop.
  • It’s cheaper to buy your tickets in advance on the Godstone Farm website, you can save £2 per ticket – so it’s definitely worth it.
  • If your child has a registered disability they host a special early morning session in the Play Barn on the first Saturday of each month, you’ll be able to get a free carer ticket for yourself but you will need to bring along a form of proof of disability to show at the gate on arrival.

“If children grow up not knowing about nature and appreciating it, they will not understand it, and if they don’t understand it, they won’t protect it, and if they don’t protect it, who will?”

Sir David Attenborough

We’re so lucky having hidden gems like this close by, if you are looking for a farm day out in Surrey, this would definitely be the one that I’d recommend!