Sharnfold Farm

Ik was blij met: The field was flat and we were one of two tents on the site which was great. The toilets are also open to the public visiting the farm. There wasn’t anywhere to wash up our dishes but we made it work! The farm and fishing lake was fab and we had a lovely stay. (The road is noisy but ear plugs helped)

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Ik was blij met: Really lovely kids farm with a great playground and trail with loads to do. Nice small site with only a few other families. The kids loved it & we'll definitely be back!

Ik was niet zo blij met: The toilets could do with someone sweeping them regularly & dusting /sweeping all of the cobwebs and spiders away. We don't mind spiders but there were loads of them that had obviously been there a while.

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Ik was blij met: Maize maze
Croquet
Crazy golf
Playground

Ik was niet zo blij met: Toilets

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Ik was blij met: Friendliness of the host James, the farmtrail which would be absolutely fabulous for small children, the farmshop.
It was ideal for a quick stop over, will definitely stay again

Ik was niet zo blij met: Nothing

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Ik was blij met: So Much to do at this campsite! The info on pitch up doesn’t do it justice!
Farm animals were great
Giant games such and connect 4, chess, jenga
The play area was fab with undercover huge sand pit with loads of toys. Crazy golf.
The trail through the woods was much longer than expected with things to do the whole way around! Great sensory activities too!
The maize maize was a huge hit! They loved playing hide and seek in there.
We didn’t eat in the cafe but it looked good and the outside seating looked over the play area.
It wasn’t super crowded. Everyone camped around the edge of the field. We went August bank holiday weekend.
Toilets were basic but everytime I used them they were clean

Ik was niet zo blij met: Very noisy road nearby which disturbed my sleep with loud vehicles going past. This is obviously not the campsites fault.

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Ik was blij met: The staff were lovely, pitches were large and wherever you wanted to go. There was free entry onto the farm with a cafe and shop on site, pub next door and a 20 minute drive to the beach. There was also a fun mapped walking trail around the grounds with tons to do with the kids and a play park

Ik was niet zo blij met: Toilets could have been kept a little cleaner for the campers, but the shop toilets were fine

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Ik was blij met: The facilities (lake, park, farm trail, etc) were mostly nice. The problem was, we weren't allowed to get to them.

Ik was niet zo blij met: Pitchup's headline description is "Dog-friendly wild campsite with free entry to a family farm attraction". However please take note if you have both children and dogs, as you may well be disappointed.

The camping is described as having a farm shop, a kids play area, a lake, and a farm trail. It notes that dogs are to be kept on leads and not of dangerous breeds, but lists no other restrictions.

It does NOT say that if you have dogs, you can't visit the lake, or the play area, or the farm trail. Nor does the Sharnfold Farm website.

As for the farm shop (as pictured in the photos, and where I had been planning to buy food), when I arrived I enquired, and the reply from the owners was "it's more of a gift shop these days, to minimise waste".

I stayed here with two 7 year old boys and two small dogs. The children were very disappointed when they were told we couldn't visit any of the things they had come to see and for which we had selected this site. I ended up having to rearrange for someone else to look after the dogs and drive a ~100 mile roundtrip to salvage what I could of our stay.

Overall, it seems like false advertising. The only reasons we selected this site were all inaccessible to us.

The owners had given us an initially friendly welcome, but when I asked to speak to them about this I was extremely disappointed in their response.

I explained the situation to James, who refused to acknowledge they had gotten/done anything wrong whatsoever.

He claimed that their own website explained that dogs could not enter the site. I explained I had already double-checked and could see no such warning, but he stood there looking on his phone for nearly 5 minutes as we spoke insisting it was there, before eventually giving up stating that he couldn't find it but he was sure it was there.

He made no substantial attempt to set things right, or acknowledge the children's disappointment, and just kept reiterating that they had a long-standing policy of no non-assistance dogs on the site, and insisting that there were acres of fields we could go and walk in. (We did so, and the 7-year-old boys were understandably not much consoled by several empty tree-lined fields.)

To my amazement, given that they hopefully know a lot about caring for animals, James suggested that if the children really wanted to come inside I could leave my two dogs unattended in the hot car or tent while I took the children in. It was a very hot day and this would obviously have been dangerous to the dogs.

I virtually never leave reviews, let alone negative ones. However by the end of the conversation James had acknowledged that the Pitchup description and website should be updated, and said he would request the changes that day. I have waited a month, and both Pitchup and their website seem completely unchanged. As such, I feel I have to write this review to advise future visitors, as the current marketing seems intentionally misleading for families with dogs.

I have added a picture of the only sign or notice I ever saw referring to there being no dogs on the site, which was situated inside the attraction and not visible before you had paid and entered.

Overall, be advised: Don't take your children and your dogs, unless you have someone else with you to look after them.

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Ik was blij met: Honestly couldn't fault the site... STUNNING farm trail, would be wonderful for little ones and we could wander through the farm looking at the animals in the evening! Staff couldn't have been friendlier, even checking in before they closed up to make sure we had everything. Absolute hidden gem...families, couples or anyone looking to chill around nature and animals with a handy pub in walking distant...this is the place for you!

Ik was niet zo blij met: Nothing!

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Ik was blij met: Basic but very pleasant site. Staff friendly on arrival. Access to the farm, shop and cafe is a bonus! I have older children 10 and 13 and they loved the farm. Easy 10 minutes drive down to Eastbourne seafront.

Ik was niet zo blij met: Needs a little TLC in the toilets, just a broom round and dust up that's all.

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Ik was blij met: Shops were a quick drive away, pub next door and the farm with the play area and activities was brilliant (and included in the porch price). Also nice to have the cafe (although it doesn’t open until 9 and we had to wait ages for food as so busy). Great to have butchers too but unfortunately the shop doesn’t sell other essentials or food to go with meat for a BBQ. It is perfect for little ones and for the weekend we didn’t need to leave the site except to do a shop. Staff were friendly.

Ik was niet zo blij met: There was only one toilet open most the time and even when everything was open there was only the disabled toilet open in the cafe. This meant waiting ages for the toilet at certain times. I don’t understand why the others were not open. Luckily we had a potty for little ones. There are power lines over the field although could not hear buzzing. Also you can hear quite s busy road nearby - although didn’t wake us at night was very evident in the day.

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