South of England Rare Breeds Centre

We absolutely love visiting here, it's always a great day out. Very reasonable entry fee too, and we'll be buying an annual pass soon as that is a fair price as well 😊

Plenty of things to do even during the colder months but it's spring and summer where this place comes alive. Loads of play areas, tractor rides, friendly staff and friendly animals - talking of which there are so many to see (and pet). Goats, guinea pigs, cows, bunnies, birds, pigs (and piglets), horses, butterflies, all sorts!

Some areas smell pretty ripe, but hey, it's a farm, what do you expect 😁

Fantastic place. 100% recommended.

Lovely place for a fun family day out at a reasonable price.

Pros
So much to see and do here.
Loads of animals to see and things for the kids to do and play with.
Loads of walks and trails.
Lots of hand washing stations

Top tip take a picnic i have never seen so many picnic tables in a venue before.

Cons
Main Gift shop is still not open and the temporary one out side is very poor.

Restaurants is still not open and reduced menu.

Not enough toilets for the space/land they have

Super day at the Rare Breeds Centre. Booking was easy, we chose an early arrival slot for 2 adults and a 7 year old, we were shown where to park and entry was quick. There was a barn with animals out that you could stroke, goats, sheep, pigs, rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens, that was a big hit that we visited more than once. Lunch options were good. We ordered some sandwiches and hot food, we were given a buzzer so sat down and only waited about 10 minutes for the food. The burger was epic. We went on a tractor ride and got out at the end to walk back through the woods filled with bluebells. The mysterious marsh is an obstacle course in the woods which was great. A bird show and pig racing as well as cool tunnels to climb through on the play area meant we stayed a full 6 hours. I definitely recommend it, we had glorious weather which definitely made it a perfect Sunday.

Lovely place on a sunny day. We caught the bluebells too, in a lovely walk down from the top of the farm (after the tractor ride up). Animals were great, staff lovely, catering limited, but plenty to do which would last a full day. Shame a couple of bits were closed off or would have been 5⭐️

First time visiting the rare breed centre.
Note, you need to book tickets before you arrive because you can't buy them there at the moment. Very helpful ladies explained and helped us get our tickets online and booked us in.
The petting area is so good for kids, our little girl loved being able to experience animals for the first time and also being able to touch them. The piglets were her favourite and she loved them running around her feet and then being able to stroke one.
The animals all look happy and well cared for in the whole place.
We decided to go and get a drink. When we got to the picnic/restaurant area it didn't appear very open and not very inviting. Everything is still very much shut off still from covid and if we hadn't of asked we would have assumed it to be shut. There is a paddling pool area which has been filled in with sand which I think is a shame.
We decided to see what the gift shop had to offer only to have the same experience as the restaurant, it didn't look open and not inviting at all. You can buy things there but you have to pick from a window, not really the same thing you want when getting a sovereign from the place.
All in all the place is lovely but only takes a few hours to look around. There was a lot of people in the car park but when you went in you couldn't see where all the people had gone. It seemed like too many cars for the amount of people we saw round the place.

Just visited again after 2 years.
Wasn't impressed the last time, And even though it has slightly improved.
Still more needs improving.
The petting corning was lovely, but have to say was concerned how sedated some of them looked.
The kids play area is dangerous for under 5s.
I've tried to make contact with the farm over this but with no reply back.
The slide is too high off the grown,my kid went down it and landed face first into the spikey woodchips. and the wooden bridges are extremely slippery and our kid fell off at height.
Having said that We would go again just because it's local and my girl loved seeing the farm animals. But would definitely skip the play area at the far end.

Great place to stretch your legs, get some fresh air and interact with the farm animals. The little one loved it.
The lady that did story time is a great addition and was very interactive with the little ones who thoroughly enjoyed it.
We spent a good 5 hours here today great value for money. Very clean and tidy and the staff very knowledgeable

Definitely a five out of five. Absolutely loved this place. It's so caring to its animals and the staff are lovely. Just wish we could have fed the animals as well. All in all, a great place!