Welcome to Kingston Maurward Animal Park & Gardens
We’ve got all of this and more!
Beautiful Gardens
Barn and Café
Theatrical Events
Glorious Goats
Explore the Animal Park
The Shop
Tours and Talks
At Kingston Maurward Animal Park and Gardens, we have 35 acres of beautiful formal gardens with year-round interest including two National Plant collections, sweeping lawns, lakeside walks plus a collection of livestock, poultry, and donkeys – to name a few – all set within Grade II listed parkland.
Enjoy a stroll followed by a cup of tea and a piece of cake from our Barn Café, let the children run and play in our indoor or outdoor play areas – or sit on one of our secluded benches, listen to the sound of birdsong and be inspired by a location that so influenced Thomas Hardy. We are free to enter and open daily and we welcome enquiries for group or event bookings.
View Opening Times
The Animal Park & Gardens have some accessibility, please get a map from the Shop to plan your route.
Over the next few months, we have various activities around the park! Buy your Trail Pack from the Shop and off you go!
Our Animal Overview
Can we adopt the animals?
Yes, most animals are available for adoption, you can also adopt our magnificent trees. Please contact us for more details.
Pigs
Guinea Pigs
Rabbits
Goats
Ponies
Waterfowl
Donkeys
Alpaca
What we offer
The Animal Park & Gardens Shop
The Shop provides a lovely choice of gifts, preserves, local spirit and cider products, jewellery and lifestyle items from local artisan suppliers; fresh produce is also in the form of deliciously moreish sweet treats, locally grown plants, vegetables, and eggs.
Barn & Café
Our purpose-built Barn & Café offers hot and cold drinks, delicious cakes and pastries, and savory snacks including sandwiches, and crisps. Afternoon teas are available if pre-booked. You can also get an ice cream for your dog!
Indoor Play Area
We also have an indoor play area and seating in the Barn & Café and we look forward to welcoming you! It’s safe, fun, and perfect for little explorers to let loose!
Seasonal Horsebox
Our horsebox comes out in seasonally and is situated to the side of the Main House overlooking the lake. Visitors can stroll through the gardens from the Animal Park, and purchase hot and cold drinks, snacks and ice cream from the horsebox until Autumn.
Bespoke Visits
We offer tailored visits to meet your curriculum or group needs, from self-guided to meeting the animal interactions, planting seeds and plants, talks and activities. All ages catered for – children and adults. Get in touch and start planning the possibilities for your next outdoor adventure.
Book a visit
Facilities
We are pleased to welcome visitors who use wheelchairs and pushchairs. Accessible toilets are provided at the entrance. The garden is grade II listed; many parts of the garden are accessible but visitors should be advised that there are gravel paths, steps and steep slopes in places therefore certain parts are inaccessible for visitors with mobility difficulties and pushchairs. Please ask our staff for any help should you need it.
Reduced Access
Please note that from time to time there will be limited access to our gardens due to weddings and other events. View our restricted access timetable here.
Open Everyday between 10am – 4pm
Plenty of time for all the animal and garden fun you could ask for!
Outside Washing Facilities
Great for using after touching animals or getting ready for lunch!
Visitor Toilets + Baby Changing
We also have accessible toilets and baby change facilities located next to the Shop.
Picnics are Welcome
We offer extra treats including cheese, ham, crackers, crisps and cake from our Shop, all you need to bring is bread! We only ask that you kindly take all of your rubbish home please.
Dogs on Leads are Welcome
Dogs welcome on leads in the Animal Park and Gardens. Enjoy the visit with your pet, but please keep them calm and away from enclosure fences, do not let them poke their nose through fences. Be aware that your dog may become overwhelmed and start barking or lunging, if this is the case lead them away to let them calm down by our picnic benches.
Please clean up after your dog and don’t forget a towel for those muddy their puddy paws. You can also buy dog treats and gifts in the Shop.
Parking / Coaches / Bicycles
We have a car park adjacent to the Animal Park and Gardens entrance, additional Parking is signposted should this be full, with a bit further to walk – see map. Parking is partly on grass so can get muddy – keep your drive wheels on the gravel (most vehicles reverse in).
Coach and Minibus – Parking is available – for further information please email: animalpark@kmc.ac.uk.
Bicycles – We have a bike rack attached to the wall of the Shop to keep them safe and secure.
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People LOVE KMC Animal Park!
Did you enjoy your last visit?
Leave us a review
It was a lovely place to visit. Free parking and entrance. Plenty for all ages to enjoy. We would have liked to know more about the history and present use of the house, park and garden. The cellar cafe sold the most scrumptious white chocolate cake ever! My first time tasting coffee in a bag, not too bad at all.😊 The children will love the small animal, inside and outside play areas.
Barbara (Grace)
4 weeks ago
A great place to explore and get outside. Expansive gardens, a small animal park, a lake, and the house itself. And FREE admission, you don’t even pay to park! Can’t say that about too many attractions these days. Means you can definitely enjoy a coffee and cake in the café 😉
Jonathan Carre
6 months ago
Always a wonderful day out, can’t believe it’s still free. Took my daughters of 9 and 12 and we spent over 5 hours here. We took a picnic and purchased ice creams too. So many places to explore and animals to see.
Lorna McQueen
6 months ago
This is free! The gardens are amazing to explore, cafe with a small play area and small playground outside too – fabulous stop over if you’re going West. Cafe doesn’t have a huge selection but the play area trumped this. Animal park has goats, ducks, donkeys etc, nothing too exciting but it was good for us to stretch our legs mid journey. Garden was incredible, so many hidden paths, steps and places to explore and picnic. Can’t believe it was free.
Nat Miller
8 months ago
Outstanding place to bring children, and for free! This is the sort of place English Heritage would charge you £20 to visit and £5 to park in. Free indoor children’s play area with lovely cafe. Loads of very happy animals to see and wonderful gardens to walk around. Shame about the older chavy students we saw brazenly throwing litter onto the field, disgusting.
Philip
10 months ago
Free entry to animal park with llamas, donkeys, goats, pigs, geese, etc. Lovely formal garden ‘rooms’ great to amble around or play hide and seek with kids. Sloping lawn from house to lake a lovely spot to laze on a sunny day. Great wildlife walk around the lake. Also has cafe, shop and indoor play area for younger kids. Outdoor climbing frame etc for under 10s.
Ian W
3 weeks ago
Excellent attraction and free of charge to enter. Would highly recommend. Easy to find and good parking available. Includes small estate shop and cafe on site. Milk vending machine located outside. Good selection of animals all of which look to be in good health.
Adrian J
a Year ago
Absolutely brilliant – free to get in, enough animals to entertain little ones, brilliant indoor and outdoor play areas, beautiful grounds, decent coffee in the cafe and dogs allowed pretty much everywhere! The perfect destination for my 2&4 year old girls and 8 year old greyhound
Alison Bates
8 months ago
Brilliant place for youngster’s, it’s free to enter and has all of the animals and some lovely walks around gardens and grounds. They often have trails for children to do. Plus there is the milk shake shed at the entrance.. And they have a Cafe and soft play. Frankly this place is a brilliantly kepy secret. It just great, we go there regularly.
Brendan Hampshire
2 months ago
