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We stayed at Church Farm just one night before taking out caravan for a service the next day and before moving on to Devon and Cornwall. It was a last minute decision to leave home a day early. We found the site a little awkward to approach.
We came through the middle of the village and it is easy to overshoot the entrance as we did, and so ended up by reversing the van down a small lane to turn around. The site itself seemed fairly relaxed and didn’t seem too sure they were expecting us to start with but the problem was soon sorted.
The site itself seemed fine and was fairly well kept. We were on a hard standing, but the hardstanding itself was fairly small, but plenty of room in the adjoining grass. There was just enough room for the caravan – had we have put up an awning that would have been on the grass.
The toilet block close to the entrance was adequate, clean, but well worn. Apparently there was a newer more spacious toilet block elsewhere, but we were there for such a short time we did not have chance to check it out.
There seemed to be more tents than Caravans on site. The field we were on was specious and flat and there was plenty of space in the centre for children to play. There seemed to be no restriction on ball games, so this may be a problem for some. There is also a small play area with swings and a climbing frame.
The highlight of the stay was definitely the meal in the restaurant (called ‘The Shed’). It was reasonably priced good value food and they did have a nice local real ale on pump. The restaurant was light and spacious and had picnic benches outside for those who wanted to eat out. If you stay at this site it is worth a visit to The Shed.
The site was dark at night and the church bell rang out on the hour until midnight (I think!). I would use the site again for a short stay, but it wouldn’t really hit the spot for us for a main holiday.
Very clean and friendly site, toilet and shower block was excellent. Nice warm showers and vary spacious. And lots of them, so no need to queue best I've seen on any campsite, well impressed. And only a short walk from the tent pitches.
Took a walk down to the village for a drink at the local pub, seemed nice and friendly, but decided to head back to campsite for a meal.
Had dinner on site in the shed, very efficient staff, lovely meal was had while the children were playing at the small but perfectly efficient park.
Very safe environment.
Would definitely book this campsite again. A short, but very enjoyable stay
We spent 4 nights here in the rally field over Easter. The field has a slight slope but it was easy to level the caravan and we enjoyed fantastic views over countryside & we were delighted to watch the sun go down. We were able to use the facilities and as the site wasn't full there were no queues.
The old toilet block contains a large, fully enclosed shower room, a room with toilet & sink & 2 toilet cubicles & a few sinks. The new block had a row of toilets opposite a row of showers, plus sinks. The shower I used in there had a push button & I wasn't able to control the temperature at all.
The Shed is an attractive building & we took advantage of Fisn'n'chips night which were very enjoyable. From the rally field we were able to access the village play area which was very popular. There's also a large football pitch and a good grassy area to walk the dog.
There are signposted walks around the campsite which takes you through fields and seemed to go quite a way although we stayed close to the site. The owner was very helpful,showing me where everything was. The public recycling facilities are near the entrance to the site & well used. There's also a gate into the church grounds.
I had a quick tour around the site which appears to be well kept, the pitches are spacious except one area where the caravans seemed to be packed in quite closely but as there was plenty of room in another field I imagine it might have been a group of people who preferred their own area together.
The village doesn't really have much for people to do during the day but its peaceful & there's no traffic drone. I would go to Church Farm again for that very reason.
Along with other views this site is large and pitches are big. We stayed for the steam fair. Our only disappointment was when we arrived and booked in. The person on reception was not very pleasant. Our booking was booked for 3 day and electric hook up. They had us booked for 2 day no electric, even though we completed their booking form and sent the requested s.A.E. We got no reply. We made 3 calls to check our confirmation and were told all was booked o.K as per the booking form. Anyway, in the end we were given a large pitch with electric.
The new 'barn' is great, food very good and plenty of it,and fresh. Staff very polite. Moan again, down side was size of bar. Remove the 2 stools as there is no space to get to the bar otherwise
New shower block was fantastic, nice hot showers.
Walk to the shops via the 'short' cut was quicker, Post office had some food items but the shop further down the road was like ARKWRIGHTS! It had every thing,and reasonably priced. Pub between post office and shop was friendly as well. Butchers was great and well stocked.
Despite the confusion at the reception, I would return, as its a great base for travelling around the area
We chose Church Farm as it is well positioned for a variety of attractions and is in a very rural area which offers a bit of peace and quiet. We initially made contact several weeks beforehand and were informed there were no vacancies, by both phone and email, during the period we were looking at staying. We considered other sites but my wife still wanted to stay in the Cranborne Chase area, I phoned the site a couple of days before we were due to start our holiday and to our surprise and delight were told that they could fit us in. The site is easy to find we approached from the roundabout on the A354 Salisbury to Blandford Forum road; the village of Sixpenny Handley has a narrow main street and 20mph speed restriction, easy to negotiate in a car but could be interesting if towing. Be prepared for entertaining driving if approaching from Shaftsbury, the road zigzags up a steep hill which is reminiscent of the Alps. On arrival there is plenty of room to park up whilst visiting the reception, but don’t arrive between 1200hrs and 1400hrs as the office is closed and the warden wants to show you where to pitch, that bit is out of your hands. The reception is a little disorganised, a female was behind the desk and on speaking to her I recognised her voice as the one who had taken my booking, I couldn’t say that I felt welcome more an inconvenience. After watching her sift through some bits of paper I saw one with my name on and it was agreed that we were expected. I confirmed our party numbers and we were in a tent staying initially for seven nights. I was given a price which I duly paid and thought no more about it until I had had a cup of tea when I realised that the amount I had paid bore no resemblance to what I had booked and should have paid. As it was under half the amount due, I took this up with the owner and she said had inadvertently charged for three days only. I did jokingly offer to keep quiet and say no more about it, but nonetheless she charged me the balance for seven days which I paid but still couldn’t make sense of the calculation.
The pitch we were shown to was in a small and busy field at the bottom of the site which was slightly sloping. The pitch itself was of generous proportions and was conveniently placed adjacent to a tap which saved us the hassle of filling water containers to keep us supplied. In fact the whole site appeared well served by water taps which was a big plus and it also had an electric hook-up, which we weren’t using, these seemed plentiful too. The walk from our pitch to the toilets was a reasonable hike particularly if, having imbibed the excellent local beer, the trip was made in the wee small hours. The facilities were reasonably good, there are old and new toilets and showers, the old, by the car park, were limited, the new ones to the rear of the ‘Shed’ were far superior although I would anticipate queues at busy times as there was only four of everything. The facilities were, by and large, clean, this may have been as a result of the low numbers on site but also because the owners encourage you to clean up after yourself and provided the necessary to do so, it’s a shame more sites don’t do this. The access to the toilets in the Shed are via a security coded door which eliminates the chances of ad hoc passers by nipping in for a pee with muddy boots on, which I have experienced elsewhere. The Shed, which in addition to toilets and reception, also accommodates a large bright café bar that serves food including breakfast, I cannot pass comment on the standard as we didn’t use it but I was told by one camper who went in on Steak Night that it was good. Behind the old toilet block adjacent to the bins and waste disposal point is a laundry which looked a bit shabby and at the front of the building is the washing up room which also has a fridge and freezer for campers use, these also looked like a good clean out wouldn’t go amiss. This also seemed to double as an additional store to the Shed where food deliveries were dropped off often putting one of the two sinks out of use.
Our first Saturday night was a little noisy but bearable owing to a few campers attending the Great Dorset Steam Fair, on the Sunday the field emptied and we had it to ourselves which was nice and it stayed that way until Wednesday. On arrival I had mentioned to the owner that we may want to extend our stay by two days until the following Monday and would confirm that later. On the Tuesday I again spoke to the owner who informed me that it would be OK and asked where we were pitched, I told him and was informed that there was a wedding at the local church and the reception was being held in the Shed, some of the guests would be camping in our field. The field slowly filled with tents and by Friday night things were getting a touch lively until about 0130hrs, which included letting off fireworks close to the tents. The owner seemed unfazed by this and made no effort to reduce the noise, not that, in the circumstances, we could fault them for their jollity. I spoke to a female, who I presumed to be the owner’s daughter, the following day and she was surprised we had been put where we were and told me that we were very welcome to move to the far side of the top field. Regardless of losing a large part of the day packing up and shifting a very large tent, we decided that this was the better option. The disco, after the reception, went on until midnight and we were unable to escape that noise, but we were away from the shenanigans in the Donkey Field. The noise from the wedding reception was worsened and added to by a large music festival at Larmer Tree Gardens in the near by village of Tollard Royal. Although about three miles away, the music from the festival could be heard clearly on the site, well past midnight.
Sixpenny Handley is a pleasant village blessed with reasonably good shops, a well stocked village stores, a post office and a very good butcher, there is also a decent pub which serves a good selection of food. The pub at Tollard Royal is also well worth a visit, on the evening I visited they were selling beer from the local Sixpenny Handley micro brewery which I highly recommend and their menu is excellent. Shaftsbury has a good selection of shops including a reasonable sized Tesco.
We visited this site in November last year for one night and decided to see what is was like in the sunshine, we were not disappointed.
We were shown to our pitch by site owner (what a fantastic bloke, smiled the whole time we were there), showers and toilets were excellent very clean and did not have to queue once which was brilliant considering it was bank holiday weekend, had to queue for washing up facilities as only 2 sinks, not a problem just chatted with the other campers.
The shed is great, we didn't eat in but the meals coming out were very tempting and other campers said they were very good.
The local village shop is a tardis, and worth a visit for your daily needs.
The staff were very friendly and helpful, will come back again.
Just got back from this lovely site and wanted to share it with you. We stayed here for a week and visited Poole, Bournemouth, Swanage and Lulworth cove amongst other places. How great to visit seaside places yet come 'home' to this peaceful countryside site near Crambourne Chase!We went on delightful steam train from Norden near Corfe Castle to Swanage (£2 to park, £9 each on train, No charge under 5's).
Its a well drained site. Rocky underneath thin soil so take a good hammer to get tent pegs in ! In the immaculately clean 'Shed' the facilities are excellent. The is a family 'wet room' with shower sink and toilet. It had a 'perforated' moveable chair if you need to sit for a shower. A plastic high back baby bath and toddler step to reach the sink. Separate disabled toilet in another room. Push button showers are a bit annoying to use but we'll forgive them that on environmental issues! 4 showers with hook for clothes, bench for your stuff and room to dry in. Room nice and warm -can be chilly even in August. There is even liquid soap by the washbasins.
The bonus for us was the wonderfully dark sky-The Milky way was visible arching across the sky from the Church right over our heads and so many stars we cant see at home.
In the older red brick wash up area is a fridge freezer for your own use so no separate charges for freezing your ice blocks and a microwave. Plenty of hot water for dishwashing.
The village is so near you can run down to the shop if you run out of milk. The local butcher is helpful and knowledgeable and is also a deli. I like to buy locally to support the shops a bit but there is a huge Tesco extra at Poole.
The owner is always around tidying up etc so site feels quite secure. Playground was mainly suitable for older children, a climbing frame aand 2 swings about 3ft off the ground so take the little ones to see the donkey and sheep. Take a little walk past the churchyard and further on thru' a gap in the hedge is the local 'rec' Great zip wire, skateboard ramps and more equipment even a youth shelter if it rains.
Cafe area in the 'Shed' serves full breakfasts if you don't fancy cooking (not open Mondays or Tuesdays in week we were there ) but only ever tried it for a coffee just before we left. Toilet disposal area antiquated and rustic but I suppose it does the job adequately! If it was my site I would like to see the more natural areas of grass sown with wild flowers not so many docks & thistles- they are in danger of taking over-that's all I cant think of to criticise !
Just got back from a four night break and cannot recommend this lovely site highly enough. We stayed in the bottom field (no hook up) which was nice and quiet and very safe for the children (8,9,11,12).
The only slight disadvantage is that this is the furthest point from the loos and showers (still barely 3-4 minutes walk)but they are worth the walk - the cleanest I have ever seen at a campsite in high season and nice touches like handwash by the sinks.
My children found the playground by the church and small skatepark within the hour - this can be reached without any crossing of roads. On the site itself is a smaller playground for younger children. We ate at the 'Shed' on site on the final night and wished we had gone there sooner. Even though they were busy (there was a large group of 'star gazers' staying), the food arrived quickly and was obviously freshly cooked and large portions for a reasonable price (£5.95 from memory) plus they did smaller, cheaper portions of anything on the main menu for kids.
The owners were very helpful and friendly and clearly enjoy meeting people. The village itself has a small selection of shops and a pub with erratic opening hours. There are some nice walks in the local area, including one to the micro brewery! As for the chimes from the church clock - this only added to the village ambience. We will be back!
I just want to agree with the good points on the other reviews. I wish we'd known about the playground by the church (we only did three nights and didn't find it).
Got ham, pork pies and sausages from the village butcher. Not cheap but they were good and it's a holiday. There's a review of the butchers on Telegraph.Co.Uk.
Got used to the church clock. My kids get excited camping so the clock was useful: 'did you hear that, it's time for sleep'.
Tucked away there is a field with a donkey and two sheep. The rule is kids can feed them apples, carrots or dry bread. Kept mine amused.
What a lovely site the cafe is great and the toilet/shower block is very clean, staff are very helpful.
We can highly recommend The Inn on The Chase for a good value evening pub meal, only 4 miles from the camp site.
Our only complaint was the church clock chiming on the hour, every hour, and in a tent this keeps you awake all night! And the music from the near by festival didn't help, nevermind we still had a good time.
We really enjoyed our first visit over the Bank Holiday weekend. Spacious pitch, friendly staff, clean new loos & showers, very quiet especially at night.
A good base for visiting local towns with a bus service to Blandford, Salisbury and Bournemouth etc. The Sixpenny Handley Round Walk was lovely. We saw a herd of deer, carpets of bluebells, wild garlic and wood anemones plus many birds (in the RSPB reserve at Garston Wood), also beautiful views.
The village has a 'proper' butcher's, a general store and a post office (also a cafe) plus it's own brewery (on a farm just 10 mins walk from the site) where you can sample the ales and buy carry outs!
The local pub was friendly but its opening hours were a little arbitrary. However, the site has its own bar and restaurant / cafe serving breakfasts and evening meals. We had Sunday roast and found it very good and reasonably priced. We will definitely return!
A well drained site and I say this because all the ones I tried in the New Forest and Sussex area were waterlogged! And it was a very good find, very pleasant, with camping in the middle of one field, bordered by low shrubs.
There were a lot of caravans there when we camped but you would never have known it as it was incredibly quiet and the toilets were never being used either, I guess caravans all have their own these days!
My children enjoyed the swings and the great little playground to the back of the church. You have to hunt a bit for this public playground, but after spying it through the trees, we found the paths and my kids enjoyed a good hour there. We also enjoyed walking through the village, but we didn't shop there as we had all the food we needed for our 2 night visit.
Easy to peg the tent out, a bit windy (it's on a slight rise), but a lovely site. Toilets are very warm, with fantastic facilities. There is an on site 'cafe / bar' but we didn't use it. Called the cabin, you could have a cooked breakfast or lunch there over the weekend.
When I booked, the lady she that the office is open until 11pm, which is good if you have any problems with noise. But as I said, this was just so quiet. Good washing up facilities for our dishes, pans etc, and the price. Well I thought it was excellent value for the 3 of us (myself and two sons). I couldn't fault it.
Have just had a lovely weekend, (despite the weather) at church farm. Loads of space around the pitches and were made to feel very welcome by the family who run the site. Great bonus to have
'the shed'. Just one note of caution - local pub not very family friendly.
The village itself is small and quirky,with a gorgeous little arty-crafty shop.
We stayed during the Steam Festival weekend though we did not visit it.
We'd booked 2 pitches a few weeks before and some other friends had booked separately. On arrival we could not all pitch together so were offered the empty lower field, which had better shelter from the wind, and would allow our kids to run around without disturbing anyone else. On the Saturday night we shared the field with a 4x4 group.
New shower block was warm and very clean. Kids room was great too - a toilet, sink and shower and kid's step. Other than the 2 blocks we didn't use any of the other facilities. We also did not visit the village.
The children enjoyed the playground (as mentioned by others, it's not aimed for toddlers).
On the whole a really good value for money weekend in great surroundings. The only complaint we had was the 4x4 group driving at excessive speeds on site.
We came here for the first time with friends who were first time campers. I can honestly say that we have been camping for years and this is one of the best camp sites by far for toilet block facilities. They were spotless, cleaned regularly and they even supplied soap. Considering that it was bank holiday weekend it was still really clean. I didn't even have to queue for the showers.
Although it was busy on the field it didn't seem cramped or overly busy. It was very peaceful and our children loved playing on the little play area which is in the centre of the site. There is also a little park just along the field with a fab zip wire and better play facilities. The kids loved it and so did we! The SHED which is a new converted barn provides fantastic food. We had fish and chips and the Sunday lunch and both were great!
Unfortunately it was a very wet weekend and an extremely windy one (we caught the tail end of a hurricane) the middle of the field was a tad windy so the farmer let us move our tents to the edge of the field. It was never water logged and the field seemed well drained, not at all boggy. The farmer was really friendly and very hard working. I found him cleaning the loos at midnight on a Sunday! We did the Sixpenny Handley walk and the 4 mile walk seemed more like 7 but we had fun. Ended up carrying the children some of the way. The town has a good little general store at the bottom of the hill which seemed to have most things. The site is great for star gazing as there is not much light pollution in the area. Overall we would definitely recommend this site to anyone and hope to return ourselves soon. It's great value for money.
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Common Questions
Is Church Farm Caravan And Camping Park child friendly? YES, it accepts children & has a playground View all facilities
Where is the nearest shop to Church Farm Caravan And Camping Park? There is a shop within 1 mile View all facilities
Is Church Farm Caravan And Camping Park dog friendly? YES View all facilities
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
All reviews and comments are the personal opinion of the review author only , and as such do not represent the view of the UK Camp Site.co.uk.
The facilities shown on this website are a guide only, and you should check with the campsite direct before making any booking. The UKCampsite.co.uk will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions
Tent Pitches 
Caravan Pitches 
Motorhome Pitches 
Small Campervans 
No Glamping Units 
Holiday Homes for Hire 
No Statics for Sale 
Seasonal Pitches 
Electric Hookups 
Hardstanding Pitches 
No Fully Serviced Pitches 
Families Welcome 
Not Members Only 
Rallies Welcome 
Not Naturist Site 
Dogs Welcome 
No Dogs Allowed 
Groups Welcome 
Toilet Facilities 
Hot Showers 
Washing Up 
No Bathroom 
Baby Changing Facilities 
Laundry On Site 
Drinking Water 
Disabled Friendly 
Chemical Disposal 
No Battery Charging 
Gas Exchange 
Recycling Facilities 
No Kitchen Facilities 
Freezer / Fridge 
Motorhome Point 
Wifi Access 
Shop <1 mile 
Bar On Site 
Restaurant or Cafe or Takeaway On Site 
Kids Playground 
No TV Room 
No Games Room 
No Evening Ents 
No Fishing 
No Wild Swimming 
No Indoor Pool 
No Outdoor Pool 
Horse Riding <1 mile 
No Cycle Hire 
Golf <1 mile 
Tennis <1 mile 
No Beach 
No Watersports 
No Boat Launch 
Sea Views 
Working Farm 
Campfires Allowed 
Open All Year 
No Waterside Pitches 
Public Transport <1 mile
No Dog Walk 
We stayed at Church Farm just one night before taking out caravan for a service the next day and before moving on to Devon and Cornwall. It was a last minute decision to leave home a day early. We found the site a little awkward to approach. 
