Sherwood Forest Farm Park
Sherwood Forest Farm Park
Lamb Pens Farm, Edwinstowe, Nr Mansfield
Nottinghamshire, NG21 9HL
Tel: 01623 823 558
About Sherwood Forest Farm Park
Sherwood Forest Farm Park is a delightful family attraction located in a picturesque, secluded valley on Lamb Pens Farm, near Edinstowe, Mansfield, Notts. Open between March and October (details at the Sherwood Forest Farm Park website), ticket holders will experience a varied and memorable family day out, taking in a host of features, from rare breeds to water gardens and a narrow guage railway.
Nestling within 27 acres of glorious countryside, Sherwood Forest Farm Park is in the heart of Sherwood Forest and close to Edinstowe, which boasts the largest oak tree in England, reputedly over 1000 years old, and the resting place of Saint Edwin of Northumbria, a king who was killed at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, near Doncaster, around 633 AD. Hence, the environs of Sherwood Forest Farm Park are filled with tangible folk memories of the great forest in which the family attraction thrives, its 40 species of domestic and overseas animals including examples of rare breeds that once populated these shores but which have largely disappeared, notably Iron Age boars.
Indeed, the Sherwood Forest Farm Park has the approval of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust for its role in conserving and breeding protected farm animals, with litters of noisy piglets, bouncy lambs, bleating goat kids and cuddly baby rabbits welcomed on a regular basis. Ticket holders to the family attraction can get up close and personal with the new arrivals and, if they’re in season, visit the freshly hatched chicks in the Sherwood Forest Farm Park hatchery.
Among the highlights of an informative and engaging family day out to Sherwood Forest Farm Park are examples of endangered and unusual breeds of British farm animals and others from overseas, not least the Longhorn and Red Poll cattle, White-faced Woodland and Hebridean sheep, Bagot and Golden Guernsey goats, and Berkshire and Middle White pigs.
More exotic residents of Sherwood Forest Farm Park include the majestic water buffalo, miniature kune kune pigs that are always liable to bring a smile to the face of ticket holders on a family day out, mara, and even two varieties of wallabies. In addition, twitchers visiting the family attraction would do well to look out for a whole host of feathered friends, from the exotic birds and wildfowl to ornamental ducks, residents of a parrot garden, and numerous poultry displays in an impressive bird enclosure and Bird Garden. Worth the price of the ticket alone for bird spotters.
Furthermore, visitors can have a close encounter with ‘Little John’ the Shire Horse and ‘Dizzy Lizzie’, the Suffolk Punch, as well as making friends with goats and pigs in Pets Corner. Plus there’s the furry friends area where younger ticket holders can pet smaller critters. Just the ticket!
Besides the farm facilities at Sherwood Forest Farm Park, the family attraction boasts a maze and an extensive area of landscaped water gardens, featuring numerous varieties of fish and other waterborne species (and there’s a Sherwood Forest Farm Park Fishery adjacent to the family attraction, with five lake areas and river courses stocked with all sorts of game – detailed at the Sherwood Forest Farm Park website).
In addition, there are exciting indoor and outdoor play areas for children, including special toddler enclosures, an aerial slide, an Adventure Playground, ball pools, and a bouncy castle, ensuring a fun family day out while parents can take in a cuppa at the tea room. There’s also a Gift Shop, parking, Picnic Area and even Camping and Caravanning facilities, and with disabled access throughout most of the site, Sherwood Forest Farm Park offers a fine family day out that everyone can enjoy.
Sherwood Forest Farm Park’s Birthday parties are a speciality and groups are also catered for (details at the Sherwood Forest Farm Park website), while, for a nominal additional charge, ticket holders can gain access to the only 15" gauge railway in Nottinghamshire, taking a nostalgic trip down a miniature rural branch line that wends its way at a relaxed pace through stunning scenery and the unique Sherwood Forest Farm Park collection. The trip takes in a 30 metre tunnel and skirts underneath a novel tree house overhanging the line, while volunteers can even learn how to drive a steam locomotive under expert supervision.
Running through cuttings, tunnels and across level crossings, the one-mile ride allows visitors to Sherwood Forest Farm Park to gain another altogether relaxed perspective on the family attraction, the 5/8th scale railway passing various rare breeds and other farm animals, who seem oblivious to the steam locos (there are five on site) and their coaches (totaling four) and pair of wagons that trundle by on a regular basis all year round. The history of construction of the railway – now 10 years old – began with the purchase of two locos from Cheltenham, followed by the building of the railway through Sherwood Forest Farm Park in 1999. It involved stripping points and sleepers behind the farm, then in 2000 the siting of a storage container at the family attraction, to operate as an engine shed. Extensions occurred in 2001 (including a diversion through a cutting), with the aim of developing the layout towards the water buffalos at the farthest reaches of Sherwood Forest Farm Park. A second station was opened by 2006, and the circuit is now 800 yards long with two crossings, a tunnel and two stations - Loxley and Welldale. The route follows the flood dykes irrigation system laid down between 1819 and 1838 by the Duke of Portland for £40,000 over 7.5 miles to create water meadows on sandy land. It now forms a central feature of the family attraction and is just one reason why ticket holders will revel in a family day out at Sherwood Forest Farm Park.