Kingston Maurward Gardens & Animal Park

Not long till Santa is here with us at Kingston Maurward - and there are still a couple of spaces left! Why not give us a call and grab the last slots? We can't wait to see you all!

The WINNER of our competition is Holly Guppy. Thank you all for taking the time to help us with this little survey. Watch out for our next competition and the chance to win a Family Annual Pass.

Don't forget to book in to see Santa! Not long to go until he's visiting us here at Kingston Maurward!

Hi all!
Just a reminder about our winter closures over the next few months!
November:... Open Thursdays-Sundays, 10am-4pm
December-January: Closed for our exciting new rennovation works (Keep an eye-out for updates!)
Don't forget - Season Ticket holders will receive two extra months on their pass to make up for the winter months, so let us know next time you're in :)
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HOME EDUCATION WREATH MAKING SESSION!

Come and meet Santa at his Old Library in Kingston Maurward Main House! Booking only as Santa is super busy this time of year, but would like to meet as many of you as possible!
£12.00 for children* £4.00 for adults
... Prices include warming drinks, mince pies, cookies, story telling and a gift from Santa
Call 01305 215003 to book!
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Which is your fave? Who do you come to see? Which animal makes your kids smile with glee?
Please comment with your answers to be in for a chance to win a Family Annual Pass. One of the comments will be selected at random for the winning ticket! We'll close the competition a week from today. :)

Not long now until the Home Ed Pet Care session! Book your place now!! :)

Good morning all!
During November, the Animal Park will be opening Thursday to Sunday only each week. We will then close during December and January for the winter season.
This week we will only be closed Wednesday, and so visitors will still be admitted today (Monday) and tomorrow :)
... Many thanks, The Animal Park Team
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Happy Halloween everyone! :)

On half term this week? Somerset residents get half price entry! Please bring along some proof of address to receive your discount. Valid for day tickets only :)

Inset day today? The sun is shining, the breeze is dropping, the morning frost is melting, and our animals are waiting to see you :)

Another excellent Home Education session!!

Please note that due to an interruption to the main water supply Kingston Maurward College and Dorset Studio School will be closing early to students today. Please note that the Visitor Centre will also be closed from 12.30pm today.
Buses have been contacted and will be leaving campus at 1pm; students not travelling on College transport will take their usual mode of transport home.
For enquiries please call 01305 215165.

It's back! Dorset Residents go half price! Join us for this fang-tastic week of family treats! :)

PHOTO HIDE 'N' SEEK COMPETITION RESULTS!!
Congratulations to Jodie Philpott and her daughter, whose lovely photo has won them an animal adoption! Well done!!
Keep your eyes peeled for the next competition, with a brand new prize to be won!

Went to the open day. What a fantastic place with so much to see and do. We will be back.

Went here yesterday with sister in law and 6 kids age range 1 to 17 we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, a great day out, lots to see and a relaxing atmosphere, lots of space for picnics etc and a nice little play area for the little ones, will definitely be going back, staff all friendly and helpful too.

We had our Sons 6th Birthday Party here last week and it was brilliant, the staff were really helpful and Tori who was with us on the day was fab and very patient with 17 children!!, Thank you to everyone involved, everyone who attended had a lovely day.

We had a fabulous day at the open day .There was so much to do and see. My 2 year old loved seeing all the tractors and vehicles.The staff were so friendly and the whole event was well organised. It was free entry but would of been happy to pay entrance fee as there was loads to do �

We celebrated our girl's 4th birthday party here and absolutely had a lovely time �All the staff were amazing and everything was arranged perfectly which made it so much relaxing for us as hosts! Guests and children were very happy with the activities planned and received positive comments after the party �

I would recommend this place if you are looking something different to soft play without having to arrange everything from scratch for a very reasonable price !

Tom and his team were very helpful and friendly staff and went that extra mile to ensure we could relax over a cuppa while the kids had fun! ��

We came today to see Santa and I have to say the staff have been amazing. I had to change the time a couple of times and they always went above and beyond to help. Santa was great. He spent loads of time with the kids and I would definitely recommend to others. Many thanks everyone.

Not too busy, not commercialised but still plenty to do to entertain the family. Particularly enjoyed the peaceful (with 9 children) stroll around the lakes!

Me my husband a 3 year old came for a visit on good Friday and had a fabulous time the staff were very friendly and helpful our daughter enjoyed the Easter egg hunt and went on a donkey for the first time and we enjoyed a lovely walk all around the lake and gardens we will definetly be returning

Lovely place, ideal lakeside walks, quiet places to sit and then all the animal feeding and games available for children. Everyone catered for it seems. Just one small comment, this is NOT a criticism just a suggestion. A better cafe, restaurant would enhance the visit even more. A big thank you to the food bucket ladies who went above and beyond the call of duty to help our grandson in his task to take as many selfies with animals he could on our holiday (by shaking the bucket for the Alpaca). Which also says a lot about your members of staff, thank you all so much for a fantastic day.

Had a great day out. Small but good. Spent 5 hours here with 2 x 7 yr old and 1 9 yr old. Also did walk round lake and through gardens. Coffee shop reasonable priced as well. Will return in spring as expect garden lovely when in full bloom

Came to Guinea Kids today from Bridport, my 3yo had an absolutely brilliant time. We fed the Alpacas,Goats and Sheep as well as admiring the other animals and guinea pig fishing! A firm favourite was the arts and crafts (who doesn't love glitter glue and pipe cleaners?!) we discovered the play area today too which was fantastic and perfect for his age. The egg hunt at the end was wonderful, we loved searching for the eggs in the chicken coops. My coffee was also delicious, a massive Thank you! Will be back again before the summer holidays!

A really great place to visit, very good staff and really happy to answer any questions about the animals.Best of all good fresh sandwiches and toasties with no mayo.5☆service too.

We went on the bank holiday and unfortunately it was raining but we didn't let that put us off. We walked round the lake and the walled garden and the staff were excellent. Tom Reynolds even found out the name of a plant for me! Thank you. Hopefully we will come back.

We spent a couple of hours wandering round the gardens and looking at the animals. My 4yr old son loved feeding the goats and alpaca. The bags of food are a very reasonable 50p available from the shop. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The lady in the cafe even made a special sandwich for my little fussy eater, nothing was too much trouble. We will be returning when my partner books his owl experience treat.

Visited today with my family, loved the gardens, the grounds and of course the animals. The weather wasn't great but the walks were still really push chair friendly. Only negative would be the food availability, that being said the food quality was great just not a lot to choose from. We packed a picnic, and there was plenty of space. Will certainly be coming back again and looking into season tickets xx

Very nice place to go if it doesn't rain (as there is no under cover or hot food ) Amazing place to walk around the lake full of nature and fun for kids to run around. Really liked it we will be coming back :)

Nice little place to take the children �

Bonus it was half price for dorset residents

My friend and I took our 4 children to Kingston Maurward yesterday to visit Father Christmas. I didn't feel that there was a great deal to do once we'd walked around the animals. The play area was OK for the two older boys (both 3) but nothing for our two younger toddlers. A really pleasant guy in the visitor centre did say that they were planning to convert an out building into an outdoor seating/ soft play area which will be a great addition. A lot of the pathways leading to each enclosure is just grass so it was exceptionally muddy on our visit. It would be better if this was gravel or even bark just to help those with toddlers and pushchairs (we had both)!! When it started to rain we headed back into the visitor centre and managed to get the largest table. The kids has their packed lunch and my friend and I had a tea and hot chocolate (£3 odd for both so very reasonable). It was a shame the conservatory area isn't heated but it's good that they had a few boxes of toys for our kids to play with.



When it was our turn we walked down the main footpath towards the house and it was beautiful inside with an enormous Christmas tree! Overall it was very good and the kids loved their time with Father Christmas who was very friendly and didn't mind posing for lots of photos! I didn't pay for my youngest as it was £12 per child but they were kind enough to give him one anyway :) The only disappointment of the house were the activities. The kids had the choice of Play Doh (not related to Christmas at all) or making a Christmas tree from paper plates. It would have been nice to have had a dedicated member of staff in there with the kids and showing what they could do as we were just left to get on with it. Also no chairs around the tables. I'd suggest separate tables with a craft on each and someone on hand to help the kids.



Overall a lovely day, just a few suggestions for improvements. We'll return in the spring / summer.

First time here today with my Mum and two children. A bit disappointed overall but still had a nice time. Glad I bought a Groupon deal family ticket for £10. The lady on Reception was friendly and helpful, but it was very busy due to half term (and probably the Groupon deal) and her and her teenage helpers seemed a bit stressed. My Mum and I were quite shocked at the rudeness of the woman with very short hair in the ‘cafe’, which isn’t really as cafe at all, as there is nowhere to sit and serves a very limited menu of food. We were told we had to buy hot drinks from the shop next door! Plenty of outdoor seating but as it was raining and chilly, we wanted to sit indoors. We were told that there was nowhere to sit indoors in a manner that made us feel like this was too much to ask for, and told “there are a few tables in the conservatory if you’re lucky”. We found it and there was one of three tables free (that needed cleaning) so we sat there. There aren’t that many animals to see and they’re not that friendly, but you can buy a cup of feed for 50p which is a nice touch. They also had pumpkin carving for £2 which was quite fun. There were quite a few activities on which cost extra, and they only accepted cash for. Seriously, who carries cash anymore?!! My Daughter was looking forward to a donkey ride, but told she couldn’t ride as she was too heavy (and weighed her in front of everyone), which really upset her. The sign said up to 16 years and she is 7st which is hardly heavy!The Bird of prey display was really amateur and embarrassing at times when the birds refused to do what the handler wanted and obviously just wanted to fly away and be left alone. We didn’t go into the house or walk the gardens, so perhaps we would have enjoyed it more on a summer’s day when we could spend more time outside. For a good farm park locally, try Farmer Palmers, Putlake or Abbotsbury instead!