Tatton Park farm
Tatton park farm is a lovely children’s farm in Cheshire. We had a lovely visit during the lambing season and learnt loads about farming through the ages. Find more fantastic Family days out North West here.
Where is Tatton park farm?
Tatton park farm is located in Tatton Park, Knutsford Cheshire. The Sat Nav postcode is WA16 6SG.
All vehicles need to pay parkland entry fees. This applies even for National Trust members. The price is currently £8 unless booked online 3 days before, when you can get a small discount.
Why visit Tatton Park farm with kids?
The farm at Tatton park is a great place to spend half a day with children. You can easily make a full day out of your visit by combining it with other things that are available at Tatton park.
This is a relatively small farm but with farm animals to see, historical farming exhibitions and play areas too. It’s quite unique in the way it combines seeing the farm animals with museum like areas about farming through history.
It’s worth noting that it’s not a particularly big farm so I wouldn’t expect to be here for even half a day. They do have talks and animal handling sessions on at intervals throughout the day which are worth taking a note of when you arrive.
My kids enjoyed our visit and whilst it isn’t my favourite children’s farm, there are some nice features and I love the wider Tatton park estate. We combined our visit with the Shaun the sheep trail in the gardens which we loved.
The animals at Tatton Park farm
You’ll find all the animals you would expect on a farm here at Tatton Park with a strong emphasis on rare breeds. There are cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, horses, geese and even a couple of rabbits.
They are in a mix of stables and indoor barns as well as few small outdoor areas with animals too.
Play areas at Tatton Park farm
There are both indoor and outdoor play areas at Tatton park farm. This is in addition to the large adventure playground in the main Tatton Park car park.
The indoor area is a tractor play barn with lots of plastic ride on tractors of different sizes to ride on. This area says it is suitable for children 10 and under. I would say 10 is pushing it but it’s great for younger kids.
Outdoors there is a small play trail in the woods, along with a den building area and sensory garden.
The play trail is really good fun but not particularly long or suitable for toddlers. There is a cool tunnel at the end that toddlers seemed to be enjoying on our visit.
Another option for younger children is the sensory garden. Here you’ll find things like this wooden noise maker and a bug hotel.
Learning about farming history at Tatton Park farm
Throughout the farm you can find out all about how food gets from field to fork and how it has been done in the past.
There are areas like the farm office, set up as it would have been in the past along with other small areas like the Tack room. There’s also a farm cottage that you can walk around (it’s tiny).
We enjoyed touring the mill where animal feed would be made. There are some interactive elements to the mill and a few videos but my kids wouldn’t spend long enough in one area to watch them!
There is even a small slaughter house where you can learn about butchery in a very horrible histories style.
Events at Tatton Park farm
There are usually some events on in the school holidays. We visited during Easter where it was lambing week.
They also have things on in the other school holidays and of course, Christmas on the farm.
Lambing at Tatton Park farm
We visited during Lambing week. We unfortunately missed the scheduled lamb feeding session but as we were leaving the lambs were being bottle fed and children were helping.
My children had a quick go at feeding a lamb a small bit of a bottle. It was pretty chaotic and children only held the bottle for a few seconds so that every one got a go but my 7 year old particularly enjoyed this.
My kids also had the chance to stroke the baby chicks which were put out on a table for children to get up close to at certain times through the day.
How much does it cost to visit Tatton Park farm?
It costs to visit Tatton park farm whether you are a National Trust member or not.
Current prices (June 2024) for a single attraction are:
Adults £9, children aged 4-15 £7 with discounts for family tickets.
You can also purchase a Totally Tatton ticket which gets you into the mansion, gardens and farm.
Find up to date prices here – Pricing at Tatton Park
Don’t forget you also have to purchase parkland vehicle entry tickets, £8 unless booked online 3 days before when you can get a small discount.
Facilities at Tatton Park farm
There are toilets and lots of handwashing facilities throughout the farm.
Picnics are welcome but if you want to purchase food, you will need to go back to the main cafe and shops area of Tatton park.
Exploring the rest of Tatton Park
There’s loads to do at Tatton park as well as the farm.
There is a large adventure playground near the car park which has plenty of play equipment for children of all ages.
You can choose to walk around the beautiful gardens which usually has a children’s trail on and these are always fantastic. The gardens are free to enter for National Trust members but admission fees applies to everyone else.
There are lots of walking possibilities through the wider parkland which are free once you have paid the car admission fee.
You can go inside and walk around the mansion which again will often have a simple children’s trail during the school holidays. There are also interactive elements within the servants quarters.
Where to visit nearby
Jodrell bank is not far away and is always worth a visit with kids. Find out more here – What’s at Jodrell Bank for kids.
Dunham Massey is another National Trust that is well worth a visit. Find out more here – Visiting Dunham Massey NT with kids.
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