The Old Vicarage

Liked Easy feel and peaceful. Beautiful surroundings and excellent helpful staff. They wanted you to have a good time. The kids were safe and a village feel in as much as all guests were watching everyone was safe. Cheerful atmosphere with chatty people enjoying the surroundings. Toys were shared and left around the site for anyone to use. One rule always take back to where you found it.
The river was a great attraction with rope swing, zip wire and fallen tree to play on. All kids taking their turn. The sounds around the camp was trees rustling, birds singing and children laughing.

Disliked We were a family of 5.Nana, gramps, Mum and 2 grandsons. We stayed in the cabin. It was great. Only one issue…. The cooker was extremely small. 2 rings and a combination microwave that was not sufficient to cook for 5 let alone 6 which is the capacity. A 12in Pizza wouldn’t even fit in the oven. A small standard cooker would be more appropriate and the kitchen is plenty big enough to fit one in. Only knocked one point off as the rest of the cabin was brilliant.

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Liked The grounds of the camp site are well looked after and it has a fantastic stream running through which the kids love to play in. Beautiful camp site, perfect for families.

Disliked Unfortunately the toilet and showers let the site down massively. Only 2 showers and 2 toilets in the ladies and only 1 shower in the men’s room. No where near enough for the number of campers. The showers were obviously all linked together and so if more than 1 person was showering the water trickled out. Very dirty and smelly in the toilet shower block. Not just camping dirty (happily expect that), but not cleaned dirty. A plastic bag and a wet towel remained on the floor throughout my 2 night stay. Couldn’t put anything down in the as there is no room, I had to wedge my dry clothes in the top of the door when showering.
If the toilet and shower block was improved/increased in size this site would be perfect.
I don’t usually write reviews but I felt quite strongly about how lovely this site is but how badly it’s let down by the toilet and shower situation.

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From the manager: Thank you for taking the time to leave such detailed feedback. We’re really pleased to hear you enjoyed the grounds, stream and family atmosphere of the campsite – it means a lot to us as a small family-run site that you found it such a beautiful place to stay.

We’re genuinely sorry to hear that the toilet and shower facilities impacted your visit. We completely understand your frustration and appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention.

We would like to clarify for future guests that we do normally have additional facilities available onsite (a further 2 toilets and 1 shower). Unfortunately, during your stay these had to be temporarily closed due to damage caused after a nappy and baby wipes were flushed, which broke the expensive pump system. This was an unexpected issue and sadly outside of our control, and we did our very best to try and fix it while covered in sewage in 30 degree heat, but we appreciate this would have affected the experience for our campers while repairs were being dealt with.

Cleanliness is something we take very seriously, so we are disappointed to hear your comments regarding the shower block and will be reviewing this with our team to ensure standards remain high, especially during busy periods.

We truly value your feedback and are sorry that this affected what otherwise sounds like an enjoyable stay. We do hope you might consider visiting us again in the future so we can provide the experience we always aim for.

Best wishes,
The Old Vicarage Team

Liked Love the river running through the site - my boys loved floating on a lilo and catching little fish.
The gentleman at check-in was very kind and helpful.

Disliked Unfortunately the toilets and showers are a complete turn-off. There aren’t enough for the amount of people there and are a bit grotty to be honest.
If the site were to build a proper shower/toilet block, then the site would be perfect for families - with changes, I would recommend and stay again.

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From the manager: Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and for your lovely comments about the river and family atmosphere of the site. We’re so pleased to hear your boys enjoyed floating on the lilo and catching fish – it’s exactly the kind of memories we love families to make here. We’ll also be sure to pass on your kind words to our check-in team.

We are, however, very sorry to hear that the toilet and shower facilities impacted your stay. We completely understand your frustration and appreciate your honest feedback.

We would like to reassure future guests that we do usually have additional facilities available onsite, including a further 2 toilets and 1 shower. Unfortunately, during your stay these had to be temporarily closed due to damage caused after a nappy and baby wipes were flushed, which broke the expensive pump system. This understandably placed extra pressure on the remaining facilities, we did our very best to try and fix the pump in the hot weather ,but the motor was burnt out and we appreciate this affected your experience.

As a small family-run campsite, we care deeply about guest feedback and cleanliness standards, so we are disappointed to hear the facilities did not meet expectations during your visit. We are continually looking at ways to improve and genuinely value comments such as yours.

We’re really pleased to see that despite this, you would consider visiting again, and we truly hope to welcome you back in the future for a much-improved experience.

Best wishes,
The Old Vicarage Team

Liked The river running through the site is beautiful. It is mid-thigh deep at the deepest point, and ankle-deep at others, so if perfect for children to play in. I imagine is managed better, the site could be really quite beautiful.

Disliked Sadly we won’t be returning as the facilities and management just weren’t up to the standard expected.

Upon arrival reception seemed to have little clue where we were to pitch, it became evident they don’t mark out their pitches, or allocate an exact pitch - just an areas. This had led to people not going exactly where expected, meaning tents were all over the place. This didn’t make best use of the space, but also meant some people had pitched over what should be walk ways, were very close together, and getting access onto and off the pitches with vehicles to set up or take down was near impossible. I am happy to keep a vehicle off-site, but if that is the plan then trollies or wheelbarrows should be provided to allow people to unload/load, and they should be informed beforehand. This would also have been difficult as parking was very limited in the “parking area”.

The toilet and shower block was disgusting. It wasn’t cleaned frequently enough. Sanitary bins were very smelly (it was a very hot bank holiday weekend so they would need changing more frequently than normal). There were two women’s showers, and one men’s, and there must have been a couple of hundred people on site. The floors were muddy, the shower curtains didn’t hang into the trays so there was water all over the floor. In five days I had 2 hot showers, and even then it fluctuated between scolding and freezing which isn’t great when you’re showering children. The toilet paper ran out and wasn’t replaced for a day.

There was only one washing up sink for the entire site and there was never any hot water. There was food and rubbish around the sink, and no bin in the area to avoid this.

The main bins at the top of the site were badly overflowing, suggesting that there aren’t enough bins to last between collections, or that that site had been overfilled.

There is constant road noise, although luckily little acceleration and deceleration so it is steady and easy to ignore. You also can’t hear it during the day as there is lots of general family noise.

Whilst there was WiFi, we were able to use it. I suspect this was due to the sheer number of people onsite. There was however EE phone reception.

I later found out that people can come onsite for day visits, and I wonder how this is managed and if people are turned away during maximum occupancy periods - I suspect not, and this certainly explains they the site felt even more cramped and crowded.

Several times I tried to visit reception but it wasn’t open. The staff were polite enough but not over helpful, and I don’t think it professional for employees to be drinking alcohol whilst working.

It is such a shame as the site could be beautiful, but it was badly overfilled and the staff and facilities just couldn’t hold up.

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From the manager: Hi,

Thank you for taking the time to leave such detailed feedback following your stay. We are pleased to hear that you enjoyed the river and found it such a lovely feature for children to safely enjoy – it really is something many families love about our site.
.As a family-run campsite, busy bank holiday weekends are always challenging, and whilst this is never an excuse, we do take feedback like yours seriously. We would like to clarify for future guests that we do normally have additional facilities available onsite, including a further 2 toilets and 1 shower. Unfortunately, during your stay these had to be temporarily closed following significant damage to the pump system caused by nappies and baby wipes being flushed. This unexpectedly placed additional pressure on the remaining facilities during an exceptionally busy period, and we completely appreciate how frustrating this would have been.

Cleanliness and maintenance are very important to us, and we are disappointed to hear that standards fell below expectations during your visit. Your comments regarding toilet paper, sanitary bins, washing-up facilities and waste management have been noted and reviewed with our team to help improve procedures during peak occupancy periods.

Regarding pitching, we intentionally offer more flexibility than some larger commercial sites, allowing guests to choose within allocated areas. However, we appreciate that during busier periods this can feel less structured, and we will certainly reflect on your comments around spacing, access and communication prior to arrival.

We would also like to reassure readers that staff are always expected to remain professional whilst working, and this is certainly not reflective of the standards we aim to uphold.

Whilst we are saddened to hear you would not return, we do appreciate your feedback and are sorry that your experience did not reflect the atmosphere and stay we always strive to provide. We truly wish you and your family all the best for future camping adventures.

Liked The location was great, perfect for a trip to nearby attractions such as Sherwood Forest. Having the river run the site was great, nice to see so many people enjoy it during an extremely hot bank holiday. There was a nice little bar built into the cave which also hosted daily activities during our stay. Not sure how often but a pizza truck came while we were there, as did the ice cream truck and both were excellent. All the issues I mentioned to the staff were dealt with and seemed willing to help whenever asked.

Disliked The facilities have to improve, this site could be absolutely 10/10 if this was addressed. 5 toilets and 2 showers split between the whole site, particularly dirty, occasional blocking which although I sympathise this isn't always the sites fault, limiting the number of tents would potentially help. We went out for a day and came back to dozens of extra tents, thankfully we had plenty of room our side of the river but unfortunately there was very cramped conditions on the other. Where we have stayed previous has set pitches for fire regs etc? The reception was run down, just a table set up in what i can only describe as a storage room for old furniture. There was also only 1 washing up sink for the whole site, which had no bins and people's waste all over the sink.

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From the manager: Hi Joshua,

Thank you for taking the time to leave such a detailed review. We’re really pleased to hear you enjoyed the location, river, nearby attractions and onsite activities during your stay. It’s lovely to hear the pizza and ice cream vendors went down well, and we especially appreciate your kind comments about our team being helpful and responsive when concerns were raised.
We would like to clarify for future guests that we do normally have additional facilities onsite, including a further 2 toilets and 1 shower. Unfortunately, during your stay these had to be temporarily closed due to damage caused after nappies and baby wipes were flushed, which broke the pump system. Whilst blockages are sadly sometimes unavoidable, this unexpected issue did place additional pressure on the remaining facilities during an exceptionally busy bank holiday period, and we completely understand how frustrating this would have been.

As a family-run campsite, we aim to offer a relaxed camping experience rather than tightly allocated pitches, though we appreciate that during peak periods this can feel busier in some areas than others. Guest safety, including fire spacing regulations, remains very important to us and is monitored onsite.

We also appreciate your comments regarding the washing-up area, bins and reception setup. As a seasonal, family-run site we are continually making improvements, and honest feedback such as yours helps us identify where improvements are most needed.

It’s lovely to hear you felt the site has the potential to be a 10/10 experience, and whilst we’re disappointed to hear you wouldn’t currently return, we genuinely appreciate your feedback and hope we may have the opportunity to welcome you back in the future.

Liked This is by far my favourite campsite!
We pitched right up in front of the stream and we all spent the whole weekend on site in the stream, playing in a rubber dinghy and the ropes swings.
Really good for the kids.
They had entertainment on also which we didn’t go too but did join in for the duck race which was really fun.

We didn’t feel the need to leave the site either

Disliked The things that slightly let the site down for us were the shower and toilet facilities. There were only two toilets and one small shower, and the temperature fluctuated very quickly from very hot to cold.

I found it quite stressful trying to shower my three children and myself, as the shower room was small and it was difficult to get us all washed and dried in there comfortably. It would be much better if there were more showers, or at least a larger family shower/bathroom available.

The toilet door and entrance door were also a little awkward when entering, especially if somebody was coming out at the same time.

I also feel an onsite shop selling essentials such as milk, bread, ice creams and other food items would work really well and probably bring in extra income, as we definitely would have purchased items there instead of walking to the nearest shop.

There was only one pot wash area too, so I often found myself queuing to wash pots. The ceiling could also have done with a clean or hoover, as there were quite a lot of spider webs, and there was also a large group of spiders around the fridge area.

Lastly, on the day of checkout at around 10am, I tried contacting somebody on both phone numbers provided multiple times but received no answer. Reception was also locked, and another camper mentioned they had also been unable to get hold of anyone. This was frustrating as we had to wait around in order to return something we had hired.

However, none of the above changed how much we loved the site overall. It is such a lovely place for children to just be children and we had a fantastic time. I only mention these points because constructive criticism helps places improve, and with a few small changes this site could be even better.

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Liked Beautiful location. Idillic stream running through the campsite with lots of swings and zip wires for kids to play on. Great cave bar.

Disliked Dirty shower blocks. Not enough toilets and showers for the amount of people.
No bins around. Lacking a lot basic facilities. Loud campers past 11. I called and asked the owners to deal with it but they didn’t.

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Liked The additional activities over the bank holiday were a nice addition.
The bar on site was good and was a nice change that we haven't seen at other campsites

The stream provided lots of hours of fun for the kids and was a great addition on a hot summers day.

Having fridge and freezers available was great along with washing up facilities.

Disliked Small number of toilets and showers. Often then we're out of order which caused queues on the toilets but staff did there best to resolve the toilet issues.
The pitch parameters was non existant. There was no clear way of knowing what space was allocated to who, to allow appropriate privacy. Clear boundaries may help campers to remain in there designated area.

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Liked Fantastic site. Lots of nature, stream running through with little fish, rope swings and stepping stones. Like something out of a fairy tale.

Check in was easy and we were provided with a grass protector for our Firepit.

We didn’t leave the site for the full 48 hours. Was bliss! Already looking at another booking!

Disliked The shower and toilet facilities in the hut blocked easily, the toilet next to the cave bar was much better.

That said we’ll be visiting again!

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Liked Absolutely gorgeous campsite, we were lucky enough to have the site to ourselves. ( midweek) the setting is exceptional especially if you like wildlife and birds.
We were two adults but it would be great for children too especially in the warmer months. It's lovely. Will definately go back.

Disliked If I had to critique, which I don't like to do, would be the wooden toilet block would benefit from updating or brightening up. Also cleaning prior to guests arriving even if there is only two guests due. This however wasn't bad at all but I guess it's the little touches that makes the biggest impact.

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