Hill Farm Camping

View prices & book 10 55 reviews
Wide pitches with lovely views
Meet the animals
Campsite views
Around the site

  • Well-equipped Essex farm site with excellent accessible facilities
  • A 25-minute drive to Audley End; Colchester Zoo 40 minutes
  • Archery, frisbee golf and trailer rides on site, plus animals to meet
Getting around a campsite can sometimes be tricky for guests with restricted mobility – but not so at Hill Farm Camping in the Essex countryside, a mile from the village of Great Bardfield. The team at this 18-acre site have ensured that their place is accessible to all guests, with wheelchair-friendly paths and facilities including disabled toilets, a wet room with shower, a height-adjustable changing table and a power outlet for a personal hoist. Other handy amenities include a playground, picnic tables and a shared fridge and freezer. This welcoming spot isn’t just a campsite – it’s also an activity centre, where guests can play disc golf and have a go at archery or off-road skateboarding, walk around the wildlife lake or hire bikes to see some of the surroundings. Exploring isn’t off limits for less-mobile guests either, as there are rides available on wheelchair-friendly trailers that are also great fun for kids. And of course this is a farm, so there are chickens, sheep, goats and horses to meet as well as alpacas, emus and kangaroos. When you’re not busy talking to the animals, you may like to get a campfire going, wander up to the village for a drink in one of the pubs, or take day trips to places like Audley End or Colchester Zoo.

Site type

Tent pitches 25
Touring caravan pitches 6
Motorhome pitches 6
Open now
Opens 1 May
Please note
  • Single-sex bookings of 5 or more people (couples and immediate family members excepted) are not permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • No hen/stag parties permitted via Pitchup.com.
  • Discount cards and gift vouchers cannot be applied to bookings made via Pitchup.com.
  • At least one of the party members must be aged 21 or over.
  • There is no reception on-site: on arrival please contact the number provided on your booking confirmation.

Languages spoken

English

Open from Thu, 1 May to

Pitch types & availability

Reviews

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would recommend this site to a friend

100%

would stay here again

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Only showing reviews for the last 30 months.

Clean, welcoming, friendly and fun.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Annie M. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked: Everything! What a beautiful place. Clean, friendly and fun. We had a great 2 days here. Alan bought out the games and toys. Our sons age 1 & 3 loved his quad trailer ride, new toboggan, and more. Great stay we had. Facilities were clean - bonus to have a bath! Animals friendly and no problem. We cannot wait to return.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Lots of space, great activities and lovely hosts!…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Adam T. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass pitch

Liked: Lots of space, great activities and lovely hosts!

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Many thanks for your kind review much appreciated.
Alan & Ruth

Great family site.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked: Alan and Ruth have got an amazing site. They are so welcoming and friendly, checking that everything is going well and that there's nothing you need. The animals wandering around fascinated our 5 year old, his only negative feedback point was there aren't more! The views are also great for this area. EHU worked well and the toilet/shower block is clean and spacious. You may pay slightly more for Hill Farm than other similarly sized sites, but it is well worth it. Without a doubt we will book again, we are just looking for the dates now!

Disliked: Nothing.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Highly recommend staying at Hill Farm Camping! As our first camping trip…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 6
Harriet S. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked: Highly recommend staying at Hill Farm Camping! As our first camping trip we couldn’t have asked for more. The bathrooms were like home, plenty of entertainment for the children, the friendly alpaca’s coming to greet everyone & we got a tour of the site by Alan on his quad bike & trailer.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Excellent facilities across the whole site! Alan was so welcoming from the…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi 10
Martin J. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass pitch

Liked: Excellent facilities across the whole site! Alan was so welcoming from the very start, and was always on hand throughout our whole stay! There's animals to see, and even pet. There's games such as archery and pitch & putt golf and Alan is always on hand for quad bike rides around the site! The toilet/shower/washing up block was fantastic and extremely clean.
When our son drained the car battery, and we couldn't get the car back up the slippery hill, Alan was on hand with a jump start and a tow! We will 100% return next year!

Recommend to friends Visit again

From the manager: Thank you very kind.

Brilliant site, highly recommended.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Robert S. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked: Warm welcone from Alan. Stunnuing views. Well maintained grounds. Things to do such as golf, archery, zip wire, animals. Clean and modern facilties. Locality to Bardfield.

Disliked: Elecrical hook up not really sufficient. No elsan disposal yet. Very new site and needs a bit of work to properly cater for caravans.

Recommend to friends Visit again

For a family with a young child it was the perfect place.…

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 8
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked: For a family with a young child it was the perfect place. We all loved the animals and games, and the site owners were very welcoming and friendly.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Brilliant

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Anonymous The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked: Everything, Alan and Ruth were perfect hosts, nothing was too much trouble. Huge pitches. Facilities were good and clean. Site offers lovely views across the countryside. Games, 3 or 4 hole pitch and putt, archery and others to keep children, young and old, amused. Animals - alpacas, wallabies, chickens, an emu and the family cat and dog. Had a lovely couple of days. Village just a 20 min walk with a couple of pubs and a small Co-Op. Good phone and TV signal.

Disliked: Nothing to dislike

Recommend to friends Visit again

We had such a wonderful weekend and we would definitely book again.

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 8
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 8
Wifi 10
Joanne B. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Non-electric grass pitch

Liked: We loved so much! The owners are so friendly and helpful. We even got a tractor / trailer ride which the kids loved! Our main highlights were the stunning views from the hill, the zip line, stream etc for the kids to explore, the alpacas roaming free and being able to have an open fire.

Disliked: How far away the toilets were. This was due to where we chose to pitch up though, so you could choose to pitch up on the top of the hill and be closer to the bathrooms.

Recommend to friends Visit again

Wonderful relaxing site

Overall 10/10
Location 10
Value for money 10
Accommodation 10
Facilities / Activities 10
Customer service 10
Child friendliness 10
Cleanliness 10
Wifi No rating
Jane W. The reviewer booked through Pitchup.com

Electric optional grass pitch

Liked: Alan was very welcoming and friendly, the site views were beautiful and the animals were gorgeous.

You won’t be disappointed

Recommend to friends Visit again


Features

Leisure on site

Bar or club house Cycle hire Evening entertainment Fishing Fitness centre Games room Indoor swimming pool Kids' club On-site restaurant/cafe Outdoor swimming pool Play area TV room Take away Tennis Watersports

Amenities on site

Baby-changing facilities Bath available Composting toilet Dog park Drying room Food shop Free wifi Ice pack freezing Internet access Launderette Parent & baby washroom Pick-up from public transport Portable toilet Pub toilets Public telephone Shower available Tents for hire Toilet block Washing-up area Wifi

Groups welcome

Family friendly Motorcycle friendly Single-sex groups welcome Student groups welcome

Rules

Barbecue provided Barbecues allowed Campfires allowed Commercial vehicles allowed Dogs allowed No dogs allowed No pets allowed

Camping 2.0

Jumbo tent pitches

Themes

Peaceful Walkers' paradise Wild camping Wildlife haven

Utilities

Charging facilities Chemical disposal Communal freezer Communal fridge Electric car charging point(s) Gas cylinders available Recycling available Renewable energy

Nearby amenities

Bar nearby Dog walk nearby Shop nearby

Type

Farm Small (11-25 pitches)

Accessibility

Accessible parking at pitch Bathrooms: Large spacious shower Bathrooms: Large spacious toilet Bathrooms: Step-free access Bathrooms: Wheelchair accessible shower Bathrooms: Wheelchair accessible toilet Bathrooms: Wide doorways (over 30 inches/75cm) Dedicated quiet space Pitch close to accessible bathrooms Step-free or level access

Nearby leisure

Cycle hire nearby Cycling nearby Fishing nearby Restaurant nearby

Location

Hill Farm Camping

Mill Road

Great Bardfield

Braintree

Essex

England

CM7 4QQ

Directions

Timezone

Europe/London +0100 (GMT+01:00)

GPS

51.94878°N
0.45766°W

Nearest transport

Coach
11.4 km Tesco Store
14.9 km Coach Station
14.9 km Coach Station
Rail
10.6 km Braintree Rail Station
11.7 km Braintree Freeport Rail Station
13.6 km Cressing Rail Station
Ferry
42.1 km Point Clear Ferry Landing
42.1 km Brightlingsea Ferry Landing
43.1 km Wallasea Island Ferry Landing
Airport
15 km London Stansted Airport
34.9 km Cambridge Airport
45.5 km London Southend Airport

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Local attractions

Anyone who hasn’t had their fill of wildlife on site can meet rhinos and tigers at Colchester Zoo (40 minutes’ drive). Your younger offspring will likely enjoy an hour clambering around the soft-play centre at Little Monsters House of Fun (15 minutes), and most kids will also love the miniature railway ride and fairy-themed walk at Audley End House and Gardens (25 minutes). There’s more family-friendly entertainment to be had at Mountfitchet Castle and Norman Village (half an hour), where kids can dress up as knights in a recreated medieval hamlet. Great Notley Country Park (15 minutes) is another handy spot for you all to let off steam, with facilities for horse riding and cycling. Any grown-ups keen to grab some cultural time can have a nose around the fabulous art collection at Gainsborough’s House (half an hour), or tour rooms filled with antique treasures at the National Trust-owned Melford Hall (35 minutes), a Tudor mansion that started life as a Benedictine monastery. Followers of aviation history can also check out the Spitfires and Vulcan fighters at IWM Duxford (45 minutes).

Water quality at nearby bathing waters

Name Distance Type 2020201920182017
West Mersea 38 km Sea N/AGoodN/AN/A
Brightlingsea 41.1 km Estuary N/AExcellentExcellentExcellent
Leigh Bell Wharf 47.5 km Estuary GoodN/APoorN/A
Southend Chalkwell 48.1 km Estuary N/AGoodN/AGood

Data source: European Environment Agency

Must see

Audley End House and Gardens 18.1 km

East Anglian Railway Museum 20.6 km

Colchester Zoo 27.6 km

Imperial War Museum Duxford 27.8 km

Colchester Castle Museum 31.1 km

National Trust

Paycocke's 17.6 km

Coggeshall Grange Barn 18.1 km

Melford Hall 23.4 km

Lavenham Guildhall 29.2 km

Bourne Mill 32.1 km

Cycle routes

Find local routes on the National Cycle Network - over 12,000 miles of cycling routes.

Other

Finchingfield - Howe Woods - Little London - Howe Street 2.2 km

SPAINS HALL 3.2 km

SALING HALL 4.9 km

SALING GROVE 5.6 km

Thaxted - Great Easton - Tilty - River Chelmer - Thaxted 7.7 km

Please note: All distances on this page are calculated "as the crow flies" - please check actual distance depending on your mode of travel using the Get directions button above.

Offers

Conditions apply - see pitch type section for details

Nearest sites

Unfortunately, we have no nearby bookable sites.

Want to know more about camping in Essex?

Frequently asked questions

  • Does Hill Farm Camping have a swimming pool? No View all features
  • Is Hill Farm Camping dog friendly? No View all features
  • What attractions are near Hill Farm Camping? Anyone who hasn’t had their fill of wildlife on site can meet rhinos and tigers at Colchester Zoo (40 minutes’ drive). Your younger offspring will likely enjoy an hour clambering around the … Read more
  • When can I check in and check out of Hill Farm Camping?
    Camping and touring
    Arrive:  noon –  7:30 p.m.
    Depart by:  11 a.m.
    On-site accommodation
    Arrive:  10 a.m. –  8 p.m.
    Depart by:  Anytime
    Read more
  • How much does it cost to stay at Hill Farm Camping? From €47.55 (for 1 night, 2 adults) - prices may change depending on your dates and party.