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Tickets and Opening Times

Opening Times and Prices

Admission to the Animal Park & Gardens is free!

Regular Opening Times:

The Barn Café is open 10am – 3pm weekdays and open 10am – 4pm weekends.

We reserve the right to amend opening times due to weather or adverse circumstances that may affect our operations. If you’re travelling a long distance or poor weather is forecast, it is advisable to call ahead and check.

Young child in blue dungarees and green top looking at a pig


Terms and Conditions:

We very much hope that you enjoy your visit to the Animal Park & Gardens, set in a beautiful part of the Dorset countryside. The Animal Park & Gardens is part of our agricultural college; therefore we would just like to remind visitors that we are student-based and you will come across students learning within our Animal Park. We kindly ask you to read our terms and conditions, and respect our rules of entry to the park.  

Photography: We are happy for you to photograph or video our animals as a reminder of your visit, however this must be for personal use only. You may not use photographs or videos taken of our animals, staff, or park for any commercial purposes. Kingston Maurward retains the copyright of these images.  

Dogs: Dogs are permitted within the park, however this is within specific locations. Dogs must be on a lead at all times and are not allowed around any of the animals in the Animal Park. In the interest of animal welfare, please refrain from leaving pets in your vehicle during your visit. We reserve the right to contact any relevant authority if we feel that an animal left in any vehicle within one of our car parks is suffering or distressed in any way.  

Feeding of the animals: Please do not feed any of the animals unless authorised by a staff member. 

Fences and barriers: Please do not stand or climb on our fences and barriers, they have been placed for public safety as well as the protection of our animals. 

Alcohol: Under no circumstances may alcohol be brought into, or consumed in the park at any time. Any visitor found with alcohol, or under the influence of alcohol, will be asked to leave the estate. 

Behaviour towards staff: The park has a zero tolerance approach towards members of the public behaving in a aggressive manner towards our staff. Any visitor behaving in this way will result in them being asked to leave the estate. 

Smoking: Is only permitted off site. We would kindly ask visitors to refrain from smoking in any other area of the park. A fire could be devastating, so please comply with this request.  

Behaviour: Whilst on site, children must remain under the control and supervision of an adult at all times. As we are a college site, we ask all visitors to remain dressed appropriately during their visits; this includes wearing shirts, shoes and leg wear at all times, and swimwear is not permitted. 

Rubbish: Bins are provided within the park; please help us to keep our park tidy and free from litter by using the bins provided. 

We continuously strive to ensure that the park is safe and that no harm can come to you during your visit. However, as the main part of our park is in an external environment affected by the changing seasons, our walkways can become wet and muddy. We therefore advise you to wear sensible and sturdy footwear. The park and play barn can also get very busy, so please take your time and enjoy your visit.  

For public safety, we reserve the right to refuse entry to the park if the capacity for visitors at the park is reached.  

Your entrance to the park acknowledges acceptance of the park’s rules of entry.

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