Wild(ish) Camping

We called ourselves Wild Camping in Sussex when we first started in 2008, really because we had absolutely no facilities, bar a tap in the field. I’d hand people a shovel when they arrived and off they went – wild camping in Sussex! After that, we went all upmarket and put in one loo, then two and a washing up area. Eventually, we put up a sparkly new shower block, so definitely less wild than we were, but no need for all those baby wipes. And let’s face it, deep in the ancient woodland, a mile from the nearest road, you’re still not going to get much wilder than that in this busy little corner of England.

At Little Dernwood Farm we have one of the largest areas of coppice woodland in East Sussex. They are formally identified as semi-natural ancient woodland being the vestige of the dark and forbidding forest that covered The Weald in ancient time. The camping field is set within the very heart of these 70 acres of woodland. The woods are ablaze with anemones and bluebells in the early spring, then moving to green and lush in summer – great for camp building. Finally in late summer early and autumn, it’s a foragers’ delight, with fruits of the forest from blackberries to chestnuts and a variety of mushrooms to stock up on.

Introducing our new gear delivery service..

The Quad Squad!

Firstly thanks so much to all of you who took the time to repond to our survey, it was clear that nobody wanted the vibe of the field to change, and that having it car free is what makes it special. So we have not only upgraded some of our trolleys, but more importantly we are going to be running a farm buggy & trailer down to the camping field from 4pm to 7pm every friday and doing the return trip from 9am to 12pm on Sunday morning. This is free and will operate on a first come first serve basis, to the entrance of the field where there will be trolleys for you to then do the short trip to wherever you want to go in the field, this also works for the Bell Tents, Encampment & Hammock areas, all a short walk from the drop off point in the camping field 

The opportunities for wildlife ‘safaris’ are endless, from your run of the mill rabbits and normal woodland birds to badgers roaming at night from the large sett in the woods to the south of the field, to sightings of our resident herd of fallow deer and huge buzzards flying overhead.

Camp building is always a very popular pass time and some are really very impressive, not sure how much is kids and how much is dads though!

We allow camp fires and we have nets of logs and kindling for sale at our shop. You are very welcome to bring your own wood or buy it from other sources but we do not allow foraging for firewood. It is one of our planning conditions and we strictly enforce this.  We also sell our home produced meat to cook on your fire, and now you can even treat yourself to a cooked breakfast and lovely coffee up at our cafe!  I know a highlight for many people is being able to see the cows, pigs and sheep out in the field, and then cook steak and sausages from the farm; the ultimate in food traceability and provenance.

We are beautifully located deep in the Sussex Weald on the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty,  between Brighton, Eastbourne and Tunbridge Wells.