A County That Farms
Devon is, at its heart, a farming county. It has been for thousands of years — from the Bronze Age pastoralists who grazed their cattle on Dartmoor to the modern dairy farmers whose herds dot the rolling green hills that make Devon look, from a distance, like the platonic ideal of the English countryside. Agriculture is not just part of Devon's economy. It is part of its identity.
What has changed in recent years is that Devon's farms have opened their gates. You no longer need to grow up on a farm to experience the rhythms of agricultural life — the lambing in spring, the shearing in summer, the harvest in autumn, the quiet endurance of winter. Across the county, farms now offer visitor experiences that range from free-entry farm shops and nature trails to full-day hands-on encounters with animals, cheesemaking tours, and seasonal fruit picking.
These are not theme parks dressed up as farms. The best of them are working agricultural operations where visitors can see — and often participate in — the real business of producing food. And they are, almost without exception, better with friends. There is something about feeding a lamb or picking strawberries in the sun that strips away the usual social awkwardness and gets people talking, laughing, and connecting in ways that a restaurant or a cinema simply cannot match.
Here is our guide to the best farm experiences in Devon, from spring lambing to autumn harvest. One thing to hold onto throughout: almost everything here is seasonal, and the seasons are shorter than people assume. The cheese tours run on four Fridays a year, not all summer. One of the pick-your-own farms is shut until 2027. Check the date before you check the postcode.
The Big Farm Attractions
Pennywell Farm, Buckfastleigh
What: Family farm with hands-on animal encounters every 30 minutes Where: Buckfastleigh, on the southern edge of Dartmoor When: 15 February to 2 November 2026 — February half term to the end of October half term — 9am to 4pm, seven days a week Cost: Day tickets are £24.95 for adults (16+), £21.95 concessions, £19.95 per child over 90cm, and free for infants under 90cm. Book online in advance — ticket numbers are deliberately limited
Pennywell earns its reputation with a programme of hands-on activities that runs from the moment the gates open until closing time. A different activity happens every 30 minutes — pig racing, bottle feeding lambs, pony pampering, goat walking, egg collecting, pond dipping, and more.
Pennywell is home to the world-famous Pennywell miniature pigs, which were bred here and have since become an international sensation. Beyond the animals, there is a crazy golf course, a Tractor Village, and Treetops Towers with three large slides. All the activities and the three farm rides — the Red Rocket, the Tractor and Trailer and the Rainbow Railway — are included in the entry price, along with the live shows and the animal petting sessions. Coin-operated rides and animal feed are the two things you pay extra for.
What makes Pennywell work particularly well for groups of friends — not just families — is the pace and variety. You are never standing around wondering what to do next. The rolling programme of activities gives you a shared itinerary without anyone needing to organise anything. And there is something genuinely disarming about watching a group of adults become completely absorbed in a miniature pig race.
The farm sits near Buckfastleigh, which is also home to the South Devon Railway heritage steam line and Buckfast Abbey — so you can easily build a full day around the visit.
Darts Farm, Topsham
What: Award-winning farm shopping destination with free entry, farm walks, and animal encounters Where: Clyst St George, near Topsham, just outside Exeter When: Open daily, year-round — Monday to Saturday 8am to 7pm, Sunday 9.30am to 4.30pm Cost: Free entry
Darts Farm is not a traditional visitor farm — it is something more interesting. At its heart is a working farm where Ruby Red Devon cattle graze on the banks of the River Clyst and seasonal vegetables are picked fresh every morning for the farm shop. Around that core, the Dart family have built one of the most impressive food destinations in the South West.
The farm shop itself is extraordinary. An on-site master butchers, fishmonger, delicatessen, and cider maker sit alongside hundreds of hand-picked local and artisan suppliers. The best West Country cheeses, incredible artisan breads, pastries, pies, craft beers, and local wines fill the food hall. There is a restaurant, a vineyard, and even a wellness spa with treatment rooms.
For visitors, the farm walk is a track and nature trail that takes you past the cattle, with a bird hide overlooking the wetlands where you can spot herons, kingfishers, and other wildlife. Children can visit the native breeds in "Animal Corner" and tackle the play area's fort and assault course.
What makes Darts Farm special as a social destination is that it is free. You can spend a morning wandering the farm, have lunch in the restaurant, browse the food hall, and leave with a bag of fresh produce and a bottle of local cider — all without paying an entry fee. It is the kind of place where you go for an hour and stay for three. If you enjoy Devon's food and drink heritage, Darts Farm is an essential visit.
Darts Farm is just a short drive from Topsham, one of the most charming towns near Exeter. Combine a farm visit with a walk along the Exe Estuary and lunch at one of Topsham's excellent pubs or cafes. The Topsham ferry runs across to the Exminster Marshes nature reserve, making for a full day that covers food, nature, and good conversation.
The Big Sheep, Bideford
What: Farm-themed family attraction with live shows, rides, and animal encounters Where: Abbotsham, near Bideford, North Devon When: Open seasonally — check the website for current dates Cost: Varies by season — check website for current prices
Founded by Rick Turner in 1988, The Big Sheep has been entertaining visitors in North Devon for over three decades. It is unashamedly fun — a place where sheep race against jockeys, ducks run obstacle courses, and adults find themselves cheering with the same enthusiasm as the children.
The live shows are the highlight. The Sheep Show brings breeds from around the world onto the stage. The sheep racing is genuinely exciting — each sheep has a knitted jockey on its back, and the commentary is pitched perfectly between informative and hilarious. There are Duck Trials too.
Beyond the shows, The Big Sheep has the largest rollercoaster in Devon (The Rampage), a splash zone, archery tag, giant bouncing pillows, and a large indoor playground called EWEtopia. It runs seasonal events through the year: Spring Fun on the Farm brings newborn lambs — and, if you are lucky, a lamb actually being born — followed by Easter Fun on the Farm over the Easter holidays, family events in summer, and Halloween and Christmas markets later in the year.
The Big Sheep works best for groups with children, but it also has a cheerful energy that makes it enjoyable for adult groups who do not take themselves too seriously. Sometimes, watching sheep race is exactly what you need.
Crealy Theme Park, near Exeter
What: Theme park and farm attraction with over 60 rides and over 100 different kinds of animal Where: Clyst St Mary, minutes from Junction 30 of the M5 When: Open seasonally — check the website for current dates and prices Cost: Varies — check website for current pricing
Crealy started life in 1989 as a working farm attraction before evolving into Devon's biggest theme park. It still retains its farm roots, though the animals have been reorganised since — there is no Animal Barn any more. Instead you get Walk On The Wildside, where the emus, alpacas, goats, wallabies and Shetland ponies live, plus Meerkat Manor, Jungle Journey and Tortoise Town. Over a hundred different kinds of animal across the park.
The farm elements sit alongside more than 60 rides and attractions spread across over 100 acres. For younger visitors, the indoor soft play areas and gentle farm animal encounters are the draw. For older children and adults, there are roller coasters and thrill rides. The combination means mixed-age groups can all find something to enjoy.
Crealy is more theme park than farm, but its animal zones offer genuine encounters with livestock, and for groups looking for a day that combines outdoor activity with farm-style experiences near Exeter, it fills a gap.
Artisan Farm Tours
Quicke's Cheese, Newton St Cyres
What: Guided cheese-making tour with tastings and lunch Where: Home Farm, Newton St Cyres, just outside Exeter When: A handful of Fridays a year — in 2026, just four: 14 and 28 August, 4 and 11 September Cost: £55 per person, including tour, tastings, tote bag, wedge of cheese, and two-course lunch
Quicke's is one of Devon's great food stories. The Quicke family have been farming at Newton St Cyres since 1540 and making cheese since 1973 — Mary and Jane Quicke, mother and daughter, are the fourteenth and fifteenth generations on the land. Their clothbound cheddar is internationally renowned, and a tour of their operation is one of the finest food experiences in the county.
Be aware of how few tour dates there actually are. This is not a standing summer programme: the farm opens for a handful of limited groups on specific Fridays and they go quickly. You tour the farm, learn how cheddar is made, explore the "Cathedral of Cheese" — their maturing rooms, where wheels of cheese age in carefully controlled conditions — and sample cheeses at various stages of maturity. After the tour there is a short drive down the road to The Beer Engine pub for a seasonal two-course lunch featuring Quicke's cheese.
At £55 per person, it is not cheap, but it is exceptional value for what you get — a genuine insight into artisan food production, a proper cheese education, and a very good lunch. Private tours can be arranged for groups of over 10 adults, up to a maximum of 24, by contacting the farm directly.
The Quicke's farm shop is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 4pm and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm, closed Sundays and bank holidays, so you can visit even when no tours are running. The farm is just outside Exeter, easily accessible by car or bus, and Newton St Cyres station on the Great Western line is a short walk away. For more on Devon's artisan cheese producers, see our Devon cheese guide.
Quicke's tours sell out quickly, and with only four dates in 2026 they sell out very quickly — book well in advance through their website. If you miss out, the farm shop is still worth visiting for tastings and to buy cheese directly from the maker. Their smoked cheddar and the extra mature clothbound are particularly outstanding.
Seasonal Experiences
Lambing Season: February to April
Lambing defines spring in Devon. From late February through April, farms across the county welcome their newest arrivals, and several open their doors to visitors for the experience.
Pennywell Farm runs bottle feeding sessions throughout its season, and spring is the best time to visit for the full lambing experience. Parker's Farm Holiday Park near Newton Abbot offers a dedicated Baby Lamb Experience over Easter — 30-minute sessions limited to four people, one lamb each, £5 per person. It is only open to guests staying on the site, it is booked by phone on 01364 654869, and they do not publish dates in advance. It is intimate, hands-on, and genuinely moving.
In North Devon, The Big Sheep's Spring Fun on the Farm brings newborn lambs onto the farm alongside the sheep racing and craft activities, and if the timing is kind you may see a lamb actually being born. Borough Farm at Kelly near Lifton, on Dartmoor's western edge, offers a more rural version — guests staying in their converted nineteenth-century barns wake up to the sound of lambs in the fields from late March. They advertise lambs in the pastures rather than access to a lambing shed, so do not book expecting to be in at the birth.
A few practical notes for visiting lambing sheds: wear waterproof boots (barns have straw, mud, and manure underfoot), bring warm layers (barns are sheltered but not heated, and February and March visits can be cold), and follow the farm's biosecurity guidelines about hand washing and contact with animals.
Fruit Picking: Summer into Autumn
Devon's climate — mild, moist, and with long growing seasons — makes it excellent fruit-picking country. Pick-your-own farms open their fields from early summer, but the seasons are short, they differ from farm to farm, and they move with the weather. Ring or check the day before you drive anywhere.
Shute Fruit and Produce in Bishopsteignton, near Teignmouth, is a family farm offering pick-your-own fruit and vegetables from mid-July through to the end of October. Hours are 10am to 6pm in summer and 11am to 5pm in October, but they vary day to day — the farm posts what is ready to pick each morning. Closed Mondays, and closed in the rain. Dogs are welcome but not among the fruit and vegetables. There is a farm stall selling handmade preserves.
Oak Tree Gardens at Ashprington near Totnes has been welcoming PYO visitors since the 1960s, and picks a lovely list — raspberries, gooseberries, tayberries, blackberries, black and redcurrants, and broad beans. But it is closed. Their own site says they shut on 17 July 2026 and will not reopen until mid-June 2027, so do not plan a trip there this year.
Pips Pick Your Own at Kitley Farm, Yealmpton, near Plymouth, is open for the 2026 season with a long crop list, seven days a week — Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm, Sunday 10am to 5pm. (Look for Pips rather than "Kitley Farm", which will send you to a wedding venue.)
Halberton Court Farm Shop near Tiverton has grown strawberries and raspberries for PYO for many years, but publishes no season dates at all, so check before travelling. The shop and its café are open Monday to Saturday, 8.30am to 5.30pm, closed Sundays.
Fruit picking is one of the simplest and most satisfying social activities you can do. You are outdoors, you are doing something with your hands, conversation flows naturally, and you go home with a punnet of strawberries that taste better than anything you have ever bought in a shop. It is the kind of experience that turns an ordinary Saturday into a memorable one.
Harvest and Autumn
Devon's agricultural calendar does not stop when the fruit picking ends. Autumn brings its own rhythms — apple pressing in the county's cider orchards, harvest festivals in village churches, and the deep satisfaction of a landscape turning golden after a productive growing season.
Many farms run harvest-themed events in September and October. Darts Farm celebrates the season with its harvest produce, and the county's farmers' markets — Exeter, Totnes, Tavistock, South Molton — are at their best in early autumn, loaded with squash, root vegetables, apples, and preserves.
Devon's farmers' markets make excellent social outings. The Exeter Farmers' Market runs on Thursdays at the South Street end of Fore Street, from 9am until early afternoon. The Totnes Elizabethan Market — the costumed one — runs on Tuesdays only, from May to September, 9am to 3pm in the Civic Square; there is a separate, plainer Totnes market on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays year-round. Arrive early for the best selection, and bring a bag — you will need it.
Why Farm Visits Connect Us
There is something about a farm visit that makes people drop their guard. Perhaps it is the animals — it is hard to maintain any kind of social pretence while bottle feeding a lamb or watching a miniature pig race. Perhaps it is the physicality of it — being outdoors, getting mud on your boots, using your hands. Perhaps it is simply the contrast with the rest of our lives, which are so often spent indoors, in front of screens, in environments designed to be frictionless and efficient.
Farms are not frictionless. They are messy, smelly, unpredictable, and occasionally muddy. And that is exactly what makes them such good places to spend time with friends. When you strip away the usual social settings — the restaurant, the bar, the living room — and replace them with a field, a barn, and a handful of animals, something shifts. People relax. Conversations become less performative and more genuine. You end up talking about things you might not normally talk about.
Devon's farming heritage is also a reminder that food does not come from supermarkets. It comes from soil, from rain, from the patient work of people who understand the land. Visiting a farm — whether it is a quick stop at Darts Farm for a bag of freshly picked vegetables or a full-day experience at Pennywell — reconnects you with that reality. And sharing that reconnection with friends gives it meaning.
If you have been looking for something to do with friends that goes beyond the usual, try a farm. Pick strawberries. Feed a lamb. Watch cheese being made. Walk through a field of cattle at sunset. Devon's farms are waiting, and the gates are open.
For more ways to explore Devon's countryside and gardens with friends, we have plenty of ideas to keep you going.