Swalland Farm

Rated 4 of 5

Overall rating

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 4 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 4 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 4 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 1 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Avoid this site they Lie to you!

We stayed at this site in August 23 for the bank holiday weekend and booked this via email and the stay was great although the site is a bit rustic and on a farm that does not bother us at all as we always stay on CL sites, although there is no welcome which is fine as a lot of CLs are like this, you do get the feeling that the owners don't really give a dam about the site, We liked our stay that much and loved the area we re booked on the 4th of January 24 to stay on the first week of August 24 we had confirmation email back to say everything is booked for our stay. On the Tuesday before or Saturday arrival We had a call from Emma the owner to say that there was something wrong with our pitch and we couldn't stay due to the electrics being faulty and she stated that the other 4 pitches were taken with a large family booking! as you can imagine we had to ring around quickly as we had booked the time off work and I remembered there was an affiliated site next door to this site so I rang and got a pitch for the week so everything our end was sorted! We arrived on the Saturday of the 3rd August and set up on our site and in the evening decided to walk the dogs up the hill and past Swalland site with me expecting to see 4 units on the site and a pitch cornered off not in use? well to my surprise there was 5 units on the site all plugged in to the electrics! I walked past again on the Sunday evening and still the same and to be honest I felt really upset and lied to, although we had our site and everything was great I was angry that I had been lied too especially when I had booked this site in early January 24. I emailed the owners to say how upset I was and also complained to the Caravan and motorhome club, I did get a response back from the Club but not the owners of Swalland Farm. avoid this CL unless you want to be potentially double booked! Paul Smith

The Gaffer

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 05/09/2024 09:10

2 reviews

2 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 4 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Very Relaxing with Glorious Views.

We discovered this CL last year while staying in the area. It delighted us so much we decided we would stay on it during our next visit to the area. If you follow the directions in the handbook or the website you will be fine as the route takes the best route for a caravan or motorhome. If you use a map or your satnav you may run into difficulties. The last 100 yards of the journey is through a working farmyard. Access was always clear whenever we came or went however it is a uneven. We have a long twin axle and it didn't cause us any issues, others staying had a variety of outfits too. Access to the CL is straight forward. Water, EHU, elsan waste and the toilet are readily found. The CL is on a slope and you will require ramps or blocks. We managed to level our caravan across the slope without difficulty. The views, both towards the sea and behind the CL are awesome. Luckily the whole CL has a view so it doesn't really matter where you or others pitch, you will have a view. Excellent access to the coastal path and walks inland to Swyre Head are right beside you. A permissive path takes you straight to Kimmeridge bay, about a 20-30 minute stroll. Payment is via an honesty box on the gate post, best to take an envelope to contain the payment and add your details too. This is a gem of a CL, we spent a week here and can't wait to return.

Hurryhome

Reviewed on 30/04/2023 17:26

16 reviews

4 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 3 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Truly a working farm but with spectacular views

As others have noted, this CL can get muddy. And it was, for our brief stay. But the owner gave us directions to park on the remaining piece of hard standing and from that pitch we could see for miles. We then did a marvellous circular walk from the farm, down to the cliff, along the cliff top to Kimmeridge and back down the long drive to the CL. About two hours. The WC was fine and appreciated. Wrapping up, this is a farm, not a manicured CL. If it’s not too muddy or crowded, it’s a nice place to stop.

Doric

Reviewed on 19/04/2023 18:23

8 reviews

0 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 3 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Fantastic family run site in a rural idyllic location

I think it is important reading the reviews of this site to consider a few things. This is a working dairy farm and adjacent the farmhouse is a slightly sloping grassed area with six electric hook up points. If you like peace and tranquillity easy access to the coastal path, beautiful scenery and interesting people then this is the site for you. Within easy reach are historical castles, the world-famous Tank museum, Kimmeridge Bay and the whole Jurassic fossil coastline. The family who run the site are incredibly friendly and have time to spend with all the campers and are happy to answer any questions about the local area. If you want hot running showers, a spa, tarmac access roads, etc then look elsewhere. The toilets on site are clean, there is a chemical loo disposal point and fresh drinking water. Emma and the family run the site on an ‘honesty basis’ and at £15 a night it is good value on an honest working dairy farm. Mary and I plus the children love this location, the site and the farm staff - a perfect combination for a getaway holiday.

GaryMary

Campervanner from Powys

Reviewed on 23/09/2021 16:54

1 review

3 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 4 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 3 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 1 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Dodgy maths

Just don't think the operators heart is in running a site. Seems the number 5 doesn't register here. Also the concept of no tents is vague. It is a case of turn up and set up. Why bother trying to reserve? £15 per night is a bit excessive compared with other club sites. Van, not a camper or even an off net van. Straight forward VW van turned up, moved someone else's stuff and then produced a tent fully the size of the van. That left at least 7 vehicles on the site. The facilities could be smartened up. The toilet floor is permanently wet. Not sure what causes that. Try not to think a out it. The site has quite a slope, you will need blocks and to hunt around for the least bad spot. Shame because it is a good location.

Gwylan

Reviewed on 19/09/2021 12:13

1 review

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 2 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 4 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 1 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Very disappointing

First the good points. Quiet site, beautiful views and lovely walks. Sadly we feel the running of this site falls well short. There was no one to greet us and 6 vans already on site which meant there was no EHU. According to other members already on the site this happens frequently and people are left to fight over the electric. We were unable to contact Emma who apparently runs the site. Although we did get EHU from day 2 new arrivals were left without. We didn’t see the owners first nor last. The toilet was pretty dirty and hadn’t been cleaned in a long time, which in these days of COVID isn’t good enough. There is no recycling facility just one large container which was full to bursting. How to pay for our stay was a total mystery and we had to email the owner who told us there was an honesty box for payment on site. It would have been useful to know this beforehand. All in all not a site we would return to. Not up to acceptable club standard.

Tom and Karen

Reviewed on 28/07/2021 19:49

1 review

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 4 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 1 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Disappointing. Could be so much better.

We recently stayed for a week on this site. We enjoyed our holiday because of very good weather and the superb access to the coastal and other footpaths. However we did have some issues of which other visitors should be aware. Arrival is down a long narrow lane which was okay but the way through the farm yard is very potholed and muddy for about 100yards, it’s okay when dry but filthy when wet. We arrived as arranged at midday to find that there were already 6 vans on site and therefore there was no free pitch. A campervan owner then informed us that he was leaving in about half an hour. So we had to hang around until he left. We then had to pitch where he had been, this area had not been cut for sometime so the grass was quite long and in one spot it was quite meadow like. We arrived on Sunday and on Wednesday the rest of the site was cut but obviously not ours so by the time we left it was very long. Luckily we mostly had dry weather. The toilet was basic, which we didn’t mind but it also was far from clean and during the whole week no one came to clean it and there was no notice that this should be done by users, neither was the bin emptied. I find this totally unacceptable during these times of Covid. The floor was permanently wet and muddy as the water tap outside it has no drain or soak away. We never saw the owners, there was no greeting and they remained elusive for our whole stay, we left our money in the honesty box by the gate, which we had learnt from reading reviews. However the sea views were amazing as was the access to footpaths. The other campers were also friendly but this site could be so much better and for £15/night we feel that the owners could put more effort into making it a safer and more welcoming experience. We probably wouldn’t stay here again for the reasons listed.

Lady and Tramp

Reviewed on 11/07/2021 20:23

4 reviews

2 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 4 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 4 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Disappointing

Be aware that this CL is a busy working farm which is reflected in the condition of the approach to the field through the farmyard and water filled pot holed lane. Sadly the grass sloping field had not been cut so was slippy and wet under foot. Eventually found the EHU point by following another cable as it was hidden in the nettle undergrowth, as was a garden pub style table. The toilet block was a simple affair with a stone floor perpetually wet due to an ill fitting door. No coat hook or shelf available. There is a rusty honesty box next to the COVID cleansing station with empty sanitiser at the entrance. A large wheeled blue commercial waste bin is in the farm, no recycling. No WiFi to speak of and poor radio reception. Came across the owner and made these points known to him but in his own words said he only had the CL for pin money and we could always go elsewhere! The great views, the peacefulness, the bird songs and the closeness to many walks were saving points but overall very disappointing - even for £15 per night. We stayed here for three nights and it did rain for some of that time. The field was cut an hour after meeting George. - visit searchforsites app for various photos.

Dreamin2

Reviewed on 22/06/2021 16:00

1 review

3 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Fantastic site. Secluded, picturesque and very welcoming.

Amazing location with incredible views over the Dorset coastline. Fantastic walk to the south west coast path through beautiful landscapes gardens. Keep going across the rolling hills to Tyneham Village and beyond. Couldn’t ask for much more. Would have received a perfect score if signal coverage was better (3G 2 bar at best) and pitch on slope but can’t hold the site owners responsible for that! Plus Clavells restaurant in Kimmeridge village does a filling and delicious fish finger sandwich.

HappyHols267

Reviewed on 13/09/2020 23:57

1 review

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Very welcoming, friendly and peaceful

We have just had two weeks on this lovely quiet site, the pitch is a little sloping but I've been on much worse, facilities are good, there is a minor issue with the toilet door sticking but all fine & clean. Emma, was a regular visitor to site and made an effort to welcome all new vans on the site, if you don't happen to see her when stopping for just one night there are facilities to put payments etc in a dedicated post box with details for cheques etc. Great location for lovely walks along the coast paths, also for exploring all local beauty spots, Swanage, corfe , studland, Arne nature reserve, Wareham etc. The farm is busy but doesn't affect the site and all the people working on the farm are very welcoming and polite. Great little site and we will be back

Sepai

Caravanner

Reviewed on 12/08/2020 12:40

8 reviews

0 Helpful notes

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