Autumn’s newest social media craze is a snap-happy trip to the local pumpkin patch. From Kent to Cumbria, once-anonymous farms have been reborn as gourd wonderlands with fields transformed into cinematic sweeps of orange, yellow and green.
The evidence of these visits is scattered like pumpkin seeds online; it’s hard not to scroll for more than a minute this month without seeing a picture of a child grinning in their wellies while standing next to a pumpkin that’s almost as big as they are.
But not all patches are created equal. This autumn follows the hottest summer since records began, and four successive heatwaves caused Britain’s pumpkin crop to fruit weeks ahead of schedule. Many frustrated farmers elected to leave their pumpkins in the field. But heavy rain since August has caused the pumpkins to rot – turning the yield into something approaching a field of screams. Apt for Halloween, but very bad for business.
Fortunately, many pumpkin farms are trying to compensate with carving workshops, gourd-based afternoon teas, and mazes. If you’re looking for a jolly day out ahead of Halloween, here’s our pick of the best …
Cotswold Farm Park, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
With almost 60,000 followers on Instagram, Cotswolds Farm Park is one of the most photogenic patches in the UK
With almost 60,000 followers on Instagram, this is one of the most photogenic patches in the UK. Beyond the pumpkins, you can take a wander through the ‘pumpkin trail’, have your little ones’ faces painted and recline with live music and snacks from the on-site food trucks.
cotswoldfarmpark.co.uk; £12.50
Doddington Hall, Lincolnshire
There are more than 30 different varieties of pumpkins, squashes and gourds to choose from at Doddington’s pumpkin patch – best of all, entry is free
There are more than 30 different varieties of pumpkins, squashes and gourds to choose from at Doddington’s pumpkin patch. Best of all, entry is free, meaning you only pay for the pumpkins you pick to take home, with prices starting from £4.
The location is a cracker, too, in the grounds of an Elizabethan hall. Keep an eye out for golden-bottomed pumpkins while you work the patch – in this Halloween take on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, if you find one you’ll win the pumpkin, a family ticket to Christmas in the hall and a 4 ft Doddington-grown Christmas tree.
doddingtonhall.com; free
Lathcoats Farm, Essex
Lathcoats Farm in Essex is a recent social media favourite for its undercover pumpkin patch, outdoor games and Halloween hunt for kids (stock image)
This is a recent social media favourite for its undercover pumpkin patch, outdoor games and Halloween hunt for kids, which comes with an activity sheet, pencil and edible prizes. And if you tire of the orange-fest there are apple orchards you’re free to roam (and pick from).
eapples.co.uk; £5.50
Millets Farm Centre, Oxfordshire
The ‘Spook-tacular’ at Millets Farm Centre has been consistently praised this year so far for its blend of pumpkin-picking, hot chocolate and marshmallow-toasting
The ‘Spook-tacular’ at this farm has been consistently praised this year so far for its blend of pumpkin-picking, hot chocolate and marshmallow-toasting by the patch itself, plus the overall value for money. There’s also a children’s disco on some evenings, which features a huge play frame as well as a dance floor. Never has there been a better place to introduce a new generation to the joys of dancing to the Monster Mash.
milletsfarmcentre.com; from £1.50
Kenyon Hall Farm, Cheshire
At Kenyon Hall Farm in Cheshire, there is an absolutely huge pumpkin patch, with around 20,000 grown each year
Here lies an absolutely huge pumpkin patch, with around 20,000 grown each year. There’s no carving allowed on site, but it sells pumpkins and squashes of all shapes, sizes and colours.
kenyonhall.co.uk; £2.95
Arnprior Farm, Stirling
With more than 20,000 gourds to choose from in their six-acre field, there’s a lot more to do at Arnprior Farm, Stirling, once you’ve selected your dream pumpkin
Claiming to be Scotland’s largest pumpkin patch, with more than 20,000 gourds to choose from in their six-acre field, there’s a lot more to do once you’ve selected your dream pumpkin, including thrilling ‘quad pod’ rides, a pumpkin cannon, an indoor hay barn, face painting and a bouncy castle. You can even stay the night in one of the eco-glamping pods, or take a dip in their indoor swimming pool.
arnpriorfarm.com; £14.90 per car
Mr Pumpkin at Lime Farm, Derbyshire
Lime Farm has a strong claim for hosting the patch with the ultimate quantity and variety; they’ve planted almost 90,000 pumpkins, with more than 50 different types
Lime Farm has a strong claim for hosting the patch with the ultimate quantity and variety; they’ve planted almost 90,000 pumpkins, with more than 50 different types, including white pumpkins, striped pumpkins and the appropriately ghoulish warty pumpkins. There’s also a pumpkin trail for children alongside a bouncy castle and a bungee.
mrpumpkin.co.uk; £2.50
Tulleys Farm, Crawley, West Sussex
For a pumpkin party after dark, Tulleys Farm goes all out with their ‘Pumpkin Nights’, which come with moonlit picking, street food, and cocktails under twinkling lights
For a pumpkin party after dark, Tulleys Farm goes all out with their ‘Pumpkin Nights’, which come with moonlit picking, street food, and cocktails under twinkling lights. During the daytime there’s a woodland trail plus an observation wheel stretching up to 33 metres – giving you a bird’s-eye (or should that be bat’s-eye?) view of the farm.
pumpkinfarm.co.uk; £8
Hatter’s Farm, Bishop’s Stortford, Essex
Tractor rides, pumpkin pizza, and a whole lot of skeletons make Hatter’s Farm in Bishop’s Stortford a refreshingly unpolished antidote to the more kitschy pumpkin patch experiences
Tractor rides, pumpkin pizza, and a whole lot of skeletons make this a refreshingly unpolished antidote to the more kitschy pumpkin patch experiences. Venture through a field of 100,000 home-grown pumpkins with a wheelbarrow and, after you’ve picked your gourds, head to the impressive food court, where you’ll find burgers, waffles, toasties and hot chocolate. There’s also the option to come here at night time if you’re not too wary of pumpkins going bump in the night.
hattersfarmpumpkins.co.uk; £4.60
Cattows Farm, Leicestershire,
Cattows steals the crown for the biggest pumpkin patch in the UK, with more than 170,000 pumpkins, squashes, and ornamental gourds to choose from (stock image)
Cattows steals the crown for the biggest pumpkin patch in the UK, with more than 170,000 pumpkins, squashes, and ornamental gourds to choose from. The names are fantastic, from the ‘goosebump’ to the ‘ghost pumpkin’.
Uniquely, the farm has decided to bring cowboys into the entertainment mix, with Wild West-themed shows and, on the 25th October, a Nashville-inspired country music show. Piebalds and pumpkins? Here, they’re together at last.
thehalloweenfarm.co.uk; £3
WHICH TO AVOID?Grange Farm, Lowton, Greater Manchester
The pumpkin festival at Grange Farm near Warrington has received mixed reviews, with some criticisng its high prices and distinctly chilly hospitality (stock image)
The pumpkin festival at this farm near Warrington has received mixed reviews, with some criticisng its high prices and distinctly chilly hospitality. ‘We paid £18 for a family of four’, reads one Tripadvisor. ‘The pumpkins were dirty and some rotten… staff were rude.’
Maxeys Farm Shop Pumpkins, Kirklington, Nottinghamshire
Many reviews are positive but some visitors have been scathing of the meals served in the farm shop of this Nottinghamshire farm. One review from last month online wrote of a ‘shocking experience we had today. Ran out of Sunday roast again two hours into service. We had booked the meal over two weeks ago only to find when there were no more roast.’ Stay for the pumpkins, but perhaps follow with a warming meal elsewhere.
Pumpkin Picking Patch, Sompting, West Sussex
‘I expected more of a Halloween experience- just pumpkins dumped in a field really, most of them were damaged,’ reads one review of Pumpkin Picking Patch in Sompting
‘I expected more of a Halloween experience- just pumpkins dumped in a field really, most of them were damaged,’ reads one review of this Sussex patch. Overall, opinion is mixed, with some praising the good organisation of the experience while others lament that the standards have fallen compared to previous years with fewer types of pumpkin displayed and a lack of catering.
Pumpkin Village / Marsh Farm, Essex
With a measly 3.2 on Google reviews, visitors have found plenty to dislike about the Pumpkin Village over the last few years with numerous complaints of the high prices (£15) to carve a pumpkin while other guests have warned of long queues, a lack of things to do and a general downturn in quality compared to previous years.
Foxes Farm, Basildon, South Essex
Some visitors to Foxes Farm have savaged the pumpkin patch experience for it being little more than a ‘muddy field with smashed pumpkins’ (stock image)
Scoring a pitiful 3.2 average on Google reviews, some visitors to Foxes Farm have savaged the pumpkin patch experience for it being little more than a ‘muddy field with smashed pumpkins’ and for charging (in 2024 according to one reviewer) a whopping £25 for five medium-sized pumpkins.
Pagebank Pumpkin Patch, Cumbria
Some visitors seem to have enjoyed their trip to this farm near Barrow in Furness in Cumbria. But others found it a disappointing experience, with one reviewer singling out the cost of the pumpkins they paid for at being overpriced at £26 for three small specimens.
Wasing Pick Your Own, Berkshire
With one of the lowest ratings of any pumpkin patch in the UK on Google at just 3.2, bad reviews of Aldermaston patch are numerous – with many posting photos of rotten pumpkins and others voicing anger at the Halloween decorations consisting of little more than ‘a couple of wooden sculptures.’
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