Butser Ancient Farm Visitor Guide: Hours, Prices, Events
Butser Ancient Farm at Chalton is open weekends and school holidays, with adult tickets at £15.50 and free parking. Here is what to expect, and what is on this autumn and winter.
Butser Ancient Farm, Chalton Lane, PO8 0BG, is open Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from 10am to 4pm, plus Wednesday to Sunday in Hampshire school holidays; adults pay £15.50 and children £10.50 as published in October 2026, and parking is free.
What is Butser Ancient Farm?
Butser Ancient Farm is an open-air living history museum at Chalton Lane, Hampshire, PO8 0BG. Its own website describes it as a place to travel back through 10,000 years of human history, where you can see experimental reconstructed houses, meet rare-breed sheep and goats, follow a free children's trail and try ancient crafts. The accessibility page calls it a roughly five-acre open-air museum with a gentle circular path around the ancient buildings, and the site's footer describes it as a not-for-profit community interest company and active research and education centre.
For a rainy-day alternative, see our things to do with kids guide. For wider days out, there is Queen Elizabeth Country Park nearby too.
Opening days and times
According to the farm's plan your visit page, it is currently closed to general admission on weekdays. It is open to the public on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, 10am to 4pm, with extra weekday opening during Hampshire school holidays, when it is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm. Last admission is at 2:30pm, and the farm says most visits last between two and five hours. Check the farm's calendar for the exact school holiday dates before you go.
Ticket prices
The prices below are as published on the plan your visit page in October 2026, and the farm says booking online saves £1 per ticket. An adult ticket is £15.50. A child aged 3 to 16 is £10.50. Concessions, for students, seniors and disabled visitors, are £14.50. A small family ticket, one adult and two children, is £27.00, and a medium family ticket, two adults and two children, is £41.50. Toddlers under 3 and carers go free.
The discounts page lists £1 off for disabled visitors, students and over 65s, free entry for carers visiting with a disabled visitor (bring evidence), and says offers apply to general admission days only, not workshops and special ticketed events. Annual passes, shown on the annual passes page, start at £35 for an adult, £20 for a child and £30 for a concession, with family passes at £70 for one adult and two children, £90 for two adults and two children, and £110 for two adults and four children. The farm says a pass covers general admission days but not other events or workshops.
Events in autumn and winter 2026
The farm's home page lists these events as of 5 October 2026. Bronze casting workshops run through the autumn, listed for 10 to 24 October, 1 to 27 November and 4 to 18 December, so check the events page for the exact days. Dark Fairy Tales for the Season of Mists, a storytelling evening with Jason Buck, is listed for 16 and 17 October. A Roman Reenactment Weekend is listed for 17 and 18 October, with another on 31 October and 1 November. The Time Traveller Holiday Club, for 6 to 13 year olds, is listed for 26 to 30 October, and a Bow Making Course for 27 to 30 October.
Further out, The Folklore of Plants is listed for 31 October, The Butser Gathering for 14 November, a Hedgerow Wreath Making Workshop for 28 November, and Harp Songs for a Winter's Night with Keziah Thomas for 3 December. Other craft workshops include Viking weave jewellery, copper decorations and ancient wire work on 17 and 18 October, and a corn dolly workshop on 25 October. Workshops and special events are ticketed separately, so book through the farm's events pages rather than assuming general admission covers them.
Access, parking and dogs
Parking is free. The farm says it has free hardstanding and field parking on site, and its accessibility page says the main car park beside the Visitor Centre is fully accessible, while the overflow car park is in a grassy field on a hill. Paths are made of bonded gravel and the site is mostly flat with a slight slope in places. The farm says its buildings are fully wheelchair accessible apart from one inaccessible room in the Roman villa, that it keeps a wheelchair in the Visitor Centre for free use, and that there is one disabled toilet and baby changing facilities in the Visitor Centre. Most ancient buildings have open fires, so the farm cannot guarantee a lack of smoke.
Well-behaved dogs are welcome on a lead during day admission, and the farm provides dog bowls and water at the Visitor Centre. The shop sells snacks, cakes and hot and cold drinks, with sandwiches at the busiest times while stocks last, and you can bring your own picnic.
Getting there from Horndean
The farm says it is two minutes off the A3. For public transport it says the nearest train station is Petersfield and that the number 37 bus runs from Petersfield to Clanfield; you get off by the Hampshire Hog pub in Clanfield and walk about 20 minutes along the road. For a journey from Horndean, check a journey planner, or see our Horndean buses guide. The farm's phone number is 02392 598838 and its email is hello@butserancientfarm.co.uk.
Quick answers
When is Butser Ancient Farm open? Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays, 10am to 4pm, plus Wednesday to Sunday during Hampshire school holidays. Last admission is 2:30pm.
How much does it cost? Adults £15.50 and children aged 3 to 16 £10.50 as published in October 2026, with £1 off for booking online. Under 3s go free.
Is parking free? Yes, the farm says it has free parking on site.
Can I bring my dog? Well-behaved dogs are welcome on a lead during day admission.
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