Middle Farm in Lewes

A dream-come-true for lovers of farm shops. Excellent choice of foodstuffs, including a butcher and cheese sections. And a cider cellar, with a million different ciders and perries from across England! Also, selling wines from British wineries. Tricky not to overspend but it's an outing in its own right. Definitely worth a visit!

Fun place - good couple of hours out

A lot of variety and the cider barn is excellent. Some things are a little pricy but the quality is excellent.

Great farm shop, superb produce, lovely cafe and staff

Great Beer selection, fantastic farm shop, great gift shop with lovely lady & superb friendly Dawg!

A fantastically well stocked farm shop. With wonderful products from the local area's Lots to choose from farm fresh eggs, locally butchered meat and local cheeses. They also had lots of Christmas gifts and treats as well. Love a good farm shop and this is definitely a great one

My four word review is: Not trying hard enough For full review including photos, see potato_world_and_beyond on Instagram!

Always friendly and helpful, will always go there for chicken supplies

Great afternoon out, lovely little farm, lots of animals to see, kids play areas, nice little shop and good cafe with plant shop which was nice to look round as well.

Best sausages and awesome to see pork cheek

Stop for a pasty on the way past or stay longer and check out some ciders. Great place.

I like the cafe and nice shops in this farm as well as beautiful area and I used to go there every weekend for lunch but I personally experienced a very bad memory of a member of staff several years ago. A middle age lady who was working at plant section, she didn’t like to speak to me and whatever I asked regarding an apple tree that I was interested to buy , she turned her face away & didn’t want to respond so I had to leave without buying anything. This behaviour still irritating me after several years. I think it was clear that she doesn’t want to communicate to a foreigner and she was a perfect racist model of her own, who didn’t want any coloured women to be around which is very sad & unacceptable.

Advertised as being open until 5pm, but was refused entry with my 2 year old daughter at 15:44 as they apparently stop entry at 15:30.. completely unreasonable and was almost nobody even there.. could have been given a degree of understanding instead of simply being turned away because we missed their made up cut off time by 14 minutes.. I work in retail and to treat customers like this is pure ridiculous

Visited today to the cider and farm shop..... WOW! I am a cider lover and I've been to a few "cider shops" this place is like Aladdin's cave! Absolutely huge selection of local and UK ciders (free tasters before you buy) and very reasonably priced!! The staff are very welcoming and friendly with some great recommendations...... Then it's the farm shop..... 🫣 This is like a candy store for me with the butchers with some of the best sausages I've ever tasted and a new cut of steak for me being the Denver steak! Wow! Cooked on the BBQ seared and then low and slow is totally amazing! Then comes the worst part (for me) the cheese selections! I think the wife brought everything possible! Again lots of choices and many local cheeses! Highly recommend a quick visit if your after some quality foods they also have a petting zoo which is more aimed at kids but if you have a spare few hours well worth the trip!

Love this place. Lovely cider selection and an amazing farm shop.

A delightful farm nestled away between Lewes and Polegate. The farm shop there has a wide range of goods to suit all daily needs as well as some extra. The cider tasting room is well worth a visit and the plants available to buy throughout the year are of great quality. Plenty of parking available and worth a visit if you're passing.

An extremely poor experience with mediocre food for lunch on a lovely sunny day. The outside area was swarming with wasps which made eating or drinking anything sweet impossible. The food was unappetising, with a long wait to both order and receive. We won't be visiting again.

Me and the family came here for sunday brunch - it was absolutely delicious! We had the pork and beef, both were tender and the yorkshire pudding was to die for! The staff were amazing, and service was prompt and professional. We will definitely be returning soon!

What we had was good, disappointed couldn't get a sandwich before 11:30

Lovely farm, brilliant for kids and adults. You can buy animal feed and supplies,there's also a shop to buy fresh produce and a bakery.

Tried to have tea and scones in the outside area and was absolutely impossible given the number of wasps. When we tried to move inside they followed us. This seems to be an ongoing problem which the staff are aware of but not very helpful with. All in all left just feeling the experience was average—farm shop and cafe with the highlight being the cider shop for cider enthusiasts.

I call in at the farm cafe quite alot ,but today I was a bit disappointed with the ploughman's lunch today as normally you get a lovely chunk of crusty bread and a good wedge of cheese today I received half a slice of brown crusty bread and a thin slice of cheese just saying !

We went to a farm shop but I thought farm shop pack of posh biscuit's some overpriced tea n that'll do. How wrong could I be?! they had loads for the kids. It was seven quid to get in but they had everything there and my boy ran free seeing bunnys and chickens n then there was a huge barn full of straw where every kid and grown up ran around throwing straw at one another jumping from one bail to the next. We had a good hunt round the cider barn and the plants were excellent. We're now oddly considering buying chickens for the garden for a taste of the good life. We will be back.... Even if its just for the straw barn!

Lovely little farm. Great play areas for children. Staff are friendly. We loved the hay barn.

We thought £7 was very reasonable. The 3yo loved the play park especially the old tractors. The meet the animals/ feed the animals were fun and well spaced through the day. The hay barn was fun for everyone. Great scone from the cafe, a lovely gift shop to browse and came home with a plant and cider to boot. Can’t wait to come again.

Came here with my boyfriend but it's more for children really, not bad to kill an hour on a nice day but £7 is a bit steep just to see a handful of animals. Luckily the shop and cafe are free entry.

Very disappointed with our visit on Saturday after cycling from Eastbourne to see a notice on the counter 'no toasties', which we have loved many times before. The reason given "too hot in the kitchen". Really! Unbelievable!!

We have been to Middle Farm many times and it is often busy and today was no exception. However the service was shockingly slow, no sense of urgency, staff miserable and unwelcoming. Tables dirty and cluttered with crockery, had to ask for someone to clean table before we sat at it. 30 min wait for coffee and cake is unacceptable. Will take our business else where in future.

Great little spot to see farm animals. Was a little underwhelmed at the cost/value, which is why it only gets 4 stars. Staff were all kind and helpful. It's definitely a great place to spend a few short hours with a toddler.

Everything was delicious, especially the quiches

A great little farm shop and cafe. The outside space in a courtyard is lovely to sit out in the sun. The staff are helpful if anything is not quite what you expected. Children will love the pond with ducks and chickens in some areas. I have visited many time over the years avoiding peak school holidays, if you do not have children with you.

It would be nice to have some tables outside with chairs with backs instead of all picnic benches for those disabled.

Splendid array of cider! Great baked goods, lovely staff.

One of the best farm shops around. The cider barn is possibly what heaven looks like.

It's a lovely day out. Lots to see. Helping feed the animals. Great for the old and young ones

Very nice farm lovley shops and garden plants toilets very clean 👌 👍 😀

Staff are rude and unprofessional very unorganized not worth going back. Martins wood farm or mantle farm are much nicer and friendly.

I can only comment on the farm as we didn’t use the tea rooms or buy from the shop. I was upset the way the animals are living especially the pigs. They are in very confined pens with no stimulation, no where to go outside and basically in a concrete cell. The only interaction they have is feeding time. The sheep and lambs inside were again in small pens. One had a bad cough which was amongst the rest and didn’t look well. The ducks have a small pond, the area around the pond was just mud. The whole place feels run down, the baby swings had a piece of gaffer tape holding a broken bit together. It’s tired and could do with a review on the animal welfare. No money has been spent on maintenance, everything needed some tlc. I can’t understand the reviews, does nobody else not notice the poor animals living accommodation. Quite shocking

Always stop here when we are in the area. Great farm, lovely produce.

Just drove by .car park very busy. Normally a sign it's very good

My partner and I left Middle Farm yesterday feeling a bit conflicted. Although we had a wonderful time looking round the farm, the gorgeous farm shop and having a tasty cream tea, it was the questionable wellbeing of the animals during the ”activities” that stayed with us more. The “Small Animal Meet and Greet” felt cruel. You queue for 20 minutes to stroke a traumatised guinea pig and rabbit on a table who have had tens of children hands all over them. It was so loud. The rabbit and guinea pig were huddled up together shaking, very obviously distressed. I think there’s a better way to organise this. The second event we saw was the “lamb feeding” which consisted of another long queue to eventually hold a bottle to a struggling orphaned lamb on a raised stage for a minute while an employee holds them back. It didn’t feel very intimate or comfortable for the lamb or the “feeder”. In all, it just felt very commercial and I think these activities could do with being rethought for the animals welfare.

We enjoyed our visit but the downside was that we had to enter in and out through the shop to see the animals, visit the loo, cafe and farm shop. This created a tantrum with our 3 year old as he wanted to purchase everything in the shop! This was not just a problem with our little one but seemed to be the same for others too. Why do we have to be subjected to this enforced retail purchasing? It’s like having sweets at the check out. Please stop spoiling parents and children’s day out by causing them unnecessary anxiety and tantrums! It was YOUR fault, not our 3 year old that our day was spoilt 😢

Absolutely love this place. The food and drink are outstanding, the staff so helpful and friendly and the plant area is well stocked with interesting and healthy plants.

Disappointing! We went to the lambing event here in April 2024. I personally found it really commercialised and frustrating. It was busy and whilst there were lots of animals in pens and behind fences, I really wanted my children to be able to interact with the animals more closely which is why I had come here for the interactive aspects. Unfortunately these were rather disappointing: we had to queue for each of the “events” and then the animals available to interact with were very limited. eg meet and greet small animals. This was a lot of queuing to stroke a rabbit for about 30 seconds. The rabbit was sat on a table with little hands coming at it. The same was true of the lamb bottle feeding - long queue and then it didn’t feel very intimate to stand in front of an orphaned lamb with a bottle. If the lamb Sat on your lap for example, it would have been nicer! The goat feeding- there were 3 little goats running up and down the fence taking food from toddlers hands. Kind of cute, but not a good enoigh goats to children ratio in my opinion! All in all just disappointing. The hay/straw barn was the best bit- lots of jumping on bales and rolling about in straw.

Lovely place to visit with young children to see the animal's , great restaurant but take a named driver with you because once you've tried all the cider's that are for sale you can't walk

A lovely little working farm with access to all of the animals. Play areas are clean and well maintained.. all staff were lovely and happy, and very helpful! Shepherdess was so informative and friendly at a very busy lambing time! Coffee is simply the best!

I was disappointed with the Easter holiday visit to Middle Farm. We booked this for the four of us (two adults, two kids) and when we arrived, we’re greeted by a very unfriendly lady who was rude and unwelcoming. The goat feeding was short and again, supervised by someone with clearly no love of her job. Small animal ‘handling’, was a 20 minute queue that ended in one minute of stroking a Guinea Pig that we were not allowed to pick up! There was no map or description of where the scheduled activities took place and I had to ask the staff where to go. The day continued to be a disappointment and poor value for money. Whilst walking around I could also hear other parents complaining about how short the animal sessions were. It’s a 2 star rather than 1 star as the playgrounds were ok and the animals looked in good condition. We won’t be coming again.

A very nice farm with good food and nice little shops. We stopped here for lunch as part of a booked tour. Even though it was crowded, the service was great and we got the food without much delay. It was all very fresh and tasty food at very reasonable prices. This is a must visit spot (I'd say so even if it is just for the fresh meals). We tried a jacket potato, Cornish pasty, sausage rolls, quiche and some cakes. The coffee and hazelnut cake was superb. All of their food was excellent and served with fresh veggies. We quickly browsed through the shops and were impressed. It was a little sad that we didn't get to spend more time here. This is indeed a must visit!

Great selection of Cider & Mead plus wonderful cuts of meat, cheeses & various other farm products

Wonderful place. I really enjoyed my visit!

Excellent farm produce good variety. Love the cider.

Visited the farm this week with two of my children. Lots to do including meeting/feeding animals, hay barn fun, parks & cafe. The staff are all very friendly & cafe served great coffee/cake. Nice to spend the morning looking around this farm, will be back soon. And under 3s go free which is appreciated! Also managed to get vehicle stuck in mud on arrival. Gary came to our rescue & pulled it out by tractor about 10 minutes later (a experience in itself for the kids) wonderful assistance cheers Gary😊

The staff are Very friendly and the farm has a great selection of farm yard animals to see .loads of pigs snoring away and still quieter than the missus. Llamas and goats were a hit without 2 year old grandson . The tea room was good ,,the home made food was really nice .I had the ploughmans which was lovely and the wife had the ham and cheese quiche ,she enjoyed it satisfactuarly . Only down point was the cola which wasnt the best. Overall a good place to visit.👍

Came here to have lunch, pasties very tasty but very difficult to cut with very blunt knives. Service was quick

I have visited the farm on numerous occasions with my grandchildren and it is superb. It is still ‘natural’ and has managed to avoid the financial seduction of commercialism. The farm is peaceful and its location equisite For parents home educating their children, the farm offers lots of educational information and presented in a multi sensory way. An example of this was evidenced in an eye catching but simple display showing the development of a chicken embryo. The entrance charge includes feed for the animals and is low enough so one doesn’t feel compelled to stay for hours. There is lots of room for picnicing etc. Staff are constantly present and on hand with advice. Staff are obviously highly valued by the management and devoted to the care of the animals. There are lots of areas for hand washing. It’s wonderful to go to a place where the balance of interest by the owners is still animal and farm based. Whenever we have eaten in the cafe the food is of the highest quality and presented beautifully.

Food was good and service excellent. Farm shop also very extensive

Recently moved to Eastbourne and was looking for a nice place to shop for groceries. Found this while driving around the area. Lovely place with a huge selection of artisan and local products. Vegetable selection is massive and primarily locally sourced. They have chicken eggs and duck eggs from their own farm. So far my favourite place to shop for produce in this area. Nice place to get coffee too and had mulled cider in their cider shop. Plenty of selection, will be coming back here every week!

Love this place, fantastic coffee shop, great cakes and staff are great. The farm shop has great local produce, well worth a visit.

A wonderful day out especially with children.

Lovely place, great farm, nice cafe and lovely shop and cute ducks too! They also now have a fantastic range of local and regional beers and wines. This includes low alcohol, gluten free, low sulphite and ciders, mead, and gins.

Great little farm with pleasant store and tea house. Really enjoyed our stop here.

My niece from Australia remarked........."what a crabby old biddy" in the gift shop where you buy the tickets, at the entrance to the animal enclosures.

Lovely cafe, friendly people, excellent cider and mead

Fantastic produce and great staff

Lovley day out, nice little family farm. Excellent in lambing season. Top quality cider barn and lovley cafe

A good cafe, with reasonable prices, a farm shop, another shop selling many different types of cider and beer, some of which can be sampled, and some sort of area for interaction with farm animals. All in all a good experience from the visit, my cream tea was best

The quiche was absolutely amazing and well made ,can tell is made with quality ingredients 10/10 😁😁

Outstanding farm shop with a fantastic range of high quality products. An unrivalled range of real ciders from all over the UK. Artisan food and drinks many of which you won't find anywhere else. I always visit whenever I am in Sussex, well worth going out of your way to visit

Come here for the animals, stay for Janet's jungle juice.

Great lunch in the lovely cafe......whole site well organised.....hand-washing facilities.....all clean n tidy.....happy well-looked after animals......enjoyable for small children....impressive......

Great produce with a wide selection at very fair prices. Cider Barn is a revelation for those who like it and also really friendly staff happy to talk you through it or introduce you to something new

Cosy and very reasonable coffee shop. Good nursery and well stocked farm shop

This is a very respectable working farm that has built a great business out of everything they do, from serving food to selling chickens. Only 3 stars because of the tea rooms: The food was delicious but there was no rush to clear the tables from previous diners. A young worker, who was BEHIND ME in the queue, got fully served and paid before me, without an explanation or a "do you mind..?" Our table was sticky too. When our food came, the lady went to finally clear the left plates, spilt over a little water from a glass and never returned to wipe it up for us. Upon reading other reviews, this isn't a one off

Lovely place to spend time with friends, children, family something for very one.

Went back to visit after moving away for a few years. Forgotten how awesome this place is. The ploughman's lunch was the best. And the range of ciders was as good as I remember.

Stopped in to the farm shop to get some ingredients for lunch. Lovely, well-stocked shop but treated poorly by a rude staff member. Stepped outside the shop door to consult my partner on my items before purchasing as there was no phone signal inside, was pretty much chased by the staff member telling me not to take baskets outside. Totally unnecessary considering the rural location and the fact I was about 1m out the door speaking to my partner (CLEARLY not about to steal). Then was told off again for exiting the wrong way from the shop, heaven forbid I would clog up a totally EMPTY walkway into the farm shop… The rules are fair enough in practice but when it’s totally empty, your staff seriously need to think about how barking these rules makes paying customers feel.

Very disappointed in your cider shop today. We bought a £25 bottle of sparkling elderberry wine (GWIN BLODAU YSGAWEN) last Friday and discovered after opening that it tasted off and the bottom was full of brown sediment. Complete disinterest from the staff when trying to return it today. They gave me a load of rubbish about that being normal sometimes. We've always loved the farm shop but as frequent customers this has been a very poor experience.

Great little farm shop with a pleasant cafe and well stocked deli. The highlight is the selection of cider and perry, there is a wide choice of both cask bottles.

Extreme poor food, uncooked pastry, very dry filling in the pasty. Have been here on many times over the last 30years and todays meal were the worst. I don’t think £2 for 1/2 cherry tomato, 3 slice of cucumber and 2 slices of pepper and a few leaves is acceptable. Pasty served on its own - no salad Bottle of water - no glass provided Won’t be back. Farm shop very poor. Only good bit of the whole visit was the cider shop.

Excellent farm shop, great quality and reasonable price.

Delicious toasted salad and cake. Very friendly staff and relaxing location.

Lovely little farm. Have taken my children here a few times and they always really enjoy themselves. 😊

Reasonably priced day out. We haven’t been since children were toddlers, so it was nice to return. Children loved the hay barn in particular. The meet and greet and feeding sessions were lovely. More toilets within the farm itself are required. Coffee excellent. Good farm and cider shop stocking local produce.

Nice farm where you can buy plants and enjoy coffee bar

Nice farm, lovely staff, lots to see, however I can't help but think why are animals in cages/pens and not free, all in all our kids enjoyed playing and exploring, I personally take our children to see animals in the wild and free, I can only see in time farms will slowly leave us, however this farm was not to busy and lots of space for young ones to run wild.

Lovely staff, clean and animals all looked happy

I used to come here when I was a kid so it’s been a while and was so lovely to visit with my 6YO. It’s just perfect for a day out with littles and so reasonable at £7per person with animals to see, lots of areas to play and they put on a day of events too! We really had the most lovely day arrived at 11 and didn’t leave til nearly 4pm! It’s great for adults too, a perfect balance: farm shop with amazing ciders and wines and gift shop with lovely bits, and then the plant nursery is just gorgeous, so reasonably priced and I really wanted to buy everything! Recommend a visit for sure!

We really enjoyed our visit. The café, the plant shop, the farm shop with fresh delicious meat and vegetables and of course the cider shop with it's tasting options. Brilliant afternoon

Great Farm shop, Coffee shop and incredible Cider Barn with a massive range of Ciders, Perry's and Gins from local small batch producers

Love it here especially the Butchers and the Cider shop.

I took my niece and granddaughter for a day out to Middle Farm, and there are aspects I don't like; I'm not happy seeing animals in cages and tiny pens, but the animals look well loked after. There's also no shade from the sun for some animals in the big fields. The staff are always lovely and we had a nice couple.of hours there. I love the tea room, the farm shop and all the others stuff they have there. It's just the whole animal in small enclosures that is upsetting. The young pigs are in stalls, desperate for interaction being the intelligent animals they are, it was just heartbreaking seeing them isolated and in concrete stalls.

Came to middle farm because i heard great things about this place. But in the cafe the girl with glasses made me feel very rushed and was quite pushy with me when i ordered. The young boy and girl who bought my drinks and food out were lovely. The food was great but that one girl just ruined the experience.

Just a review of the cafe, it's ok. Nice setting and friendly staff but tables do not get cleared, which then means the birds are all over your table. Food was ok, coffee is not good. Pretty place though

The grandkids loved it and the food in the tea room was fab .

Well that was an experience, not to be repeated. Lady at the tearoom counter was so rude, what happened to customer service? Will be voting with my feet, so that is the last time I will visit.

This lovely shop is located on the road between Lewes and Rye. A variety of ciders can be tasted and wine is also available. In the farm shop you can buy snacks such as cheese, bread and pastries. There is also an animal park outside, which is a great place for all ages to relax and have a good time. 2 hours should be enough time to have a good time.

Lots of stuff for kids to do, cafe and shop are very good, staff were all lovely.

A lovely farm open to public, with animals to see, local products to buy and a lovely restaurant with homemade food.

Middle farm is the best place ever! My family had a lovely day

Always a great trip out. See the animals, eat in the cafe, visit the farm shop, buy some cider.