Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park — Attraction in Babergh

Like many others, our first introduction to Jimmy Doherty came through Jamie Oliver’s television shows. My journey with Jimmy’s Farm began shortly after its doors opened in 2003. At that time, the farm made a genuine impression, championing a ‘farm to fork’ philosophy. The Essex Pig Company was central to this ethos, spotlighting locally produced goods from Suffolk, such as those from St. Peter’s Brewery.

This focus on local, quality produce was a welcome change for consumers, especially as many communities were losing their traditional butcher shops to supermarkets selling meat 'plumped' or 'enhanced' with water, salt, and additives.

By 2016, Jimmy’s Farm had evolved into Jimmy's Farm & Wildlife Park, with a significant shift in emphasis towards wildlife. The 280-acre site has expanded well beyond its original scope, now featuring a restaurant, coffee house, plant centre, sweet shop, gift shop, farm shop, butchery, country store, and even serving as a wedding venue.

However, this expansion seems to have come at the expense of local business partnerships. The Bear range of beers and ciders, for example, is now sourced from Norfolk rather than Suffolk. The attraction also stocks American brand YETI coolers and flasks, and serves Jimmy’s Iced Coffee—produced by an unrelated company based in Dorset.

The addition of non-native wildlife and the swift transformation from farm to wildlife park raises questions about the park’s direction—at times, it feels as if personal ambitions are taking precedence. While these changes have undoubtedly increased visitor numbers and revenue, the demographic during my visit appeared predominantly white, poorly educated, and self-entitled.

These impressions were further reinforced by a prominently displayed code of conduct, which curiously insists that “Jimmy's Farm requires visitors to wear full clothing at all times.” This seemed out of place for a family venue, as it is difficult to imagine visitors wishing to walk around undressed.

During our visit, I overheard an adult visitor loudly claim that raccoons can be kept as pets in the UK—a misconception, as raccoons are classified as an invasive alien species and it is illegal to breed or sell them. Some visitors’ behaviour was equally concerning: I witnessed a dog owner holding their squirming pet over the armadillo enclosure to give it a better view. Most zoos do not permit dogs (unless they are trained service animals) to prevent the spread of disease, avoid stressing zoo animals, and manage potential security risks.

Throughout the day, many guests seemed disinterested in the educational talks and signage, making thoughtless remarks. This lack of engagement was unsettling, as was the concern that some visitors might not be washing their hands after feeding the animals or after using the waterless eco-toilets scattered around the park, presenting possible health risks.

Having visited several zoos as a family, we were genuinely impressed by the innovative Barbary Macaques enclosure. However, the newer enclosures for the larger predators seemed hastily constructed, lacking the quality and enrichment activities we have come to expect. Having seen better animal enclosures built by volunteers, and funded with charitable donations.

With the park’s expansion into so many business areas and its involvement in initiatives like the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, I worry that the original ‘farm to fork’ philosophy is becoming diluted or even lost. Notably, I could not find any products from The Essex Pig Company in the farm shop—only frozen pizzas were available.

After a disappointing experience, I stopped at the Country Shop on my way out. I was shocked and disturbed to see shotgun cartridges, ammunition, and shooting accessories openly displayed for sale at what is marketed as a family attraction.

We appreciate the positive experiences we have had at Jimmy’s Farm in the past. However, we do not anticipate providing additional support to this particular initiative or its...

😃Good parking ☹️Not wheel chair friendly ☹️Wear suitable walking shoes ☹️2x hotdogs, hot chocolate and can £21 ☹️No farm maps available. Download before you go no internet service there 🙁Staff very unhelpful,asked where nearest toilet was, directed back up the hill that I just walked down....to then find one a lot closer grrr not good with disabled child ☹️one Very unhappy/unhealthy looking Polar Bear ☹️A long way to go to see your regular, geese, ducks, goats & donkeys. 😄Rare breeds where OK mainly pigs ☹️Demonstrations listed at the entrance.... But no signage as to where these were (which direction) only caught tail end of one talk as walking distance between each talk if a fair way with a disabled child. 😄great climbing frames, park areas ☹️not enough benches ☹️not enough loos, lots of wash hands stations 😒Plenty of place to buy food and drinks ☹️there's no direction to do anything, and a very wide area to cover. A LOT of hills that end up being dead ends so your then walking back down the hill with a wheelchair or buggy (maybe signage saying its a dead end before you struggle up it to not see anything different to what's at the bottom) I assumed all atha would just lead onto another area but I was very wrong. ☹️no lockers so you literally have to lug lunch boxes and coats around the whole day ☹️ Gift Shop... £29.99 tiger teddy bear ☹️Toilet facilities, floor was soaking wet (not nice when your having to pull your trousers down to have a loo and also trying to them hold up so you don't get them wet for the whole day) 😄Fantastic JIMMYS 'Bug Hut' feature at entrance, for photo opportunity ☹️Far too many dogs allowed into this facility. A lot were barking at the animals enclosed, which looked awful, my children hate dogs so we were trying to enjoy looking at the farm animals but also petrified of dogs walking past them. Not a relaxing atmosphere I was expecting. 😒Tropic centre, a lot of plants, very few animals unless you count the ants! ☹️could find any signage to Fishing with Dolly which I had promised my children they would be doing ☹️A LOT of uneven pathways to find life-size fibreglass animals with a description of their habitat etc

wouldn't be rushing back

Would not recommend to anyone considering taking a buggy, dog or wheelchair

Long journey for something I could have gone closer to home for...

Oh wow, what a place. Great selection of animals here. Everything you could want, from petting animals to the main attractions. Polar bears were amazing to see, the brown bears were so cute. Sadly didn't see the wolves as they were in the woods, but doing what they should. Massive space for all animals.

They really do care about these animals and the space given to them. Good talks from the keepers.

Toilets were a little odd and seemed to be lacking in these. Long queues not great when you have little ones need to go, more toilets are required. No water flush you just let it go down and splat 🤣🤣.

Play area was great plenty of space.

We didn't have any issues walking around but if you had a wheelchair or pushchair you would struggle.

Well spaced out between animals, lots of walking required.

Sadly the thing that let this place down was the food. Cold, tasteless and over priced. So we got 2 hot dogs, a bacon roll and a childrens hot dog. We got asked would you like cheese and some onions with your hot dogs, yes please. You get a tea spoon full of cheese, and no more then 4 bits of onion with a cold sausage. So the cheese don't melt, your looking for the onion then you find out you have been charged extra for these. £1.50 extra for the cheese and onions each so we paid an additional £6 on top of the £16 we paid for the hot dog and to be fair the food was 💩.

Taking 💩 food part out a great day had by all, was great to see the animals we had seen on the tv in real life. Would we go back OH YES, but next time we would take a picnic.

Pricing is quite high but you can understand why, if you have a blue light card that does help.

Booking in advance does make it a bit cheaper, if you have a blue light card you need to email in for a code, email in plenty of time as I done it a couple of days before and I am still waiting for a reply.

Looking forward to...