Our farms

Brookfield Farm

Brookfield Farm was purchased in 1976 and is home to 350 donkeys. The farm runs over almost 142 acres, including 10 acres of woodland, and is perched on top of a hill 805 feet above sea level, looking out over the beautiful valley of Farway.

There are 10 different groups of donkeys on the farm, which are arranged according to their care needs. The fields leading down the valley are very steep and are enjoyed by our younger, fitter donkeys. Whilst our older, geriatric donkeys and specialist care donkeys with breathing difficulties prefer the flat land at the top of the farm.

As well as being a home to a wide range of donkeys, Brookfield Farm is where our state-of-the-art donkey hospital is located, alongside our pathology, fabrication, dispatch and farm administration departments.

At-a-glance

This farm is not open to the public.

Operational on this site since: 1976.

Size: 142 acres including fields and woodland.

Location: Honiton, Devon.

Key activities: Donkey Sanctuary farm; veterinary hospital.

Facilities: 9 donkey barns. Fields and shelters. Veterinary hospital. Pathology laboratory.

Donkey population: 350 donkeys, comprising of young and elderly donkeys, as well as younger donkeys with breathing problems.

Staffing: Brookfield Farm operates under the supervision of 15 members of staff and nine volunteers, including a farm manager, supervisor, a mixture of farm workers and grooms.

Events: The farm is open for one day a year during Donkey Week in May.

Derbyshire Centre

The Derbyshire Centre (Newton Farm), located in Flagg near Buxton, is open to the public every Sunday between May and September, and runs training courses throughout the year for donkey owners and handlers, and Donkey Guardians preparing to foster donkeys from The Donkey Sanctuary. The centre has a new arrivals unit and often receives rescue donkeys.

At-a-glance

This farm is open to the public on Sundays between May and September.

Operational on this site since: 1991.

Size: 28.5 acres.

Location: Buxton, Derbyshire.

Key activities: Donkey Sanctuary farm.

Facilities: 3 large donkey barns. Training centre. Field shelters.

Donkey population: 45 (capacity: 40 in winter, 60 in summer), comprising of a mixture of donkeys including relinquishments, potentials for Rehoming and donkey-assisted activity, young and fit, elderly and donkeys with breathing difficulties.

Staffing: Derbyshire centre operates under the supervision of seven members of staff and 12 volunteers, including a farm manager, supervisor, five farm workers/grooms.

Events: Training courses, 6 major open days a year, starting on the first Sunday of each month from May to September, including a summer fair in August.

East Axnoller Farm

Axnoller Farm is situated 35 miles from The Donkey Sanctuary Sidmouth and nestles in the Dorset hills at the starting point of the River Axe. The farm was bought in December 1990 and consists of 64 hectares (157 acres) of land that is used for grazing the donkeys and for making haylage in the summer.

During the winter months the grass is let out to a local farmer for his sheep, which helps keep the grass down when it is too wet for the donkeys to be out in the fields.

As well as healthy donkeys, this farm is home to a group needing special care for respiratory problems. There is also a controlled diet group (the steep hills are great for providing the donkeys with the additional exercise they need) and a mule/pony group.

At-a-glance

This farm is not open to the public.

Operational on this site since: December 1990.

Size: 157 acres.

Location: Beaminster, Dorset.

Key activities: Donkey Sanctuary farm.

Facilities: 5 main barns. Woodchip area. Fields and paddocks. Some woodland.

Donkey population: 302 donkeys and 35 ponies and mules, comprising of young Irish, middle-aged, elderly, mules, dieters and potentials for rehoming and donkey-assisted activities.

Staffing: East Axnoller Farm operates under the supervision of 11 members of staff and six volunteers, including a Farm manager, supervisor, a mixture of full time and part time grooms.

Events: The farm is open for one day a year during Donkey Week in May.

Paccombe Farm

Paccombe Farm is located in the beautiful hamlet of Harcombe near The Donkey Sanctuary Sidmouth. Half of it (approximately 90 acres) consists of woodland where wildlife such as otters, bats and dormice can be seen. Our Conservation Team, with their volunteers, regularly visit the farm to conduct surveys of wildlife activity as well as looking at ways to improve and maintain areas on the farm for the resident donkeys.

The layout of the farm is ideal for the specific needs of elderly donkeys as well as the groups of younger donkeys. The Farm staff undertake training and behaviour work with donkeys that have been identified as suitable for the Rehoming Scheme. Our old training centre is now the perfect area to work with the donkeys in small separate groups to prepare them for going out to new loving homes.

At-a-glance

This farm is not open to the public.

Operational on this site since: 1978.

Size: 90 acres grazing, 90 acres woodland.

Location: Harcombe, Devon.

Key activities: Sanctuary farm, the farm makes its own haylage and is responsible for the emptying of dirty water tanks at Paccombe and other sanctuary sites.

Facilities: Large donkey Barns. Several smaller individual units. Woodland. Reception Area. Wildlife pond. Public footpath and bridleway.

Donkey population: 350 donkeys, comprising of elderly, donkeys with breathing difficulties, special care, young donkeys and potential for Rehoming and donkey-assisted activities.

Staffing: Paccombe Farm operates under the supervision of 16 members of staff and 15 volunteers, including a farm manager, supervisor and a mixture of full and part time grooms.

Events: The farm is open for one day a year during Donkey Week in May.

Slade House Farm

Slade House Farm is The Donkey Sanctuary's headquarters and is open to the public every day of the year. Slade House Farm was the home of Dr Elisabeth Svendsen, the organisation’s founder, after she moved from the Salston Hotel in nearby Ottery St Mary, Devon in 1974. The farmhouse that she lived in has been converted into administrative offices.

As well as housing the organisation’s head office, Slade House Farm is home to a wide range of donkeys including new arrivals, large breeds and partially sighted donkeys. Visitor facilities and The Donkey Sanctuary Sidmouth’s donkey-assisted activity centre are located on the farm.

Until 2017 the sanctuary’s veterinary hospital was also located on the site, but a new hospital was built at Brookfield Farm and the old building converted into stabling.

At-a-glance

This farm is open to the public.

Operational on this site since: 1974.

Size: 132.54 acres including fields and woodland.

Location: Between Sidmouth and Branscombe, Devon.

Key activities: Visitor centre; organisation’s headquarters; farm.

Facilities: 21 areas of barns and shelters. Visitors’ centre. Restaurant. Gift shop. Extensive car parking. Walking trails.

Donkey population: 220, comprising of special care, partially sighted, potential rehoming/donkey-assisted activity, large breed donkeys, foals, isolation/new arrivals.

Staffing: Slade House Farm operates under the supervision of 30 members of staff and eight volunteers, including a Farm manager, supervisor, a mixture of full time and part time groom.

Key events: Ongoing throughout the year, including training courses, Donkey Week, daily talks in the donkey areas, Memorial Day, Carols by Candlelight and seasonal donkey trails which are available to buy.

Town Barton Farm

Nestled on the edge of Dartmoor National Park, hidden behind the little parish church sits Town Barton.

Town Barton provides sanctuary to a variety of equids including donkeys, mules and hinnies and extends to approximately 157 acres of grassland, natural woodlands and an orchard. The woodland provides natural shade and shelter to the resident equines and is home to an abundance of wildlife. In the summer months a brown hare can be seen playing in the fields and hiding in the hedgerows that border the paddocks, which provides a variety of enrichment to the donkeys, mules and hinnies.

The team at Town Barton specialise in producing detailed training plans to shape the behaviour of mules that sometimes arrive in our care with complex behaviour needs. Training plans are developed with input from our behaviour experts and the veterinary team to ensure we develop effective methods of shaping equine behaviour. The role of the grooms who train our equines at Town Barton, requires skills such as dedication, patience and self-awareness.

At-a-glance

This farm is not open to the public.

Operational on this site since: 1982.

Size: Approximately 157 acres of grassland, natural woodlands and a traditional orchard.

Location: Tedburn St Mary, Devon.

Key activities: Shaping the behaviour of mules and preparing them for handling using training plans and a specialist handling unit.

Facilities: Hybrid specific groups catering for the needs of mules and hinnies. Mixed donkey groups. Sand exercise arena. Handling unit. Shower area for bathing equines.

Donkey population: Over 200 equids, comprising of a mixture of donkeys, mules and hinnies including donkeys assessed as suitable for our Rehoming scheme.

Staffing: Town Barton operates under the supervision of 12 members of staff, including a Farm manager, supervisor and a mixture of full-time and part-time grooms.

Events: The farm is open for one day a year during Donkey Week in May.

Trow Farm

Trow Farm is adjacent to Slade House Farm on the site of The Donkey Sanctuary Sidmouth, and is the largest of all The Donkey Sanctuary’s farms. It was purchased in 1997 and received its first resident donkeys in 2002. Alongside it's resident donkeys, it provides haylage for the donkeys on our other properties and straw storage.

The farm is split into two halves, known as Trow and Hurfords, by the A3052. Hurfords is steep land in a valley, which houses younger, healthier donkeys and joins another of the sanctuary’s farms, Paccombe. Trow is flat land and houses geriatrics and donkeys with poor teeth or long-term health problems.

Trow Farm is the sanctuary’s main recycling point for plastic and paper. It collects dung and wood chippings, from which it generates compost, and has willow beds for cleaning dirty water. There is also an area where staff are trained to drive and operate the various vehicles associated with the operation of the farm, and donkey transportation.There are also areas which are also used to train staff to drive and operate all the various vehicles and machinery associated with the operation of the farms, as well as training associated with all donkey related tasks and equine transportation.

At-a-glance

This farm is not open to the public.

Operational on this site since: 1999.

Size: 277.69 acres split by A3052 into two halves known as Trow and Hurfords (umbrella name: Trow).

Location: Near Sidmouth, Devon.

Key activities: Donkey Sanctuary farm.

Facilities: Trow: 5 donkey barns, 1 reception area and 4 shelter sites. Hurfords: 4 donkey barns, a stabled area with yard, 1 reception area, a straw barn, a machinery shed, walking trails, public footpaths and a meeting and training barn.

Donkey population: 365 (197 Hurfords, 168 Trow), comprising of laminitics, donkeys with breathing difficulties, special care, dieters, potentials for rehoming and donkey-assisted activity.

Staffing: Trow farm operates under the supervision of a team of 18, including a Farm manager, supervisor and a mixture of full-time and part-time grooms and volunteers.

External services: Provided by The Donkey Sanctuary: farm administration, lorry drivers, equine dentist, vets, vet nurses, Ben Hart (animal behaviourist). Provided by third-party providers: farrier, agricultural engineers.

Events: The farm is open for one day a year during Donkey Week in May.

Woods Farm

Woods Farm is located on 198 acres of land close to The Donkey Sanctuary Sidmouth and provides care for 442 donkeys. The farm is lucky to have a large number of young fit donkeys, some of which are suitable for rehoming. Our team at Woods farm specialise in the training and preparation of donkeys for the rehoming scheme. A lot of hard work, dedication and patience is needed; however, the work is so rewarding for the team when donkeys eventually join a new loving home.

There is also an elderly group located in the centre of the farm and a small group of miniature donkeys.

The land is steep in parts but the donkeys enjoy the exercise and they have the freedom to roam as long as the weather and ground conditions are favourable.

The Donkey Sanctuary purchased Woods Farm in 1989 from a farmer called Tony Reid who kept chickens as well as outdoor pigs and a small dairy herd.

At-a-glance

This farm is not open to the public.

Operational on this site since: 1989.

Size: 198 acres.

Location: Bowd, near Sidmouth, Devon.

Key activities: Donkey Sanctuary farm.

Facilities: 9 donkey barns. One reception area. Two foals paddocks with shelter.

Donkey population: 442 (full capacity): young, middle aged, elderly, Miniatures, rehoming and donkey-assisted activity potential.

Staffing: 17 staff, 11 volunteers.

Events:The farm is open for one day a year during Donkey Week in May.