The Old Vicarage at Elkesley Campsite Reviews

Thank you

It’s a magical location. We have had a lovely relaxing holiday.

Overcrowded

Not dog friendly, nowhere for them to run. Very, very overcrowded, no space in between tents. For the amount of people there, not enough toilets and showers. No bins anywhere around, you had to take your rubbish over to one side and it was like a dumping ground with rubbish all over the floor. Not very organised and the worst campsite I have been to. Way overpriced for what you get. Would not go again and would not recommend.

Great for the kids

A great place for kids. The only thing not so great was the shower being very temperamental, but other than that we had a great stay. Will definitely be returning next year!

Lovely stay

Went and took our boys aged 11 and 5 for the night, and I think they spent the majority of the time in the stream, just what we needed. It was a lovely setting, friendly staff, we will definitely return. Ice cream van came to site too so bonus!

Great site for kids

Lovely site to go with kids, they love playing in the stream. Staff were all really friendly and cave bar was good to have there once your tent was up! Only thing to improve would be more toilets as there's only 2 of each for the whole site so sometimes had to wait during busy periods in the day and also more showers as only one each.

Perfect stay

For me, it was totally fine as I'm an early riser, so was showered around 6am before anyone started moving. It's a small site and we had a perfect spot and near enough a place just for us on one side of the stream. Fine for the amount of tents that were on site and we were left to choose where to pitch. Not sure if the maximum number of tents it can accommodate would work, but I'd definitely go back as they've said they are building new shower facilities as when bus, being only one shower per gender could be an issue. Youngest had a great time playing in the stream and every parent seemed to look out for other kids which is so nice to see. Definitely a family friendly campsite. Lots of communal toys, floats, bikes left available for anyone to use. Fridges and freezers available if you needed, although they can become full quickly, but this is a bonus addition to camping. Cleanliness and facilities are fine. t's impossible to keep something outdoors clean, that's my only reason for the three. If I'd have come armed with a feather duster and I've happily had a dust round before showering 😂😂 Maybe another kitchen washing facility but to be honest, I didn't mind waiting, was happy to just watch the world go by.

Excellent

The perfect place to relax with children. I recommend.

Nature at it's best

Never was I expecting to stay in such a beautiful campsite. Absolutely perfect for families. Hours were spent playing in the shallow river on inflatable boats or on the rope swings, lovely little touches for the kids. A Cave Bar for the adults, fire pits and BBQ's. Perfect distance from Sherwood Forest. Amenities were suitable although 4 toilets and 2 showers for a full campsite were rather limited. However saying that, we never had to wait to use them. We will certainly be be returning and with friends. Perfect camping find!

Unhygienic and rude staff

The location was idyllic and the kids adored playing in the river and on all the play equipment. Staff were non-existent and appeared to have family staying who played loud music and smoked. The facilities were old and tired, which would have been fine had they been cleaned. They were disgusting, were not cleaned or checked. I asked for them to be cleaned to be told that the cleaner was there in the morning - despite the fact the same stains were over the back of the toilet. They were cleaned after being asked to a standard that meant I could shower and felt safe to use the toilet. We are frequent campers and have never seen such a disregard for guests and hygiene.

Beautiful site perfect for young children

The river is just right for little ones to play in. Great swings, little trampoline, area to fish, space to play while supervised. It's excellent. We enjoyed the rentable fire pits and excellent wood. I am a keen camper and also have been a scout leader, so I'm used to lots of different campsites. This one is lacking in leadership around keeping the campsite clean and hazard free. I picked up lots of litter, sweet wrappers, cans, cardboard, bottle tops and most worryingly, three areas with broken glass walked into mud and gravel - the site needs a couple of workers to do a sweep twice a day and to encourage campers to get their litter into bags or encourage the children to pick up their own litter. Similarly in this vein, the toilets and the kitchen area needed more attention - I cleaned up both areas twice in a three day, two night stay and that's unnecessary and staff should be on top of this. The staff were lovely to talk to - they often had to go and ask someone else for information, so perhaps it wasn't the usual team. Change in staff attention to litter would make a huge difference to a lovely little site.

Picturesque location but a few areas to improve

Staff were very pleasant and helpful. The location is stunning, with a lovely stream going through the middle which entertained the children most of the day as there were swings and zip lines. The cave bar was great for a draught beer. Fridge/freezer facility helped keep food and drink cold. The firepit rental was good but understandably there is a cost for the wood. However, only two showers on site (one for males and one for females). Shower was intermittent with hot and cold water. Toilet and shower could have been cleaner. No soap in toilet all weekend. Washing up area needed two sinks as there were large queues. Also, lukewarm water at best to wash pots. Waste was piling up all weekend at the entrance of campsite, needed a proper bin. The electric hook up situation is disappointing. Most of my equipment wouldn't work due to limit on amps (8 watts) which, for me, doesn't happen in other campsites. Considering the cost per night, this should be increased to enable small appliances to work. I also think there should be on site catering for tea/coffee in mornings and maybe a pizza or food option for first night especially, when people are setting up. There doesn't seem to be pubs or restaurants nearby, they are missing an opportunity. At least Deliveroo delivered to site though. Finally, we were charged £15 to have a small 2 man tent next to our main tent for our daughter. I felt this was excessive. There was plenty of space and it wasn't well mentioned. The staff come around the site just after 11pm to tell people to turn music off.

Great site

Great site, experienced spoiled slightly by fellow campers. This campsite was absolutely stunning. It felt safe and secure enough for the kids to wander around freely with great added extras to occupy younger guests. The majority of guests seemed to have young children and they soon made friends and were off playing. My only downside was a couple of pitches not adhering to the quiet times and we were kept up until almost midnight with loud and quite frankly disgusting language and "views" that weren't becoming of a family friendly environment. Sadly, the reception wasn't open, nor did there seem to be any security patrols to monitor this and as a solo female, did not want to risk a confrontation with intoxicated people to ask them to mind their language. I will definitely use this site again because this negative was absolutely not the fault of the lovely owners.

Great

Great little campsite with lots to entertain the kids with the river on site. Could maybe do with a little shop but otherwise great. Very friendly owner too.

Great location

Great stay at The Old Vicarage. Not many toilets or showers but I only had to queue a couple of times, could do with another block of toilets and showers though. Kids loved the river and the bank holiday duck race! Will definitely come again.

Site's response

Thank you Rosanna for your lovely review. As you may have seen coming down the drive, we have already bought our new toilets but unfortunately, due to the amount of rain, we cannot get this across the river where it is going to be situated at the moment so it is in limbo!! Hope to see you again soon.

Small, picturesque site, very close to the A1

Stopped here for one night as location ideal for following 2023 Tour of Britain. It is very close to the A1, so the rumble of road noise is pretty constant. Seemed deserted on arrival (it is not peak season) and there was no answer on the telephone, so just got myself set-up; helpfully got an email shortly after to say on-site staff unexpectedly had to leave and someone else arrived shortly after that. Whilst the site is very beautiful and low-key, the two toilets and one shower could do with a spruce-up (or a clean) and I never managed to get the shower anything other than cold. I'd like to come back in a busier period as I believe these minor issues would be addressed, and hopefully the bar would be open!

Lovely place

Absolute little gem this is. Kids loved the river and the swings over the river, catching the little fish. The cave bar is great and all staff are spot on.

Beautiful site, peaceful with a stream

This is our second visit to this site. It is so peaceful and my two boys. aged 7 and 10, loved playing in the stream. The staff/owners are super friendly and helpful. The only thing I think that lets this site down is the facilities. There are two ladies toilets and one shower, which is not a lot if the site is full. Unfortunately, these are not the cleanest. A mop and bucket are provided but not really used. People left litter in the shower and also the sinks for washing up. The toilet, shower and washing up facilities need to be much cleaner, and then this would be the perfect site. We will return but only for 1 or 2 nights. We might manage longer if the facilities were updated and cleaned more.

Family trip

Family campsite. Lots of facilities to keep. children entertained - stream to play in, toys to use, play ground and swings around the campsite. A small campsite so children can roam in a safe way. Toilet and shower facilities limited but do everything needed.

Brilliant as always

This was our third visit and was brilliant as always. Small site perfect for children with a lovely laid back atmosphere and friendly owners. We had a lovely relaxing stay and the kids loved playing in the stream again. Although we didn't travel far this time, the site is perfectly situated for lots of days out. Locally we recommend the dairy farm for ice cream and the café at Gamston airport - we enjoyed watching helicopters and planes come and go and the cakes and sourdough were delicious!

The kids loved it!

We really enjoyed our stay here. Plenty for the kids to do. Site itself is picturesque and provided everything we needed for our weekend camping. Facilities were clean. Owners were really friendly and I would recommend particularly for families.

Brilliant little site

We loved staying here...lots for kids to do. We loved the stream running through the middle.

Lovely campsite

Lovely campsite, plenty of space and things for children to do. Toilets needed to be checked on regularly as the female toilet ran out of toilet paper.

Great place

Just back from a stay with a friend and her 2 sons and my son. They loved the river and tree swing and zip wire going across it. The owners put on a duck race on Sunday afternoon, which we won and bagged a return visit for 2 nights. Great choice of drinks at the cave bar. A bit scary driving my Tesla across the fjord to get to our spot, but managed ok. There are only 2 toilets and 1 shower for females and same for males and the floor was quite dirty, but we did have rain so lots of muddy shoes and can't stop that happening. An ice cream van came in site Sunday tea time, which was also a big favourite. All in all we had a great stay and will be returning

Old Vicarage

Really nice chilled out site. Owners really friendly, even came round in the morning to see if we slept well! Very nice on site bar. Fantastic for kids playing in the river which runs the site. Not busy even though it was bank holiday. Reasonably priced too.

Great for groups & families

This is a beautiful location, let down by a number of issues. It feels unkempt - dozens of bin bags piled up in a corner, spilling out everywhere, rather than in bins. The reception was a bit of a mess and full of stuff, and the toilets were constantly blocked with tissue in the evenings and not flushable. One shower in the toilet block but that too was broken and out of use. The young guy tidying up was very helpful but the manager was surly and seemed disinterested. The 11pm curfew on noise was useless, rowdy parties, arguing drunk people and loud Call of Duty was being played way past midnight. I felt sorry for those camping with children. Once the party people left the site, the loud A1 next to the site was a constant disturbance. More than one vehicle had to be pulled out of the horrendous mud. There's also a ford you have to cross with a sharp ridge and someone's tyre burst on that. All in all, a shame as the place has a lot of potential.