📍 cranham
Prinknash Bird and Deer Park
Beloved Gloucestershire wildlife park on the Cotswold escarpment with hand-tame fallow deer, reindeer and birds, reopened late 2025 after six years.
✦ We visited
The fallow deer are genuinely tame and will come close without any encouragement, which smaller children find remarkable. The balcony views from the visitor centre over the Severn Vale are worth pausing for.
Prinknash Bird and Deer Park has sat on the Cotswold escarpment near Cranham since 1973, occupying ten acres of grounds surrounding the medieval Prinknash Abbey above Gloucester. After a six-year closure it reopened in late 2025 under new ownership with a fresh set of animals, a new children's play area and a visitor centre with a balcony that frames a broad sweep of the Severn Vale below.
The animals are the heart of the place. A herd of fallow deer roams the grounds in a state of agreeable tameness and will approach visitors without encouragement, which is the kind of encounter that small children tend to remember long after the day is over. Reindeer, donkeys, geese, chickens and a collection of waterfowl and pheasants complete the mix, and the new play area gives children somewhere to burn off energy between encounters. The escarpment setting means the background to every photograph is a ridgeline of beech and Scots pine above the valley, which is very Cotswolds and very picturesque.
The visitor centre offers light refreshments and the balcony view over the Severn Vale is worth lingering over. Cranham sits between Cheltenham and Stroud and makes a natural stopping point on a longer day exploring the Cotswold edge. Because it reopened recently, it is worth checking the website for current hours and any seasonal variations before making the drive.
Good for: animals, outdoors, sensory. Ages: 0–2, 3–4, 5–7, 8–11, 12+.
Good to know
Has Prinknash Bird and Deer Park reopened?
Yes, it reopened in late 2025 under new ownership after a six-year closure, with new animals, a children's play area and a new visitor centre.
What animals are at Prinknash Bird and Deer Park?
The park has hand-tame fallow deer, reindeer, donkeys, geese, chickens and a variety of waterfowl and pheasants in a ten-acre Cotswold escarpment park.
How do you get to Prinknash Bird and Deer Park?
The park is at Prinknash Abbey Park, Cranham, between Cheltenham and Stroud on the Cotswold escarpment; check the website for directions and current opening details.
