Eleven Horsham days out checked against their own sites this week: kids for £1 at Leonardslee in August, free Chesworth Farm, Knepp safaris, and the Capitol's reopening date.

Horsham’s best days out are split between a proper town park, two of the most celebrated gardens and rewilding estates in England, and a run of free green space most towns would kill for. This page keeps the list honest: eleven places, every price and opening pattern checked against the venue’s own website this week, including the one big absence, because the Capitol theatre is closed for refurbishment until November 2026 and it would be a shame to walk to North Street to find the doors shut. Timeliest of all: through August, Leonardslee lets each full-paying adult bring two children for £1 each, if you book at least 48 hours ahead.

Decision helper for a Horsham day out: sunny days point to Leonardslee, Knepp, Southwater Country Park and Horsham Park; rainy days to the Everyman cinema, Horsham Museum and the Carfax markets; free options are Horsham Park, Chesworth Farm, the museum and Knepp's footpaths; with kids, Dinosaur Island, Warnham reserve, Huxley's Birds of Prey and the Horsham Park play area
Chart by Horsham Daily.

The two big estates

Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens, Lower Beeding. 240 acres of Grade I listed woodland garden, lakes and wallabies, billed with some justice as the finest woodland gardens in England. Peak-season opening (to 25 October) is 9am to 5pm, last entry 4.30pm. Booked online, adult tickets start at £15.50 and children (2 to 16) at £8.50, with family tickets from £31.50. The August deal is the headline: each full-paying adult can bring up to two children for £1 each until 31 August, online only, booked at least 48 hours before your visit, from a limited daily allocation (offer details).

Knepp Wildland, near Dial Post. The 3,500-acre rewilding estate that brought storks, beavers and free-roaming longhorns to the Sussex Weald. The free version: public footpaths cross the estate and there is a dedicated walkers’ car park. The paid version: guided walking safaris at £75 (dawn, dusk, butterfly, bat and moth themes), a vehicle-based Landcruiser safari at £115, garden tours at £45, camping from £20 a night and shepherd’s-hut glamping from £315 (prices). One planning note: most safaris are for ages 12 and over, so this is the grown-up day out; the Wilding Kitchen restaurant and shop are open to anyone.

Wildlife on the doorstep

Warnham Local Nature Reserve, Warnham Road. Over 3,000 recorded species around a 17-acre millpond, with five bird hides, two viewing screens and boardwalk paths that work with a buggy or wheelchair, half an hour’s walk from the town centre. From April 2026 admission is £4.50 for adults and free for under-18s, with an annual permit at £21 and free parking. Open daily, 10am to 5pm in summer (the café closes at 4pm), card payments only, and no dogs.

Huxley’s Birds of Prey Centre, inside Hillier’s Garden Centre on Brighton Road. Open Wednesday to Saturday 11am to 5pm and Sundays 11am to 4pm in summer, with flying displays at 12pm and 2pm included in admission: adults £13, children (2 to 15) £8, family ticket £34 at the gate, slightly cheaper booked online (prices). Set the sat-nav for Hillier’s; the rear entrance is not accessible.

Free, in and around town

Horsham Park is open all day, every day, free, and holding its seventh consecutive Green Flag Award in 2026. Inside the one park: the Human Nature Garden and sensory garden, a big children’s play area, a skatepark, tennis courts, the Koffie café and the Pavilions in the Park leisure centre with its indoor and outdoor pools.

Chesworth Farm is the town’s quiet triumph: 90 acres of meadows, riverside and ancient hedgerows ten minutes’ walk from the centre, free, always open, with the main paths wheelchair-accessible.

Horsham Museum & Art Gallery at 9 Causeway, the medieval street south of the Carfax, is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm (and every day across bank holiday weekends), with no admission charge listed. The 2026 programme includes Museum Lates evenings and a summer craft challenge for children. Worth knowing: the first floor has no step-free access.

The Carfax markets run three days a week, listed Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9am, with Thursday’s street-food and produce stalls growing into a 40-plus-stall farmers’ market with live music on Saturdays (Visit Horsham).

Southwater Country Park

Ninety acres of lakes and meadow around the old brickworks pits, open daily 8am to dusk, free to enter, with parking from £1.20 an hour to £8 a day in summer (Southwater Country Park). The children’s draw is Dinosaur Island, the free play area themed on the real iguanodon skeleton found in the lake, with a dinosaur-footprint trail from the visitor centre. On the water, kayak and paddleboard hire starts at £10 for 25 minutes and family rowing boats at £20, booked with Southwater Watersports. One current caveat checked this week: the lake’s paddling beach is closed until at least September, so do not promise small children a splash just yet.

Rainy day

The Everyman cinema at Piries Place opens from 10am daily (or half an hour before the first film), three sofa-seated screens with food and drink brought to your seat; tickets are priced per film when you book. The Piries Place car park next door is the closest of the town’s car parks.

The Capitol, the council-run theatre and cinema on North Street, is closed for refurbishment until November 2026 (The Capitol). Tickets for the reopening season, including the Dick Whittington panto, are already on sale from the temporary box office at Unit 43, Swan Walk. Until then, the Everyman and the museum are the town’s wet-weather pair.

Making a day of it

Getting here is straightforward: direct trains reach Horsham from London Victoria and London Bridge in under an hour, and the station is ten minutes’ walk from the Carfax. If you drive, park once and walk, and check the roadworks and travel page before a weekend trip out to Leonardslee or Knepp, since both sit on rural A-roads. Moving here because of a day like this? The house prices page has the real numbers.

Frequently asked questions

What can I do in Horsham for free?

Horsham Park (play area, gardens, skatepark), Chesworth Farm’s 90 acres, Horsham Museum (no admission charge listed), Southwater Country Park entry and Dinosaur Island, and Knepp Wildland’s public footpaths.

Is the Capitol in Horsham open?

No. It is closed for refurbishment until November 2026, with tickets for the reopening season sold from a temporary box office in Swan Walk (The Capitol).

How much is Leonardslee Gardens?

Adults from £15.50 and children from £8.50 booked online. Through August 2026, each full-paying adult can bring up to two children for £1 each, booked online at least 48 hours ahead (Leonardslee).

Can you visit Knepp without paying for a safari?

Yes. Public footpaths cross the estate and there is a dedicated walkers’ car park; safaris (£75 walking, £115 by Landcruiser), tours, camping and glamping are the paid options (Knepp).

What days are Horsham markets on?

The Carfax markets are listed for Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 9am, with the Saturday farmers’ market the biggest at over 40 stalls (Visit Horsham).

Is Warnham Nature Reserve worth the entry fee?

At £4.50 for adults with under-18s free, it is one of the cheapest wildlife days out in Sussex: 3,000-plus species, five hides and accessible boardwalks, with free parking. Card payments only, and no dogs.

Sources

Prices and hours were checked against each venue’s own website on 7 August 2026; they change seasonally, so confirm before a special trip.