Pumpkin picking near Sevenoaks in 2026: the real Kent PYO patches, what each one charges, how booking works and when dates are announced.

Pumpkin picking near Sevenoaks means a short drive out of town, because the town itself has no pumpkin field. What it does have is half a dozen working farms within about forty minutes, most of them on the north Kent fruit-growing belt around Dartford and Gravesend, plus a couple of places closer in where you can buy a home-grown pumpkin without walking through a muddy field at all.

This guide covers the farms that actually grew and sold pumpkins last autumn and are set up to do it again in 2026, with the booking rules, the prices they charged, and when each one publishes its dates. That last bit matters more than people expect, because several Kent patches only release tickets in September and the half-term slots go within days.

What is confirmed for autumn 2026 so far

As of early August, one thing is fixed and the rest are not. Stanhill Farm in Wilmington has confirmed on its own site that its 2026 Pumpkin Patch will open in October and that pre-booking is essential, but has not yet published dates or prices (Stanhill Farm).

Everywhere else is in the same holding pattern. PYO Pumpkins at Hoo has said it will be back in 2026 and that it releases session times on 1 September (PYO Pumpkins). Across Kent, October dates land on farm websites and Facebook pages through the first half of September.

Nothing below is a 2026 date unless it says so. Where a farm has not announced, we have given what it did last year so you can judge the likely cost, and linked the page where its 2026 details will appear.

Pumpkin patches near Sevenoaks compared

Pumpkin picking near Sevenoaks: format, cost and booking, drawn from the farm sections below
FarmRoughly from SevenoaksPick your own?Entry costBooking
Stanhill Farm, Wilmington25 minYes, wheelbarrow patchPer vehicle, 2026 price to be confirmedEssential, online
Broadditch Farm, Southfleet25 minYes, 3-acre field£6 per car in 2025Essential, hourly slots
PYO Pumpkins, Hoo40 minYes, field£10 per vehicle in 2025Essential, no ticket no entry
Spadework, Offham20 minYes, pumpkin gardenFree entry, pay per pumpkinNot needed
Castle Farm, Shoreham15 minNo, sold from the shopFree to visitNot needed
Riverhill, Sevenoaks5 minNo, pumpkin festivalGarden admission, £14 adultNot needed

Two patterns are worth noticing before you book anything. The pick-your-own farms charge for the car rather than the head, so a full car works out far better per person than a couple with one child. And the free-entry options, Spadework and Castle Farm, are the ones you can do on a whim at 4pm on a Tuesday without a ticket.

Bar chart of six pumpkin places by rough drive time from Sevenoaks: Riverhill 5 minutes £14 adult garden admission, Castle Farm 15 minutes free to visit, Spadework 20 minutes free entry, Stanhill Farm 25 minutes 2026 price to be confirmed, Broadditch 25 minutes £6 per car in 2025, PYO Pumpkins at Hoo 40 minutes £10 per vehicle in 2025
The six options ordered by drive time from Sevenoaks. The two nearest are the ones that need no ticket, and the two furthest are the ones you have to book.

Stanhill Farm, Wilmington

The closest large pick-your-own patch to Sevenoaks, on Birchwood Road in Wilmington just outside Dartford, DA2 7HD. Stanhill has run its pumpkin patch for over a decade alongside a farm shop, a maize maze and summer PYO, and the format is the classic one: grab a wheelbarrow, walk into the field, fill it, pay at the end (Stanhill Farm).

Opening times for the patch are Monday to Saturday 9:30am to 3:30pm and Sunday 10:30am to 2:30pm. One ticket admits one vehicle of up to eight people, or one walk-in group of up to eight, and covers parking, wheelbarrow use and the photo spots. If your group arrives in two cars, that is two tickets (Stanhill Farm).

Two rules catch people out: tickets are non-refundable even if it rains, and the farm reserves the right to close the patch if the ground gets too wet to be safe. Dogs are not allowed anywhere on the farm, and picnics are not permitted.

What it means for you: Stanhill is the one to watch if you want the full field experience with a barrow. Check the pumpkin patch page from early September, because 2026 dates and prices are both listed as to be confirmed at the time of writing.

Broadditch Farm Shop, Southfleet

Broadditch, at Manor Farm on New Barn Road near Southfleet, DA13 9PU, runs a three-acre pick-your-own pumpkin field alongside its farm shop. In 2025 it worked on pre-booked hourly slots from 10am to 3pm, with a £6 booking fee covering one car or group of up to eight people, including entry to the field, a wheelbarrow and the photo areas. Pumpkin carving workshops ran alongside it at £7 a person with the pumpkin included (Broadditch Farm Shop).

It opened for the weekend of 11 and 12 October 2025 and then daily from 18 to 31 October, which is the shape most Kent farms follow: one early weekend, then a solid run through half term.

What it means for you: at £6 per car this was the lowest field entry in the area last year, and the carving workshops give you something to do if the weather turns.

PYO Pumpkins, Beluncle Farm, Hoo

The furthest of the four, at Beluncle Farm on Stoke Road, Hoo, near Rochester, ME3 9LU, and about forty minutes from Sevenoaks on the A2 and M2. It is also the most strictly run: booking is online only, half-hour arrival slots, and the farm is explicit that there is no entry without a ticket (PYO Pumpkins).

In 2025, admission was £10 per vehicle for up to seven seats and £15 for a minibus of eight to eighteen. Pumpkins and squashes were priced from £1 to £15 each, so a family filling a boot could easily double the entry cost. The season ran from Saturday 11 October to Friday 31 October on selected dates, with session times released on 1 September through Ticketsource (PYO Pumpkins).

What it means for you: worth the drive for a proper field of home-grown pumpkins and squashes in every size and colour, and worth a calendar reminder for 1 September if you want a half-term weekend slot.

Spadework, Offham

The one on this list that is not a commercial farm. Spadework is a registered charity on Teston Road in Offham near West Malling, ME19 5NA, which has supported adults with learning and other disabilities for more than three decades. Its trainees grow the pumpkins from seed each spring, and the pumpkin garden opens to the public through October (Spadework).

There is no entry ticket. You park, walk in, pick what you want and pay at the till point, with pumpkins priced at a flat rate per variety and size rather than weighed, and everything you spend funds the charity’s care services. The wider site, with its café, farm shop, garden centre and gift shed, opens Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm (Spadework).

What it means for you: this is the answer if the idea of paying £10 to park in a field annoys you, or if you have not booked anything and it is the Tuesday of half term. Ring 01732 870002 to check the pumpkin garden is open before you set off, because the dates move with the harvest.

Buying a Kent pumpkin without the field

Not everyone wants a wheelbarrow and wellies, and two places near Sevenoaks sell home-grown pumpkins with no mud involved.

Castle Farm at Shoreham, about fifteen minutes north of town, is best known for its lavender, but it grows a wide range of pumpkins and squashes that are hand-cut and sold at the Hop Shop farm shop from September through to November. In autumn they are stacked in trailer-loads in the courtyard, so you choose from a display rather than a field (Castle Farm). If you want cooking squash rather than a carving pumpkin, this is the better shout of the two.

Riverhill Himalayan Gardens, two miles south of Sevenoaks at TN15 0RR, runs a Pumpkin Festival as its end-of-season event. In 2025 it ran from 18 October to 2 November with a pumpkin hunt around the gardens for sweet treats and a grotto set up for carving, where you could bring your own pumpkin or buy one there, with tools and inspiration provided, and no pre-booking needed (Riverhill Himalayan Gardens). The 2026 dates will appear on the Activities and Events calendar.

Riverhill’s 2026 admission is £14 for an adult, £7.50 for a child aged four and over and £39 for a family, with under-fours free. It opens Wednesday to Sunday and bank holidays, 10am to 5pm, closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and is cashless (Riverhill Himalayan Gardens).

Getting the timing right

  • Book the moment dates drop. September is when Kent farms release October tickets, and half-term weekends go first.
  • Go on a weekday if you can. Kent’s October half term in 2026 runs from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October, so the two weekends either side are the crush (Kent County Council).
  • Go early in the month for the best pick. By the last few days the fields are picked over and the biggest carving pumpkins have gone.
  • Wellies, always. Stanhill reserves the right to close the patch if the ground gets too wet to be safe, which tells you what it is like when it is open (Stanhill Farm).
  • Take a card. Riverhill is cashless, and most farms now prefer cards in the field.

If you are building a full half-term week around this, the October half term guide has the rest of the options, and the Halloween events guide covers the trails at Hever, Knole and elsewhere. For the year-round list, see things to do in Sevenoaks.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the closest pumpkin picking to Sevenoaks? Spadework’s pumpkin garden at Offham is the nearest place you can pick your own, about twenty minutes away and free to enter (Spadework). For a full field with a wheelbarrow, Stanhill Farm at Wilmington is closest at roughly twenty-five minutes (Stanhill Farm). Closer still, but picking from a display rather than a field, are Castle Farm’s Hop Shop at Shoreham and Riverhill on the town’s doorstep.

How much does pumpkin picking cost in Kent? Entry is usually charged per car, not per head. In 2025, Broadditch charged £6 per car and PYO Pumpkins at Hoo charged £10 per vehicle, with pumpkins on top at roughly £1 to £15 each depending on size (Broadditch Farm Shop; PYO Pumpkins). Spadework at Offham charges nothing to enter and you pay only for what you pick.

Do I need to book a pumpkin patch in advance? For the field farms, yes. Stanhill says pre-booking is essential and PYO Pumpkins operates a no ticket, no entry rule (Stanhill Farm; PYO Pumpkins). Spadework, Castle Farm and Riverhill all take walk-ups.

When do Kent pumpkin patches open in 2026? Expect an opening weekend around the middle of October and then a daily run through half term, which is what most Kent farms did in 2025. Stanhill has confirmed it will open in October 2026 but has not published dates (Stanhill Farm), and PYO Pumpkins releases its session times on 1 September (PYO Pumpkins).

Can I take a dog pumpkin picking? Not at Stanhill, which does not allow dogs anywhere on the farm (Stanhill Farm). Policies vary elsewhere, so check the individual farm’s page before you set off rather than assuming.

What is the best pumpkin patch for young children? Spadework, because there is no ticket, no time slot and no pressure, and the garden is small enough that a three-year-old can walk it. For the wheelbarrow-and-field version, Stanhill sells tickets by timed session, which keeps the numbers in the field manageable (Stanhill Farm).

Sources

Prices, dates and booking rules were checked against each farm’s own website in August 2026. Autumn 2026 dates for most Kent patches are published in September, so confirm with the farm before you travel.