More Than a Caravan Site: The Story Behind Coates Farm
When you stay at Coates Farm, you’re becoming a small part of a farming story that stretches back well over a century.
While many visitors come for the peace and quiet, the beautiful walks and the short stroll into Much Wenlock, fewer realise that the site sits at the heart of two working family farms with generations of history behind them.
It all began in 1896, when our family first arrived at Westwood Farm. Farming has been part of everyday life ever since, with each generation caring for the land and helping the farm business evolve.
The site you stay on was established in 1973, when Jenny’s grandfather took on neighboring Coates Farm. Alongside expanding the farming business, he spotted an opportunity to welcome visitors who wanted to experience the beauty of rural Shropshire. The site was born, creating a place where people could escape to the countryside, in the surroundings of a real working farm.
Back then, camping was perhaps a little more… authentic than it is today.
The touring caravans shared their field with the farm’s sheep, so guests occasionally woke to find a few curious woolly neighbours grazing just outside their windows! Thankfully, today’s visitors enjoy a little more separation between themselves and the livestock, but the peaceful farming atmosphere remains the same.
Today, Coates Farm Caravan and Camping Site is run by Jenny, her husband Craig and their son Albert, while the wider farming business continues to be a true family affair, with members all playing a part in managing the two farms.
Together, Coates Farm and Westwood Farm cover around 1,700 acres of Shropshire countryside.
The farms produce a mixture of wheat, barley, oats, beans and oilseed rape, while the livestock is split across the two holdings, with sheep grazing at Coates Farm and beef cattle at Westwood Farm. As the seasons change, so too does the landscape surrounding the site, from vibrant fields of oilseed rape in spring to golden wheat waiting for harvest in late summer.
It’s one of the many reasons every visit feels slightly different.
Even the next generation has become part of the story. During your stay, you might spot Albert’s farm-fresh eggs for sale on site, laid by his own flock of chickens. They’re a favourite with visitors and a small reminder that, here, farming isn’t simply a business—it’s a way of life that’s proudly passed from one generation to the next.
Although plenty has changed since those first caravans rolled onto the farm more than 50 years ago, the things that matter most haven’t.
You’ll still find the same warm welcome, the same stunning countryside, and the same sense of peace that has drawn visitors here for decades. Farming has certainly evolved, facing challenges now as much as ever,, but it remains what it has always been: a place where family, farming and the Shropshire countryside come together.
We look forward to welcoming you and sharing a little piece of our family’s story.