Norpar Barns, Navestock, Essex
Home » Photography »I want to visit all of England’s counties, and in between, we’ve taken to making more of the weekends, by visiting places of interest in our home county of Essex as well as neighbouring counties.
It’s quite nice to go out for a drive and just discover things along the way! When we visited St. Thomas the Apostle Church recently, we also visited Norpar Barns which is just around the corner. We saw a sign saying Halloween & Giant Pumpkins and I think you know, just from that sign, it was a must place to visit!
Norpar Barns is a gorgeous farm shop, selling things like dried flowers and country living home decor, as well as having themed barns throughout the year for Halloween, Christmas and Easter.
The mere mention of anything Halloween lights me up and makes me smile, and I was more than excited to see the Halloween Barn which was decorated for the celebration. There was a lovely array of decorations, and naturally, I had to buy some to add to my ever growing collection! I also feel the need to have hay bales to decorate with – I adored the display of pumpkins and decorates that they had!
The giant pumpkins were indeed giant! The biggest I’ve ever seen, and I can’t deny I wanted to buy up one of those bad boys!! I don’t think I could get away with spending £30 on a pumpkin though – I’m pretty sure divorce would be on the cards with that kind of purchase!!
As well as the giant pumpkins there was a huge array of different pumpkins and squash – some edible, some ornamental, and some of those I did buy to decorate with at home.
As well as hay bales, I feel like I need lots of wooden crates in my life! And wooden barrels, and wheelbarrows and steps…
In addition to the themed barns throughout the year, there is also the flower barn which is open all year round. It is just stunning, with lots of lovely things to buy. There’s even a little tea room to enjoy a cuppa and a slice of cake. I could have easily spent a small fortune in here as I really love the country, vintage look.
The Granary Museum is also on the grounds, an original farm building dating back to the 14th century. It houses old farming and household implements collected from the farm’s bygone days. We were going to pop in to have a look, but the door was locked. It didn’t stop us spying some old pieces of farming equipment outside the barn though.
To me, a farm isn’t a farm without a few animals roaming about – we saw guinea fowl and a peahen with her brood of chicks!
As we walked back to our car laden with pumpkins and Halloween decorations, we saw some chickens in the grounds of the farm house (which itself is just stunning!)
I’m so pleased we discovered this hidden gem, which we would never have found unless we’d gone out for that drive one Sunday afternoon! We plan on going back when their Christmas barn is opened, I bet it will look fabulous! If you are in the area, it is definitely worth a visit…
Norpar Barns
Navestock Hall
Navestock
Romford
RM4 1HA
www.justmeleah.co.uk
October 13, 2014 @ 12:47 am
This looks amazing! I’d love to go somewhere like this. I’ll have a peek to see if there’s anywhere near me that goes all out on the pumpkin front! x x
Michelle Ordever
October 15, 2014 @ 8:35 am
I’m always jealous of my American friends who post pics of their visits to pumpkin patches at this time of year!! x