13 play areas around Farnham and Godalming, from Gostrey Meadow's mill tower to Playwood at Alice Holt, with parking, toilets and cafes. Checked October 2026.

The Farnham playgrounds most families head for are Gostrey Meadow in the town centre, rebuilt in 2025 around a mill-shaped climbing tower; the adventure playground in Farnham Park, with its zip wire, free parking and a cafe; and Playwood at Alice Holt Forest, south of the town. Every entry checked against the council’s, town council’s or Forestry England’s own pages on 26 October 2026.

A borough rebuilding its play areas. Waverley Borough Council rebuilt Sandy Hill and Baldreys in Farnham and Longbourne Green in Godalming in 2025, and it is now consulting on Middlefield in Farnham and two Haslemere play areas. Its play area refurbishments page carries the latest. Haslemere Town Council opened a new playground at Town Meadow in May and has three more out to tender.

Farnham town

1. Gostrey Meadow, town centre

Farnham Town Council’s riverside green in the middle of town, and the newest playground in Farnham. The council opened it in August 2025 to a design chosen by two thirds of the people who answered its consultation: a blue footpath winding through the play area stands for the River Wey, and the main multi-tower unit is made to look like a local mill.

There is no sandpit, which the council says it left out because sand damages the surface and the moving parts. A second phase was planned for 2026, with more equipment for pre-school children, a sensory “Lions’ Den” sponsored by Farnham Lions, a small water play area the council says will be accessible to wheelchair users, and an amenity building with new public toilets.

We could not find a notice saying that phase has opened.

Toilets none confirmed on site yet; the second phase with new public toilets has not been announced as open
Access the council says the roundabout, picnic tables and play panels are accessible to all children
Good for town centre, riverside green, mill-shaped climbing tower, opened August 2025

2. Farnham Park adventure playground and toddlers’ area

The 130-hectare medieval deer park at the top of Castle Street, run by Waverley Borough Council. The council’s Farnham Park page lists an adventure playground and a separate toddlers’ play area.

The playground listing site Freeparks describes the adventure playground as all wooden, with a zip wire, bridges, a seesaw, a climbing wall, a fireman’s pole, a tunnel, balance beams, nets and swings; the photograph above shows the swings and the slide built into a grassy mound. Dogs should be on a lead unless very well trained, and cows graze the park from April to November.

Address car park off Folly Hill (A287) between Farnham and Upper Hale, GU9 0FL
Parking free at the time of writing; the council says "restrictions are being implemented soon"
Toilets public toilets at Birdies Coffee House and Bar
Cafe Birdies Coffee House and Bar, open seven days a week all year
Website waverley.gov.uk/farnhampark
Good for adventure playground, toddlers' play area, zip wire, free parking, dogs on a lead

3. Sandy Hill, north Farnham

Rebuilt by Waverley Borough Council and reopened on 27 March 2025, with residents voting on the final design. The council says the new play area has climbing structures, swings, slides and interactive play zones, with inclusive and accessible equipment for children of all abilities; a later update adds that it was chosen with neurodiverse children in mind, to support a range of sensory needs.

It came about because residents asked for more inclusive play, and the project was run with Hale Community Centre and the Sandy Hill Inclusive Partnership. Waverley is also building a pump track for bikes and scooters at Sandy Hill, designed by On Track, with berms, rollers, a jump box and a quarter pipe; the council’s refurbishments page gives autumn 2026 for it to open.

Access inclusive and accessible equipment for children of all abilities, chosen to support a range of sensory needs
Good for climbing structures, swings, slides, interactive play zones, pump track due autumn 2026

Baldreys Recreation Ground

The second Farnham play area Waverley rebuilt in 2025. Residents voted on three shortlisted designs in December 2024, all of which the council said would let young children “spin, slide, balance, bounce, climb and swing”, with inclusive equipment for children with disabilities and accessible units so that children of all ages and abilities can play together. Work started in March 2025, and in July 2025 the council reported its refurbishment programme complete. The money came from the council’s capital playground budget, with extra from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The council has not published a list of the equipment that went in.

Middlefield play area

The next Farnham play area in line for a rebuild. Waverley Borough Council asked residents this summer what they thought of the equipment there, and says the answers, collected until 9 August, will shape the design of “new and improved” play facilities. No date has been given for the work, so the current play area is still the one to use for now.

Around Farnham

4. Playwood, Alice Holt Forest

Forestry England’s forest at Bucks Horn Oak, about 3.7 miles south-west of the town. Its Playwood page describes a big playground beside the visitor centre with structures to climb, crawl, slide, swing and jump on, and a play trail running from it with tunnels, balance tests, Gruffalo sculptures, the Timberline play area and the giant marble run (marbles are sold at the visitor centre; the run itself is free).

Parking is the cost: charges change with the season, and our things to do guide has the full table.

Address Bucks Horn Oak, Farnham, GU10 4LS
Parking paid; charges change with the season
Toilets yes
Cafe yes
Website forestryengland.uk/alice-holt-forest/playwood-alice-holt
Good for big playground, play trail, Gruffalo sculptures, Timberline play area, giant marble run

Frensham village playground

The playground in the centre of Frensham reopened on 23 May 2026 after a refurbishment that the Liphook Herald reported took 18 months to plan and seven weeks to build. It has new equipment from the play company Koolplay for swinging, climbing and sliding, and drawings by two pupils from St Mary’s Infant School hang at the entrances. Frensham Parish Council, which ran the project, and Surrey County Council paid for it. The paper quoted Waverley’s mayor, who opened it, saying the old playground had been “extremely well used but it was looking a bit tired”. Combine it with a walk at Frensham Ponds, but check the council’s notices on the water first.

Godalming and Farncombe

5. Phillips Memorial Park, Godalming

The Green Flag park along the River Wey between Borough Road bridge and Bridge Road, by the library. Waverley Borough Council lists a children’s playground, a skate park, the bandstand, a riverside walk, a conservation meadow and pond, and the Grade II listed Phillips Memorial Cloister of 1913.

In June 2024 the council fitted a chair swing designed for disabled children, after parents told it their son could not use the existing swings.

Parking pay and display Crown Court car park, GU7 1HR
Toilets nearest public toilets at the Crown Court car park
Access chair swing designed for disabled children
Website waverley.gov.uk/Services/Greenspaces-leisure-and-things-to-do/Greenspaces-in-Waverley/Key-Sites/The-Phillips-Memorial-Park-Godalming
Good for Green Flag park, skate park, bandstand, riverside walk, Grade II listed cloister

6. Broadwater Park, Farncombe

The Green Flag park next to Godalming Leisure Centre, with what Waverley Borough Council describes as a play area, woodland, sports pitches and “a large lake”. The paths are busiest on Saturday mornings, when parkrun is on.

Good for Green Flag park, play area, woodland, lake, Broadwater parkrun Saturdays 9am

Longbourne Green, Farncombe

A neighbourhood play area in Farncombe, rebuilt by Waverley Borough Council after the 2025 Easter holidays and reopened in early June 2025. Like Baldreys, residents chose from shortlisted designs in December 2024, and the council said each design would include inclusive equipment for children with disabilities. It was paid for partly with section 106 money from local housing developments. The council has not published a list of what was installed.

Haslemere and Cranleigh

7. Town Meadow, Haslemere

Haslemere’s newest playground. Haslemere Town Council had listed a new children’s playground at Town Meadow for 2026, and its contractor, eibe Play, says installation began in February and the play area opened in May, replacing “a tired, underused play area”.

It was designed for children aged 2 to 14, with hardwood multi-play units for toddlers and juniors (ladders, nets, slides and climbing walls), a wheelchair-accessible seesaw, swings for all abilities, a balancing trail, a carousel, play panels and quiet areas for calmer play. The old bark mulch has been replaced with wet-pour surfacing, so it can be used all year.

Ages 2 to 14
Access wheelchair-accessible seesaw; swings for all abilities
Good for toddler and junior multi-play units, balancing trail, carousel, quiet areas, all-year surface

Lion Green, Haslemere

Haslemere Town Council’s green, with a playground and a zip wire. The council says it has recently resurfaced it, refurbished the benches, replaced equipment and had the zip wire fully inspected and repaired. A bigger change is coming: in September the town council put the design and installation of new playground equipment at Lion Green out to tender, at an estimated £250,000, alongside two other Haslemere playgrounds at High Lane and the War Memorial Recreation Ground.

8. Snoxhall Fields, Cranleigh

Cranleigh Parish Council’s play park beside the leisure centre and close to the High Street and the Downs Link. The parish council says it has separate areas for toddlers and older children, and that it was extended in 2020, with money from the Betty Riseley Trust, to add an aerial runway and what it calls “the very popular snake swing”.

Its installer, eibe Play, lists a 30-metre cableway and an inclusive swing among what it fitted. Waverley Borough Council plans a new skatepark on the green just north of the fields, expected in early 2027 if planning permission is granted.

Parking small paid car park reached from Knowle Lane
Toilets Snoxhall Pavilion
Ages separate areas for toddlers and older children
Access inclusive swing
Good for aerial runway, snake swing, 30-metre cableway, next to the leisure centre, Downs Link

How we chose

These are the play areas Farnham families search for and that publish details we could check: the two big town playgrounds at Gostrey Meadow and Farnham Park, the neighbourhood play areas Waverley rebuilt in 2025, the forest playground at Alice Holt, and the newest or biggest play areas in the other towns we cover. The facts come from the councils’ own pages and announcements, Forestry England, and the reports linked in each entry; where a source did not say whether there are toilets or parking, we have not filled the gap. Run a park, a cafe beside one, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@farnhamtoday.co.uk.

For more ideas, see things to do in Farnham, October half term in Farnham, what’s on in Farnham this month, Winkworth Arboretum this autumn and winter, our guides to Farnham cafes, restaurants and pubs, or browse local businesses in Farnham in our directory.

Frequently asked questions

What is the newest playground in Farnham?

Gostrey Meadow in the town centre. Farnham Town Council opened it in August 2025, with a blue path through it standing for the River Wey and a multi-tower unit made to look like a local mill. A second phase with a small water play area, a sensory Lions’ Den and an amenity building with toilets was due in 2026. Around Farnham, Frensham’s village playground reopened in May 2026 after a refurbishment.

Which Farnham playground has toilets and a cafe?

Farnham Park. Waverley Borough Council says the public toilets are at Birdies Coffee House and Bar, which is open seven days a week all year, and the car park off Folly Hill is free. Alice Holt Forest also has a cafe and toilets by its Playwood play area, but parking there is paid.

Is there an inclusive or accessible playground in Farnham?

Yes. Gostrey Meadow’s roundabout, picnic tables and play panels are described by the town council as accessible to all children. Sandy Hill was rebuilt in 2025 with equipment chosen for children with a range of sensory needs, after residents asked for more inclusive play, and Baldreys was rebuilt with inclusive equipment for children with disabilities.