Outline sketch of hares

About Tapnell Farm

Our Farm

The Turney Family

Our family has been in farming for over one hundred years and we took over the care of Tapnell and East Afton Farms in 1982. At its peak, the farm milked 800 cows and produced 24,000 litres of fresh wholesome milk 365 days of the year, no exceptions!

Today, (run by brothers-in-law Tom Turney and Tom Honeyman-Brown) we no longer milk cows at Tapnell, but the Farm has become the Isle of Wight’s leading eco-tourism business and home to award-winning Tom’s Eco Lodge and farm accommodation, Tapnell Farm Park, The Cow Restaurant & Bar, Isle of Wight Aqua Park, Isle of Wight Football Golf and Archery & Axe Throwing.

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do, whether taking water from our bore hole to supply the farm, using the sun to make electricity for hundreds of homes, powering our heating systems with our biomass boiler or growing over 30 acres of new woodland and hedgerows. It’s ingrained in everything we do.

The golden rule for us is to pass on our farm in better environmental and productive health than it was at the beginning of our life’s tenure.

There’s still much to do and we are certainly up for the challenge!

Celebrating 10 years

"2022 marked 10 years since we transformed our family business from dairy farm into a family friendly destination for visitors and locals alike.

From the start, our ethos has been to create 'maximum enjoyment with minimum impact on the environment' and this has been true from the construction of our glamping safari tents in 2012 to the Aqua Park enjoyed by so many today.

We've never had a grand plan, we've just wanted to grow organically and to create a unique and welcoming place for everyone to enjoy the farm as we did; the fresh air, stunning views and space to explore - whilst trying to keep everything rustic and in keeping; no gadgets or gizmos ... just people powered fun!

Today, there is something for everyone to enjoy at Tapnell and whether you're visiting for the day or staying over, we wish you a very happy holiday and lots of people powered fun!"

"The Toms"

Our green credentials

Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. Our constant and enduring ethos (echoed by most in the farming community) is that each generation passes onto the next, the farm, land, property and business in better health than when they started.

Our green credentials

Here are some of the ways in which we have taken decisive action on green environmental practices and social and ethical choices:

Power

  • Installed 500kw of renewable solar generation across four buildings and two small field arrays, meaning the farm is electric positive and sends excess green power back to the grid. Tapnell generates more than 500,000kwh of energy a year, enough to power more than 100 homes.
  • Removed oil boilers and replaced them with a district heating network powered by sustainably sourced renewable wood pellets.
  • Installed air source and ground source heat pumps in new properties and business premises.
  • Early adopter and promoter of LED low-energy lighting, converting all properties in 2012 and saving thousands of kilowatts of energy and tons of unnecessary carbon emissions.
  • Grow tons of energy crops annually to produce renewable gas.

Recycling

  • Early adopter of compostable and biodegradable packaging to replace plastic products.
  • Recycle all farm plastics and scrapping old metals.
  • Repurposed former farm buildings to regenerate rather than build on greenfield land.
  • Upcycle products wherever possible to avoid unnecessary purchasing.
  • Recycle used wetsuits.

People

  • Generated full-time and seasonal employment for more than 100 local people, offering high-quality jobs with real career opportunities.
  • Champions local business, with ethos of 'Island first', with most products and services sourced on the Isle of Wight.


Conservation

  • Lodges constructed with natural materials, powered by low-energy sources, supported by a market-leading sewage treatment system that meets the highest environmental standards, and supplied with a recycling station.
  • Rehomed animals from a closed wildlife park to create the farm park, with hundreds of animals rehomed and cared for ever since.
  • Upgraded, maintained and promoted miles of footpaths and bridleways in the surrounding countryside.
  • Created two new lakes to better manage the water course and provide habitats for wildlife.
  • Planted miles of hedgerows and thousands of plants, shrubs and trees across the farm.
  • Took acres of land out of arable production and pioneered large field margins for greater biodiversity of flora and fauna.
  • Installed owl, squirrel, tit and bat boxes.
  • Created a special conservation garden in close co-operation with the Isle of Wight and Hampshire Wildlife Trust to create an educational and interactive wildlife garden for visitors to enjoy.
  • Adopted new soil testing to allow targeted applications of product where necessary, also saving on input and reducing carbon emissions.
  • Red Tractor-certified and conducting countryside stewardship schemes.
  • Aim to promote and support local charities and organisations already actively involved in local conservation projects.
Outline sketch of hares

Find out more and read our current Conservation Strategy

Read more here

Sitting on the site of the 1970 Isle of Wight pop festival, our farm is surrounded by a patchwork of fields that form the pasture and meadows of the countryside, which gently undulate with Tapnell Down to the south and Hamstead Heritage Coast and coastal woodlands to the north.

The picturesque chalk down grassland and forests to the south are not only part of the protected landscape but are also Sites of Special Scientific Interest and described by Natural England as being “probably the best example in Britain of chalk grassland under maritime influence.