Northumberland College Zoo (previously known as Kirkley Hall Zoo) is an ideal place for an affordable day out in Northumberland. Located at Kirkley Hall, near Ponteland and about a 30 minute drive from Newcastle.
It is only a small place, but there is still plenty to see as it is home to over 100 species of animals. They have a small playpark, animal demonstrations and a small hut selling drinks, snacks and gifts. It is perfect for younger children - although my older children did enjoy visiting too.
Northumberland College Zoo
Northumberland College Zoo is situated at Kirkley Hall and is a animal college as the name suggests. However on weekends and during Northumberland school holidays it is open to the public and is an affordable place to visit with tickets starting at just £6.50.
There is plenty of free onsite parking available and you can either prebook tickets online or pay on the door. The zoo is normally open 10am - 4pm with last entry at 3pm - please check opening times and prices in advance at Northumberland College Zoo.
They have a Wallaby walk-through and various keeper talks on during the day - they normally have posters advertising what's on with times.
It is easy to make your way around the zoo as it is all flat with wide paths and it is a fairly small zoo so all the enclosures are close to each other. In the middle of the enclosures they have a small play park for young children and picnic benches. They also have a hut selling hot and cold drinks and snacks, plus some little gifts such as cuddly toys, pens etc.
The Animals
Northumberland College Zoo has over 100 different species of animals from mammals to birds to reptiles and fish. We seen Shetland ponies and donkeys, Alpacas, Meerkats, goats and lemurs. They have a wallaby walk-through where you can walk through the wallaby enclosure and see them up close.
There was also some more unusual animals such as a Raccoon dog, a Palawan Binturong, Pied Tamarins and Geoldi's monkey. As well as much loves cute bunnies and guinea pigs.
They have peacocks just wandering around freely which are lovely to see. There was parrots, Kookaburras, ducks and lots of different birds.
They have a reptile house with reptiles such as bearded dragons, snakes, lizards and tortoises.
They also have lots of different types of frogs and an aquatic room filled with different fish - including clown fish (like Nemo).
There is also some invertabrates animals such as giant snails, spiders and giant millipedes.
All of the enclosures have signs on telling you about the animals.
What We Thought
We visited with children aged 10 and 12 and we had a nice couple of hours seeing the animals. Even though it is small there is still lots of animals to see and you can get up close to a lot of them.
Northumberland College Zoo was clean and the little hut selling drinks and gifts was well priced.
It was a nice day when we visited and plenty of people were sitting on the benches having picnics and making a day of it. Even though we visited during the summer holidays in August it did not feel too busy and we could see all the animals without lots of people being around.
Need To Know
Northumberland College Zoo is only open on weekends and Northumberland school holidays 10am-4pm with last entry at 3pm. You can pre-book tickets online or pay on the door on the day. Please check opening times online at Northumberland College Zoo
Prices (2025) are currently £8.50 per adult, £6.50 per child (3 to 17) with under 3s going free. Concession tickets and carers tickets are also available. You can get family tickets for two adults and up to three children for £27.50. They also sometimes run offers on sites like Wowcher where you can get tickets even cheaper (t&c's may apply).
Northumberland College Zoo also run Zoo club for children aged 6-14 where children can spend the day at the zoo and spend time caring for some of the animals. They also run animal experiences and half-day zoo keeper experiences too.
Northumberland College Zoo
Kirkley Hall
Northumberland
NE20 0AQ
If you are travelling via public transport the 777 bus between Kingston Park and Morpeth stops nearby - please check times with Arriva.
We paid to visit Northumberland College Zoo ourselves.
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