Kingscote Estate & Vineyard

About the venue

Family-owned organic vineyard near East Grinstead, beside the Bluebell steam railway. An original 15th-century tithe barn hosts tastings, conferences and private functions. Dry hire, a working kitchen, fishing lakes and a two-bedroom Coach House complete the picture.

Steam trains on the Bluebell Railway run past the vines at Kingscote, and the line's Kingscote station is a 20-minute walk down Vowels Lane. The family-owned estate covers about 150 acres of the High Weald, with more than 70 acres planted with vines.

The vineyard has been run organically since 2019. Its sparkling and still wines are made in the on-site winery, and the 90-minute tour walks guests through the vines before going behind the scenes of the grape-to-glass process.

The farmhouse dates from 1320, when it was built as an iron master's house. In the early 1930s Mill Place Farm belonged to William Robinson, the horticulturist often called the father of the English country garden.

Events centre on the visitor centre, built around an original 15th-century tithe barn. It hosts wine tastings, conferences, events and private functions, and its café and wine shop open every day between 10am and 5pm.

The estate has a range of indoor and outdoor spaces for private and corporate hire. Dry hire is available with use of the fully working kitchen, and the team can recommend caterers and entertainment or put together a package.

Private vineyard tours can be booked for large groups, hen and stag parties and work events. Children under 12 join tours free, and dogs are welcome in the wine shop, gardens and woodland walks.

Outside the barn there is a wine garden, an organic apple orchard and the Leggett Lakes, which are stocked for day-ticket fishing. There are four marked trails. The shortest is a 40-minute vineyard loop, and the hardest is a nine-kilometre climb around the Bluebell Railway.

Guests who want to stay can book the Coach House, a refurbished two-bedroom detached cottage in the middle of the vineyard. Free parking sits right outside, and East Grinstead station is about ten minutes away by taxi.

Family-owned organic vineyard of over 70 acres on a 150-acre estate

Visitor centre built around an original 15th-century tithe barn

Hosts tastings, conferences, events and private functions

Dry hire with use of a fully working kitchen

Private vineyard tours for groups, hen and stag parties and work events

Bluebell Railway runs alongside the estate

Fishing lakes, orchard and four marked walking trails

Two-bedroom Coach House cottage to stay in