Camping in Henstridge

Henstridge and the surrounding Blackmore Vale offer a genuinely rural setting for a camping trip, all rolling dairy pasture, hedgerowed lanes and big Somerset skies, with the added novelty of light aircraft occasionally passing overhead from the historic airfield on the edge of the village. As with everywhere else in England, wild camping without the landowner's explicit permission is against the law, so pitching up on open farmland or roadside verges here is not an option; the good news is that the area has a fair spread of proper camping and caravan sites happy to welcome tents, touring caravans and motorhomes, several of them within a few minutes of Henstridge itself around Templecombe and further into rural south Somerset.

The terrain here is gentle rather than dramatic, low hills and wide, flat-bottomed valleys given over to dairy farming, so it suits campers after peace and quiet more than serious hill walking. Established sites typically offer grass touring pitches with electric hook-up, along with basic amenity blocks, and many are run as small family farms rather than big commercial parks, which keeps things low-key. For those who would rather skip the tent altogether, a growing number of glamping options in the wider Blackmore Vale area, from shepherd's huts to safari tents, provide a comfortable middle ground between hotel and campsite, often set on working farms where guests can watch the daily rhythms of rural Somerset up close.

Late spring to early autumn is the best window for camping around Henstridge, when the ground is driest and the long evenings make the most of the surrounding countryside; the Blackmore Vale's clay-heavy soil can turn heavy going after wet weather, so shoulder-season visitors should check conditions with the site beforehand. Whatever the season, the area's quiet lanes and easy proximity to Sherborne, Wincanton and the A303 make it a practical, unpretentious base for a Somerset-Dorset border camping trip.