REVIEW: West Oxford Dog Secure Fields (The Downs)

The Downs at West Oxford Dog Fields is an enormous 30 acre secure parkland located just a few miles north of Oxford City centre. It’s easily accessed from the A34 and M40 and is a perfect pit-stop if you’re making a long journey between the North and South or East and West of the country.

Booking and Accessing The Downs at West Oxford Dog Fields

Booking is through a secure website and sessions are 60 minutes long with a strict 10 minute gap between users.

Access is very straightforward – the W3W link and Google maps pin will both take you directly to the gate – it’s situated off the Cassington Road, a few hundred metres outside the village of Yarnton.

The entrance to the dog fields is clearly signposted – you pull off the main road through a large entrance and turn slightly left to the vehicle gate for The Downs. Using the code provided an hour beforehand via email, you can punch the numbers into the padlock and open the gate into an enormous secure car park.

What is The Downs at West Oxford Dog Fields like?

Huge! If you haven’t visited a very large dog field before it will be a revelation. There are very few that are super-sized but still have the security of a smaller paddock and that’s down to really good management.

The field itself is a rolling meadow which has been coiffured with meandering paths through areas of longer grass and activity spots with logs and agricultural enrichment set in a beautiful rural backdrop.

Once inside the enormous secure parking area (which will accommodate any size vehicle easily), you will find a grassy area where your dogs can go to the toilet before entering the main field – this will save you from ‘hunting’ over 30 acres and is a great solution for keeping the fields in top condition.

There’s a pedestrian gate into the field and from there, you have oodles of route choices! As usual, our dogs conducted a perimeter check which took a solid 20 minutes before they allowed themselves to be distracted by the fun of the paths and what they led to.

Is The Downs Secure?

This field is fenced to 1.9m and also has weld mesh gates., the netting is 7.5cm x 7.5cm at the base and gradually increases in height to 7.5cm x 20cm so it is suitable for most dogs. It also has the benefit of a 50cm skirt that’s embedded and laid to the outside of the field – this is a belt-and-braces approach to ensure nothing can get in and nothing can get out – especially important in a field of this magnitude.

The parking is also secure to 1.9m and the gates have concrete thresholds so you won’t see gaps emerging under the gate over time.

This field is inspected daily prior to opening.

Things you should know about The Downs

• 30 acres is a big area and if you want to see the entire field at a leisurely pace, I suggest you book a double session (although our dogs were exhausted after their 60 minute session)
• There’s a stock fence dividing the field so your dogs will remain in sight and this divide has a few special features (surprises for you to discover!)
• There are plans to add seasonal features to this field and with a great team running it, I suspect this field will get even more interesting over time

Also at West Oxford Dog Fields:

• The Meadow
• The Paddock

Photos © British Dog Fields

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