I visited one of Horsham's hidden gems and discovered an array of amazing birds and animals

And my answer has always been a zookeeper or something to do with handling animals. But after a day at Huxley’s Bird of Prey Centre, I can be more specific, I would love to be a falconer and handle birds of prey (if they can indeed be handled!).

Ever since I had a WWF (World Wide Fun for Nature) sticker book when I was a kid, I have always been fascinated by animals, particularly those you don’t see very often or would bump into in an English forest. And in the sticker book I specifically remember the bird of prey pages and my favourite sticker was always the Golden Eagle. The Bald Eagle was also pretty cool.

To now know I can pop just 10 minutes down the road and see these animals in the flesh is amazing.

Huxley’s is located within the Brighton Road Hilliers Garden Centre, just outside Horsham town centre and really is a hidden gem where visitors of all ages can experience the beauty and wonder of nature.

It is home to more than 80 incredible birds - including falcons, hawks, eagles, owls, raptors, and more and there’s even the cutest meercats to see as well.

The centre is relatively small but is packed with incredible species and you are welcomed with a cacophony of unique calls. The focal point is the green in the middle of the centre where the displays are held (at 12pm and 2pm on the days Huxley’s is open) and surrounding that is the amazing array of birds.

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The director of Huxley’s, which is a charity, is Luke Lloyd and he got involved when he was 15 in 2002. “I came up here as a volunteer and just fell in love with it,” said Luke. “I think within six months I had my own bird [Harris Hawk] which I used to take into school with me. Then I remember my art teacher saying to me several months later to bring in something you're going to draw for GCSE Art and I took a baby barn owl in a basket so that came around lessons with me as well. I've always kept birds of prey from that point.”

And it’s easy to see why Luke fell in love with Huxley’s. It’s intimate and all the birds have such unique personalities which makes every enclosure engaging and fascinating.

The centre was founded by Julian Ford in 1993. Julian died in October 2021 after he lost a short battle with cancer. Luke said: “I came back from Cornwall and I came to see Julian in what was his last week and then from that point came and volunteered every weekend after that to help out and then got to a point where I managed it and now own it.”

When speaking to Luke, you sense the passion and care he has for the centre and says he has big plans for it going forward, including employing full-time staff – it currently has around 25 volunteers – and updating all the enclosures.

But being a charity, Huxley’s needs support and donations to be able to continue exist – in December they put out a plea for help. There are several ways the public and visitors can contribute.

Luke said: “We've got our Just Giving page, we've also got our Amazon Wishlist and we've got a whole page dedicated to how people can support and we're part of the Horsham Lottery now as well.

"We've put all these things in place a lot more so since having the charity status which we got in August of 2024. People are able to gift aid on their admission

which they've been doing as well so that really helps and it's helping to give us more of a positive future.”

But you can also support Huxley’s but just visiting the centre and seeing what it is all about. As Luke said: “The most used sentence I hear is it's a hidden gem. People don't know how big it is, what we do, that it's here and when they come here they're absolutely surprised with the size that we are, how many animals we've got and what we do to cater for the customers during the day.”

And there is so much to do, you can watch the displays, have a meet and greet in their picnic area, have VIP experiences, feed the meerkats and more.

Sorry, Luke, you are going to have to hear it again, Huxley’s really is a hidden gem in Horsham and like nothing else in the area.