Huttoft Beach / Moggs Eye Beach, Lincolnshire: all you need to know

Huttoft Beach, also known as Moggs Eye Beach, is a real jewel of Lincolnshire’s long and sandy coastline. Backed by grassy dunes and a long terrace car park, the beach is perfect for peaceful picnics, relaxing afternoons or as a base for walking and cycling along the coastal path. It’s also a rare gem that is a dog-friendly throughout the year, and so it’s an ideal spot to bring four-legged friends for a run-around on the spacious sand. We explain all you need to know in this quick guide to Huttoft beach.

Huttoft Beach: a quick overview

Huttoft Beach is located just a couple of kilometres north of Anderby Creek Beach, another of our favourite beaches in the area. These two beaches occupy the same stretch of sand that reaches all the way from Mablethorpe down to Skegness.

The defining feature of Huttoft Beach is its car terrace that stretches along the rear of the beach on the cusp of the sand dunes. It has room for 200 vehicles, and you can literally park up right next to the sand, step out and enjoy the view.

Typically, people park along the terrace and set up deck chairs and picnic tables in front of their vehicles looking out onto the sea. When the tide is out, the receding sea reveals a huge area of firm, flat sand, which is great for playing beach games.

This part of the Lincolnshire coast is beautifully quiet and rarely gets crowded. Even so, on summer days, it’s best to come early to make sure you get one of the car park slots on the terrace.

Huttoft / Moggs Eye Beach was picked out by the Guardian as one of the UK’s best wild beach walks. But even though the secret is getting out, it’s still usually a peaceful place, and the vast stretches of sand to either side of the main beach area mean there is always a quiet spot to be found.

Our guide to beaches in Lincolnshire picks out more of the best spots along this section of the coastline.

Huttoft village

The beach takes its name from the nearby village of Huttoft, nestled a couple of miles inland from the coast and home to just a few hundred people. It’s a tiny settlement dating back centuries, and this heritage can be seen today in some of its surviving buildings.

St Margaret’s Church still has a tower from the 13th century and a font from the 15th century. One-time Poet Laureate of England John Betjeman wrote about it in his poem entitled A Lincolnshire Church. Huttoft Windmill, built in the early 19th century, still stands in the village today and is a Grade II listed building.

When is the best time to visit Huttoft Beach?

We love Huttoft in the summer when we want to escape the crowds and find an alternative to Cleethorpes, Mablethorpe or Skegness. On warm weather days it’s a great beach to settle in for a few hours of relaxation with a book or some games on the sand.

On weekends at summer, try and turn up before midday to be sure of getting a parking space on the terrace. If you can head over on a weekday, you should find spaces at any time of day.

Huttoft Beach facilities

Looking for the quick facts about Huttoft Beach? Here’s a snapshot of the essentials:

• Car park with 200 spaces (open 10am–6pm all year round, charges apply 10am–5pm Good Friday to 31 October)
• Direct access to the beach
• Easy to reach from the coastal road
• Huttoft Boatshed Café – new beach café opened in 2022
• Toilet facilities outside the new café
• Dog-friendly all year round

Is Huttoft Beach dog friendly?

Yes! This is what makes it one of our favourite spots to visit on the coast when the weather is nice. The beach welcomes dogs throughout the year, including the summer season.

For us, Huttoft Beach is second only to Saltfleet/Theddlethorpe as our favourite beach for dogs in Lincolnshire. It gets Regan’s seal of approval!

Huttoft Car Terrace charges and restrictions

The car terrace that stretches along Huttoft Beach was free once upon a time, but in April 2022 some charges were introduced along with some vehicle restrictions.

Huttoft Car Terrace parking fees

Parking fees at Huttoft Car Terrace now apply from 10am to 5pm, from Good Friday to 31 October. Parking is still free all year round for disabled badge holders.

The charges are as follows:

• Up to 1 hour: £1
• Up to 2 hours: £2
• Over 2 hours: £4

The easiest way to pay the charges is by using the APCOA Connect app, so it’s a good idea to download the app before you arrive. The location code for Huttoft Car Terrace is 1678, so once you’ve parked up you can enter this into the app and pay for the amount of time you need.

Alternatively, you can pay by phone – just call 01895 262 122 when you arrive.

Huttoft Car Terrace vehicle restrictions

In addition to parking fees, some new vehicle restrictions were also introduced in 2022. The following vehicle types are not permitted to park at the site:

• Motorhomes more than 6 metres in length
• Caravans
• Trailers
• Heavy goods vehicles

There are no height restrictions in place at Huttoft Car Terrace.

Huttoft Car Terrace operational hours

The car park at Huttoft Car Terrace stays open 365 days a year, and is operational from 10am to 6pm every day.

How to get to Huttoft Car Terrace

Huttoft Beach is one of the closest to the Lincolnshire coastal road, Roman Bank. If you’re driving along the coast just look out for the large signpost to Huttoft Car Terrace. A short dirt track then leads to a small incline up the dunes to the car terrace. You can turn and park to either the left or right.

The drive to Huttoft Beach from Lincoln takes about an hour and a quarter. When traffic is clear, the quickest route is to take the A158 through Wragby, then cross through the Lincolnshire Wolds via Belchford, and onto the coast via Alford. After passing through Huttoft village, Sea Lane leads all the way out to the car terrace.

Huttoft Boat Shed: a new beach café

A café and visitor centre, the Boat Shed, was opened at Huttoft in April 2022 after receiving funding of nearly £500,000. The project has seen a disused old boat shed transformed into a space with refreshments, information, toilet facilities and pop-up food stalls in summer.

On the roof of the café there is also a terrace seating area with a lovely view of the sea. It’s a perfect spot to relax in the sunshine with a cuppa and cake after an hour or two on the beach!

Things to do near Huttoft Beach / Moggs Eye

Radcliffe Donkey Sanctuary

Sometimes you will see beachgoers enjoying donkey rides along the sand at Huttoft. The animals are residents of Radcliffe Donkey Sanctuary across in Huttoft village.

You can visit the sanctuary (dogs welcome too, on leads) at weekends and some midweek days depending on the time of year. See the sanctuary’s website for the latest opening times. A minimum £1 donation per visitor is advised, which supports the sanctuary’s upkeep.

Farmer Brown’s Ice Cream

On those hot summer days, ice cream by the beach is pretty much a necessity. Luckily, Huffoft village is home to Farmer Brown’s Ice Cream, where you can treat yourself to farm-fresh ice cream made with Lincolnshire-reader Holstein Friesian cow milk.

At the ice cream parlour you can also buy hot breakfasts, light lunches, coffee and cakes. A farm shop on site sells preserves, farm vegetables, plum bread and other fresh local produce.

Lincolnshire Coast Path and cycling

Huttoft Beach is one of many on the Lincolnshire coast interconnected by a new path stretching from Mablethorpe to Skegness. It is the latest coastal path section to be opened on a trail that will eventually extend around the entire coast of England.

A gentle walk up to Sandilands or down to Anderby Creek is a lovely way to enjoy the fresh sea air and the reams of golden sand lining this section of the coast.

Between Huttoft and Mablethorpe, the beach is also traced by a cycle path with glorious ocean views along its entirety. It is flat all the way, secure from the road and protected by concrete sea defences, so it makes for a great early morning ride or family biking afternoon.

Huttoft Beach camping

Staying overnight near Huttoft Beach gives you the chance to witness the amazing sunrises along this section of coast, and enjoy the beach when it is most peaceful in the early mornings and evenings.

There are a few campsites nearby you can try:

• South Farm Caravan Park – we stayed here for a relaxing long August weekend. It’s walkable from the campsite to Sandilands and Huttoft beaches along a quiet little waterway. The site is lovely and quiet with good facilities. There are electric pitches available for tents, caravans and motorhomes.
• Jolly Common Caravan Park – an adult-only campsite within a couple of kilometres of the beach, featuring a fishing lake. It is a family-run campsite that has been welcoming visitors for nearly 60 years.
• Pear Tree Caravan and Camping – a small adult-only site with five caravan pitches and four tent pitches. It’s located a couple of kilometres inland from Huttoft Beach on a quiet country lane.

Are Huttoft and Moggs Eye Beach the same place?

This actually depends on who you ask! We’re not sure of the definitive answer, or even if there is one.

If you look on Google Maps, the two beaches appear to be separate, with Moggs Eye Beach sitting just below Huttoft Beach on the way down to Anderby Creek.

However, many sources describe the two beaches as alternative names for the same place. The Guardian article linked above, for example, cites “Moggs Eye (aka Huttoft Beach)”.

Whether they are the same beach or side-by-side beaches is essentially a bit of nitpicking. But if you’re a local or beach historian and happen to know the absolute answer to this, please do pipe up in the comments below!

Have you visited Huttoft / Moggs Eye Beach? We’d love to hear about your experiences. Please share any comments or questions below.

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