Taking extra kids tents/gazebos to camp sites

[SUPsUP]

A possibly idiots question…

We camp once a year at a site organised by our youth group, and the group books a big area of a very spacious site that’s very off grid - so the whole point is people don’t leave to go to the pub for dinner if the weather’s crap, we all stay on site for the duration. It’s very sociable and fun, and most people bring pretty big tents but also additional tents for older children and gazebos for cooking and eating etc If it’s raining everyone squishes in with neighbours under the gazebos and plays games etc, the kids do sleepovers in each others tents and it’s safe to say nobody packs light!

But am looking to branch out and try some
other sites next year - presumably as a family of four we can’t rock up to a standard site with a tent + awning + teens tent + gazebo, So how does it work? Do I need to book two pitches side by side?
Anyone else pitch a small village when camping?

Most campsites either ask you to pay per item or specify the maximum dimensions of your pitch. We always have a large tent, an awning and a gazebo. Usually we have to pay for a large pitch and the awning is extra.

Sites that are wilder and back to basics, have a ‘pitch where you like’ / no set pitched policy and charge per person usually have no issue with gazebos, pup tents etc.

Lots in Sussex and Kent. Look at Bedgebury for example. Or Kingsdown.

Search PitchUp for ‘wild style’ or ‘back to basics’ etc ‘ Allows campfires’ often includes these sites too.

Sites with pitches in rows , EHU and price per pitch: avoid for your purposes.

Depends where you are. On Shell Island for example near Barmouth in North Wales, you can take up as much room as you like as you pay per person not for a pitch, as long as you don't pitch too near anyone else.
No ehu available and no caravans allowed.
I remember being there one year and one officious little twerp set up a whole village taking up almost all one of the fields and marking out his territory with various items of camping equipment. Then he got his chainsaw out and started chopping his trailer full of wood. His camping buddies arrived, saw what he'd done and promptly took themselves off to the other end of the island. I think he was thrown off site shortly after for the chainsaw😂
It's a beautiful place and I haven't been for many years but I wouldn't go at the weekend, especially in the school holidays.

You need to check each sites rules. Some will allow a gazebo included with a tent, some a pup tent, some both, some nothing! Many will charge extra for bringing more things (even though they are all on the same pitch) and some are very strict about one tent only.

You can filter for pup tent/gazebo/awning allowed or included on Pitchup which is useful. We’ve just been to a site which includes 1 pup tent per pitch- and I seem to remember they let us have 2 last year plus an awning.
If in doubt I’d email the site direct and explain what you need.

Agree with this - the more regimented ones often won't allow extra tents and some won't allow gazebos at all, so look for sites with open space and a 'pitch where you like' policy. Don't know England that well, but there are a couple of great Scottish sites like that, such as Fidden Farm on Mull (handy for Iona), and Sands Camping at Gairloch, Wester Ross.
However the wind at both these sites might send a gazebo into orbit unless it is very well lashed down...

At least in Europe, the no pup tents is to guarantee that there is enough space between tents in case there's a fire. Places where it is allowed often specify minimum distances between tents. The UK seems to be more lax about such things