Overview

Set in beautiful countryside, with fantastic views. The trees in the Garden were all decorated. with fairy lights. Some of us took The Land Train down to main entrance of the Castle and some preferred to walk. You can hire a wheelchair free of charge, they also have seats you can carry around with you. The Disabled access is through the shop, but Staff are very willing and helpful, holding doors and pointing in the right direction.There is a Chair lift for access to The Rooms, (This can take 10mins so allow plenty of time) The House was beautifully decorated, they have a different theme each year, the theme this time is 'Christmas Masquerade' each room is decorated differently too. We were lucky to catch the Choir singing in the Long Gallery, this is always good for people living with dementia, we all joined in with the Carol singing. It is a tradition of ours to always have our photo taken in the Great Hall, beside the 25' Christmas Tree, with its 3000 baubles. There was a String Quartet playing there too, a lovely Christmas feeling. After looking around the Castle we headed for a cup of tea and mince pie before getting land train back to Car park.(it can get a bit cold waiting and whilst on land train, as it's open space and get a bit windy) There are plenty of disabled parking spaces, there is a chair lift in the house, disabled toilets on ground level and at the Court Yard Cafe

Transport & Parking

Plenty of spaces for parking and lots of disabled spaces. We drove there by car.

Access

From the Disabled car park to Ticket office all on one level, the surface is a bit bump in places. There is a land train (with a ramp) which takes you down to House, but it is only a short walk if someone was fit enough to push a wheelchair. (We have done this on previous visits) the disabled access is through the shop( the Ticket Desk advise you of this) Then there is a Chair lift up the stairs. Wheelchair users do have limited access but have plenty to see and do. The Staff keep you right on where to go with wheelchair.

Toilets

There are toilets as you come through the main gates, next to Court Yard Cafe, room for a Carer. All toilet are in the one area and well signed. There are more Toilets downstairs in the house next to The Restaurant, Disabled is on left hand side, there are 2 disabled toilets here and are well signed and room for a carer There are No toilets whilst going around the House, we had to come out and back down the stair lift. Staff were understanding and helped with a short cut out.

Staff

Staff on this occasion were very friendly and helpful, pointing us in the right direction and helping with quick exit for toilet. Very informative about the Rooms in The House, giving explanations when asked a question.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

On previous visits we have been able to book a table in The Court Yard Cafe, but were not able to do this time, and had to arrange to eat elsewhere. The house was lovely decorated and the views are lovely, it has a lovely Christmas feel, the Choir, the String Quartet and the glistening lights, the Christmas Tree. To see this all decorated is worth a visit. In the Summer the Gardens are beautiful too.

Photos