Overview

Felbrigg hall gardens and estate is owned by the national trust . It is a short drive from Cromer in the village of Felbrigg. Before deciding to visit this property I contacted a number of others in the area to check on opening times and accessibility. As according to the website you are best to contact each venue direct check this information. Unfortunately many were not open in April on the day we wanted to visit or were not wheelchair accessible. Felbrigg hall was one that was open and had wheelchair access. Getting from the car park which had a few blue badge spaces wasn’t easy as it’s gravel until you are almost at the entrance to the property. It’s not deep gravel so I was able to pick my way through and find a suitable path. Entry to the house is level there are some slight slopes and access to all the rooms downstairs was good staff were on hand to answer any questions and explain about items in the various rooms. I wasn’t able to get upstairs as there is no lift but they do provide a video of the upstairs rooms complete with commentary about each room. To view this you go to a separate room near the exit. Unfortunately it was a wet day when we visited and we couldn’t go to see the gardens we could only see the ones directly by the entrance to the house. There is a nice gift shop as well as a second hand book shop both accessible as is the cafe which served a mixture of hot and cold food as well as hot and cold drinks and cakes. The cafe has a flagstone floor and I was able to get around easily on this there were plenty of tables in the cafe and we were able to find a suitable one for me to sit at in my wheelchair, we would visit again if in the area.

Transport & Parking

There are a few disabled spaces in the car park but this is a gravel area although not deep gravel and I was able to pick my way through the well trodden parts to get to the pathway that leads to the house .

Access

Apart from the car park access was good there area few slight slopes to access the cafe, shop etc and inside was easy to get around with ample space for a wheelchair in the main rooms although a couple down a corridor wouldn’t have been easy as the walk through was quite narrow but each of these rooms had a slope up into them . I tended to miss these out as they were mostly storage rooms that showed how items were stored at the time . It was certainly a good idea to have a video of the upstairs rooms given there is no way to access this area. My family and friends went up to see the rooms while I watched the video.

Toilets

Staff

Staff were on hand in the rooms to answer questions and tell you about exits in the rooms, the staff we came across were knowledgeable and helpful

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Something for the national trust to consider is perhaps having other videos of upstairs rooms that are not accessible for disabled guests and set this up inside one of the rooms. Thus making properties more inclusive. This is the first national trust property we’ve come across that provided a video tour of rooms that were not accessible to disabled visitors . Although we have visited other types of places of interest that also do this . And it certainly makes you feel included.