Overview

I was interested to visit because of the links to Colonialism, but there could have been more information about this. Because I couldn't go upstairs I have no information about that. I felt there was not that much to see, apart from some interesting furniture, paintings and lovely stained glass, but a lot of the rooms were roped off with only a passage through them, and very low light levels. Could have done with chairs placed near the information, but I didn't see much to read, and the room with portraits was roped off, and with my poor eyesight I couldn't get near enough to really look at paintings. Cafe OK, and nice little shop. I was glad I had been, but am unlikely to return.

Transport & Parking

Drove, and there is disabled parking, but there are slopes even from there, so a bit tricky if you're using wheels. It's very easy to miss the turn off, as it is right by the junction coming off the main road, and signage not easy to see.

Access

I studied the Access statement provided on the website, but while helpful to some degree it missed out a few things, and there were no photographs, which would have helped. We went up in the buggy, but it would have been far better for me to be driven up in our car, which is the way I came back down. The buggy was very high, because it is bumpy and twisty to go up that way. There were two extra steps provided. I got up them OK but had to be lifted down, so I was tremulous when we arrived at the front door. There was not one but two ramps into the building. The ground floor is level and some kitchen chairs were dotted around. A few thresholds to watch out for, and light levels were very low. The video to show the upstairs was not yet available (work in progress). On exit from the cafe, there was a high threshold, then on to cobbles. From the band of cobbles, a slope down through an arch to arrive at a bench where my husband could pick me up in our car, in which I felt much safer than the buggy. We didn't attempt the gardens because it was a cold spring day, but a drive around the grounds would be a nice way to see the grounds, though this was not suggested to us nor in the access statement.

Toilets

Two accessible toilets. Only used one of them, near car park. Up a slope, then a ramp. Clean but basic. No changing rooms ones. Easy to find, right near visitor centre. Other one is down a long ramp near the cafe at the back of the castle.

Staff

The staff were wonderful, especially the buggy driver, who had to lift me down with my husband on the other side. Because I had found the high buggy so scary, despite the two extra steps provided, that were carried on the back, Roger told us that he would come back for my husband when we were ready to go, and show him the way back with the car, which was much easier. I wish we had gone up that way too, but we didn't know.