Overview

Despite living in another part of Cornwall, we'd never heard of Bonython before. We discovered it while staying on holiday nearby. We weren't expecting too much and only left ourselves an hour or two to look round. But it's bigger than we realised. And beautiful! Unfortunately the access is not great in some places. From the disabled parking is a concrete path (worn and cracked so quite bumpy) followed by a gravel path (also bumpy). By this point I was starting to think this was a bad idea! But through the entrance gate (a bit of a bump on the threshold) there's fine grit paths which are comfortable and smooth. And the garden was just lovely! Past the first gardens is an area with lots of raised beds. However this area is accessed by either several steps or going over some grass to get back to the path. The grass was dry and not horrendously bumpy, but getting down off the grass and onto the path without damaging the lawn edge with my heavy power chair was not easy. There could have been a bit more thought put into wheelchair access. Once on the path it's back to smooth grit. After that it leads to the grounds (a few cobbles to cross). A grass slope leads past the little café hut through apple trees down to a really pretty lake. Might be easily manageable in a tramper or sturdy mobility scooter. Nevertheless I attempted it in my power chair and got on OK. We bumped our way around part of the lake, then continued round the route through the grounds. Close to the second lake my wheelchair got briefly stuck! Admittedly partly poor driving! Once free we turned back, partly because it was getting a bit dicey accessibility wise and partly we'd run out of time. We went back a different way, over more grass. All in all, a beautiful garden that I would go back to. It was worth being bumped around to enjoy the garden. However, accessibility is not great in places and it would be nice if they could address some of the issues to make it more comfortable and enjoyable for wheelchair users.

Transport & Parking

The disabled parking area is closer to the entrance than the rest of the parking. The surface is gravel. There were several spaces which I imagine is ample for the number of visitors.

Access

Some of it is fine (smooth grit paths were nice). Some of it was challenging (having to go on the grass).

Toilets

We didn't use the disabled toilet but checked it out. It seems to have a decent amount of rails etc. But isn't very big.

Staff

My Dad spoke to the head gardener to get advice about the best accessible route. He was extremely helpful.

Photos