Walled gardens and cafe
2.5
2.5
Date of visit: August 2023
I have experience of challenges around: hearing and moving around.
Overall Rating
Average
Lovely walled gardens, friendly and helpful staff. Poor signage, difficult access to toilet, uneven gravel paths. Very small cafe. Access to castle possible for wheelchairs if you ask for a ramp to be put in place at a side door.
Disabled Access In and Around
Average
The disabled route to the entrance is not clear as there are no signs. If you are in a wheelchair you have to access the castle using the road. There is no footpath. The direct path from the carpark to the entrance has three or four steps. There are no seats until you reach the castle courtyard (approx 20metres). There is a step to access the ground floor entrance and if you use a wheelchair you have to request a ramp and enter via another door. The ground floor, cafe and shop are wheelchair accessible but we did not use the cafe as it was full - only a few tables. We visited the Walled gardens where there is disabled parking but again the signage was poor. The gate to enter the gardens was heavy and difficult to hold open if pushing a wheelchair. Inside the walled garden, the paths are either gravel or grass. The grass was ok to push a wheelchair on because it was dry. The gravel paths were not accessible because the gravel was very deep.
Parking & Transport
Excellent
We arrived by car and there were lots of blue badge parking spaces available. The carpark is on a slight slope.
Accessible Toilets
Average
Very difficult to find due to lack of signage. Had to ask where it was. Difficult to access with a wheelchair as the flags leading to it were uneven and included a large concrete slab which was raised about 2cm above the others. There was also a couple of wheelie bins on the access path. The hand dryer was too far from the grab rail so it was not possible to dry hands and hold on at the same time. It was clean and there was space for a wheelchair and another person.
Staff
Excellent
All the staff were friendly and helpful but were limited by the restrictions of the building and facilities. I spoke with the manager who said that upgrading the accessibility of the site was on the list of things to do.
