A challenging visit but great staff
3
3
Date of visit: September 2026
I am a carer or friend of a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets, hearing and moving around.
I use or have experience of: changing places toilet, disabled toilet, hearing aid or cochlear implant, walking aid, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Average
Lovely gardens. Average rating is generous because they've probably done their best with a historic site. This review is of gardens and castle courtyard only - not the actual castle.
Disabled Access In and Around
Poor
Again two separate areas. Steep ramp to garden which was challenging to descend. Garden paths are gravel of varying thicknesses, some compacted enough to wheel on with only average difficulty. There were seats on the walled garden but in busy times there should probably be more. The millennium garden is accessed by ramp from the walled garden. I didn't see any seats in it and at that level the pattern of the design was not obvious. We did not go into the cafe at the gardens but there was a ramp to it. At the castle, once out of the car park, there was enough tarmac and slabs to make wheeling easy. The cafe has a ramp to it. The gift shop has level entry though a tricky bit of gravel between the slabs and the door. The toilet was also on the level.
Accessible facilities: Step-free entrance, Seating at regular intervals
Parking & Transport
Poor
I travelled to this place by personal vehicle
There are two completely separate areas for the garden and for the castle. The parking at the gardens is gravel but thin and fairly easy to wheel on. It was very surprising that there seemed to be only two Blue Badge spaces. At the castle, the website had warned the car park was gravel but I didn't expect it to be in the middle of a wood! There was no path as such to the castle, cafe and gift shop - just a route through the trees on gravel covered with leaves. See picture. No obvious blue badge spaces.
Accessible facilities: Dedicated on-site parking
Accessible Toilets
Average
I've only given average instead of poor because the toilet at the castle is much easier to access than that at the gardens. Access at the gardens was very difficult. The door from the car park opens inwards and the disabled toilet door (opening inwards) is immediately on the right. Just ahead of the outside door are some steps. This means that if you are pushing a chair you can't move it far forward, so a helpful member of the public has to hold the doors open for you. Access at the castle courtyard was much easier as can be seen from the picture. Both toilets had a drop down rail and a horizontal wall rail as well as red cords.
Facilities: Red Cord Card, Accessible toilet
Staff
Excellent
I can't praise the staff enough. Carol at the gardens carefully explained the condition of the gravel and how likely (or not) it was that we'd be able to wheel through the gardens, citing her own experience of helping with a chair. She also checked up on how we had got on when we left and showed me on a map how I could drive to the castle as it was too far to push. Dawn in the gift shop also fully understood and empathised with pushing a chair on gravel. Several times, she offered to help me push the chair on the nearby ramp. Yet again we had excellent support from Grace in the cafe. We had decided to have our drinks outside and concerned we would be cold, she too offered to help me push the chair up the ramp - again several times. Three excellent ladies! Please pass on my comments to them.
Additional Information
The castle website has a very detailed and helpful accessibility statement (only neglecting to say the car park is in a wood!) One addition that might help is a picture of the toilets showing where the grips are. About a year ago, I contacted the email given to ask about the position of the grips and was helpfully sent a picture. Sorry can't remember the lady's name. (On that occasion illness meant we could not go on our holiday.)
