Beautiful estate with good wheelchair access but hilly
4
4
Date of visit: March 2026
I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: accessing toilets, dexterity or coordination and moving around.
I use or have experience of: assistance dog, disabled toilet, wheelchair
Overall Rating
Good
We spent a morning here whilst on holiday. The castle doesn't open until later in March but the gardens, cafe, visitor centre and estate are all open. For National Trust members, everything is free. We did the 1.5km accessible walk, and then looked around the gardens before having lunch in the cafe.
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
Getting into the visitor centre and cafe was okay. They have a ramp, which is a gentle gradient but then double doors with no automatic opener. I found these difficult to open from my mountain trike. The 1.5km accessible circular walk is lovely and the path is good. It is mostly up hill towards the farm and quite steep in places. The return route is downhill though, and through a beautiful wooded area. The gardens are all gravel paths and are hilly in places. They are beautiful and worth a look.
Accessible facilities: Step-free entrance
Parking & Transport
Good
I travelled to this place by personal vehicle
There is a large car park onsite with some dedicated blue badge parking. These spaces aren't any wider than the normal spaces though and they weren't well marked. When we came out they were mostly full of cars with no blue badge. I suspect they didn't see the faded signs on the dirt surface.
Accessible facilities: Dedicated on-site parking
Accessible Toilets
Good
There are two accessible toilets, one in the cafe and one near the castle. I only used the one in the cafe. It was clean and was okay. With my mountain trike, it was a little tight for space.
Facilities: Accessible toilet
Staff
Good
Most of the staff were really helpful and friendly. We met a couple of chaps that confirmed we were on the right path for our walk. One of them was asking me how I was finding the path, so they are obviously keen to get user feedback. My only negative was the cafe staff. They helpfully provide calorie info on the menu board. We ordered jacket potatoes but didn't really want to consume 900+ calories just for lunch, so ordered a child's portion (approx 300 cals). While we waited for it to be served, we were trying to work out how we had spend so much on two small potatoes and a drink. They had charged us full price. They offered to refund the difference but it was more the fact that they had no concept of a wheelchair user managing their weight that frustrated me a little.
