Exploring :: Wentworth Castle Gardens

Hi there everyone 😀

It was time to head for home following our weekend in Yorkshire and, rather than have a Premier Inn breakfast, we decided to head off and stop somewhere on the way. The weather forecast was good and Wentworth Castle Gardens was another National Trust property we’d not visited before and it didn’t take us very much out of our way at all. 

I called them on the way to see if they had a mobility scooter that Martin can use and they did, which worked out brilliantly as there was more walking than we would have expected … but we wanted to see everything. 

Whilst the property is not far off of the motorway it is in a lovely spot and tucked well away from the main drag … there were even signs along the entrance driveway telling you to keep going … and that you were nearly there. 

We arrived about 12.30pm and our first stop was the cafe for lunch. The sun had come out and it was nice enough to sit and eat outside on the terrace …

It was a lovely spot looking out over the wider parkland …

Once we’d finished lunch we started to explore the gardens. Our route took us through the John Arnold garden …

… and past Wentworth Castle, which is used as a college and has no public access …

It was as we passed the ‘ha-ha’ that we got our first real view of the rhododendrons, which were looking spectacular …

We wandered past the Corinthian temple, heading for the Victorian conservatory …

It was full of all kinds of exotics …

From the conservatory we headed through the Union Jack Garden and up to the Victorian flower garden where there were amazing views down through the Rhodys …  

We carried on upwards … passing the Earl’s Seat, with this as his view …

… and Archer’s Hill Gate …

The Rhodys up by the sun monument were fabulous …

… as were the views looking back down the centre of the garden …

Looking towards the top of the garden we got our first glimpse of Stainborough Castle … which is basically an 18th century mock castle with views for miles around …

We hadn’t initially thought we would be up for walking as far as the castle but our first glimpse had intrigued us and having come this far we couldn’t resist …

It was a really lovely spot, right at the top of the garden …

There were some great views over the gardens and wider parkland …

We walked around the outside of the castle …

… before starting to make our way back down … passing the shrubbery … which made us chuckle … not long having been to see Spam-a-Lot 😂😂😂 …

… and passing through Lady Lucy’s Walk … bringing us back down to the back of the conservatory. 

It is only now, as I am writing this post, that I’ve realised we missed the azalea garden, which I’m sure would have been stunning as our azaleas at home are in full bloom 😞. 

We headed back towards the cafe, where we had a quick ice cream … before making our way back to the garden entrance and home. 

It really is a lovely garden and it’s not expensive to visit at all, if not a member of the National Trust. It’s only £5.50 per adult and I would say it’s definitely worth it. As well as the more formal gardens, which only take up a fraction of the whole site, there are acres and acres of parkland … with walks, monuments and woods to explore. There are loads of lovely picnic spots too. 

We spent about three hours exploring the gardens and having lunch but it would very easy to spend a full day and there is a great play area for children too. 

Definitely somewhere we would recommend and would love to visit again when we are next back up that way 😀

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