Sherborne Castle & Gardens — Attraction in Castleton

We visited Sherborne castle today and wanted to share our experience. On arrival you park on site which is free and get tickets from a little kiosk hub which is also a little gift shop. Although you can’t enter booth they guys are happy to show you everything and tell you prices. It’s a 10 minute walk up to castle and you can only be on a guided tour. At first we were a bit un keen at this idea as we like to wander freely and take time. However it was brilliant we were met by bill and JJ. Who were so friendly and knowledgeable. Your not rushed and tell you lots of history of the home. The tour is an hour and then you have free time in basement and kitchen would took a further 30 mins. I am disabled but able to walk at slow place and use stairs with rails. Only the first floor is fully accessible but they have a screen with a guide for rest of house. Each room has a blue seat you can use to have a rest. The grounds are part accessible for scooter and wheelchair although the most pretty part of garden and statues is not accessible due to very steep and narrow path. Some slopes are steep and my scooter didn’t get up so my caregiver had to push. Though we expected this as read accessibility guide on website. The cafe/restaurant is not on parkland it is next door in garden centre next to car park. Lovely big restaurant fully accessible and great menus and food. Pricey but expect this at garden centre. Overall we really enjoyed our trip it’s worth a visit the castle and house are beautiful. It’s a very quiet and peaceful place. For a Saturday on a beautiful sunny day it was empty. The staff are wonderful and friendly and helpful. Shout out to our tour guides Bill and JJ. It was his third day on job and he did brilliant! Wish him all the best! We will return to Sherborne in the future as...

I visited Sherbourne Castle last Saturday (10th August) with my husband and our two children (aged 10 and 14 years). Had a very enjoyable afternoon looking at the castle. In addition to it being a beautiful house it has historic connections with Sir Walter Raleigh, and the Digby family and later the Wingfield Digby family that were the owners since. All the staff we met were very pleasant and helpful. There are staff in each room as you go around the house and they are extremely knowledgeable. We spoke to them and they were able to fill us in on objects in the rooms, the building itself and put the house & the owners in to historical context. They did this all without it feeling that they were giving us a lecture! We learnt about Sir Walter Raleigh and how he fared during Elizabeth I's reign and later James I's when he was executed; Sir Everard Digby's connection (cousin) and the Gunpowder Plot he was involved in and executed for; and the English Civil War and which side the owners were on. We had tea & cake in the tearoom (the dairy with sections of Roman mosaic flooring underneath glass) overlooking a wedding reception. Unfortunately we didn't have time to look around all of the gardens; we just were able to walk down to the lake to look across to the ruins of Sherbourne Old Castle (English Heritage - we visited earlier that day so that we could see the old and new castles) and back to the new castle. Lovely photo opportunities. But we'll go back to walk around the gardens. All-in-all, a very enjoyable afternoon at a beautiful historic house that was made better by the friendliness and knowledge...

I attended the Country Fair for the first time with a mobility scooter. I've attended before but I could walk then! I've not been for many years because I was worried about how my mobility scooter would cope. But the weather was good so I gave it a go this year. Parking signs for the disabled parking were rather confusing with arrows that didn't make sense but, after asking two different people, I was directed to a field behind the stalls. There was even a place where you could hire mobility scooters if you didn't have your own. You do need to be confident with your scooter here as it was all on grass and quite bumpy. Lots of slopes and hills but the whole Fair was accessible with good ramps where needed. There was only one bit that my scooter couldn't cope with, but there was another way that was less steep. You just need to know your scooter's capability and plan ahead. I had a blast checking everything out. It rained a few times but the ground stayed firm thankfully. I'm not sure I'd want to risk going if the weather before the day had been wet and muddy. A brilliant show with lots to see, things to buy and shows to educate and make you laugh. Yummy food tents too! I loved seeing all the animals in all their finery. I even got to pat a few noses! £15 entry was ok I guess but I could find no information about discounts for carers. Luckily my friend had her own ticket anyway. With a few caveats re weather, ground and confident use of a mobility scooter I'd recommend this Country Fair wholeheartedly. I'm definitely going...