Lanhydrock House and Garden — Attraction in Lanhydrock

Eight months ago we visited here and gave it a 5-Star review. In that review we said “The extensive grounds surrounding the main house and gardens are free to visit and have extensive bike and walking trails to explore. The house itself is well worth a visit too, with a single ticket covering the house and gardens. We found the whole experience great value for money which is something not too often found in Cornwall, and I speak as local not a visitor.” We finished that review by saying “we spent so much time in the interesting house and immediate gardens we didn't get time to explore the larger gardens” and we promised ourselves a return trip. Today we fulfilled that promise. Yes the gardens were excellent but lacking many blooms but that’s just nature. The house however was a crushing disappointment. My son visited some days earlier on our recommendation but he said he wasn’t impressed which confused us a little. He did mention restoration work was underway, so before making the journey today we checked the website to see what parts of the house were open. The website explains about the Long Gallery ceiling conservation work being carried out and that the furniture and items from this area are moved away from the conservation work for protection and displayed on racking throughout the mansion route. What it doesn’t mention is that this totally spoils the main house feel. The house currently resembles a store room. There is no feel of this ever being the Victorian family home we knew and loved. I am sure in future when the conservation is finished it may return to the place that was well worth visiting but for now, it’s only a sad shadow of what it was but even worse, they are still charging the same entrance fee to see what is in my opinion, a store room. So at present, it is not...

This is quite a property - National Trust managed. Parking for motorhomes alongside the coach parking, no height barriers. £1.50 ph or £6 the day - free to members. Short walk to reception, then a 10 min down hill walk to the house. Buggy transport available (suggested donation £1). This is a huge property, so allow at least a couple of hours. We had nearly 4 hrs wandering, house, church and gardens. Now springtime, the magnolias and rhododendrons are spectacular. We've missed the best of the daffodils. There's a small bag policy - if too big, bags must be left at the bag lockers when going round the house. The kitchen and nursery rooms are huge, very interesting and full. There's a children's play room with chess, jigsaws etc. Currently the 'ceiling tour' takes you up into the most amazing views of the long hall ceiling. Walking along scaffolding platforms you find yourself within reach of the most interesting art work. This alone was worth the visit. Furniture can still be seen, albeit stacked in cabinets and displayed on shelves. The church is situated alongside the house, and worth visiting. The gardens are a must. I found myself looking up the family history on the Internet, realizing that I hadn't really been shown as much as I would have liked round the house. We took the buggy back up ... well worth a visit, plenty to see inside on a rubbish day, and lots of hard paths if a bit...

A beautiful house, with a cafe, bookshop and gardens to wander around. Some fabulous kitchen rooms to wander around,(ground floor) really immersive experience- and several bedrooms to see(steep stairs ) A real sense of history was expressed and the staff on site were fabulous with questions, all brilliant, knowledgeable and super friendly - perfect representatives of the National Trust. There is a church (has lots of steps up to access) small, clean but beautifully kept. The grounds are stunning. A mix of formal and gentle planting, with fields and loads of dog walking/running fields everywhere. There are gravel paths all the way through the gardens and grounds making it easy to access. This day out took 3 hours to complete, but given there are walks and bike rides on the way into the grounds from the main carpark (completely different place to the disabled carpark) if you wanted to hire bikes and roam the upper sites you could spend the entire day here. There is a cafe opposite the bike hire and another near the house. Plenty of clean toilets are available and a bag room to leave heavy bags before exploring the house. This site has a buggy cart that runs between the house entrance and the top site constantly because the walk is arduous and in the heat, very taxing! Overall, a wonderful day out and very...