Markshall Estate — Local services in Braintree

I’m deeply disappointed with my recent experience at Markshall Estate and will not be returning after being a regular customer for three years and a member for one.

If I could give 0 stars for the dog park, I would.

This was our first — and last — visit to the dog park with our two dogs. Upon arrival, the customer service was almost non-existent. The blonde lady at the check-in counter seemed disinterested and unhelpful. When we asked where the dog park was, as it was our first visit, she vaguely gestured and said, “It’s just around on the right, you can’t miss it,” without bothering to show us on a map. With two gates nearby and no clear signage, it wasn’t immediately obvious which entrance to use.

What made the experience even worse was the complete lack of communication about the condition of the access point. There were no warnings or signs indicating just how waterlogged and boggy the entrance was. Despite wearing appropriate footwear, as recommended, we found ourselves struggling through deep mud — walking a good 12 feet around the most visible boggy area, only for my boots to still get stuck repeatedly. As someone with a knee injury, it took significant effort to free my feet and legs multiple times just to reach the dog park.

It’s shocking that Markshall made no effort to address this — no straw or matting to improve the path, and no notice to warn visitors. If we had known how unsafe the conditions were, we wouldn’t have booked.

Once inside the dog park, the disappointment continued. The so-called “dog activities” promoted on the website amounted to a couple of old tires, traffic cones, and a wooden bench — a poorly thought-out, cheap setup that felt thrown together with minimal effort.

Overall, this experience was unsafe, poorly managed, and far from what we expected. I had hoped for better from Markshall Estate, but sadly, I won’t...

We had a lovely time wondering round Marks Hall - we have been a few times in the past (pre children!) You can take a number of routes up to the lakes/ponds and various gardens and woods. At the admission area you can also purchase some fish food, which is worth doing to see the massive fish!

There are lots of areas to explore, and its well worth going up one side of the area and then zig zagging across on the other side - there is a memorial area at almost the furthest point and a woodland / nature play area (not too far from walled garden). Its not overly expensive, and even better if you have a gardeners world card (buy one get one free admission). If you are a speed walker then you'll probably get round the site pretty quick, but if your just going for a slow wonder and looking at the trees and nature your make much more of your trip.

On our visit we also visited the cafe / kitchen on way back, unfortunately our experience wasn't great - poor signage, long wait and didn't feel it was value for money. Not great when you have a couple of small people in tow..! If it wasn't for the experience at the cafe / kitchen I think it would...

We went here for a venue viewing for our wedding next year. Upon our arrival there were no clear signs. We were wondering for 5 mins and had dirty looks given to us by staff members! When we finally found someone we were told that they didn’t know we were booked! Off to a great start!

Throughout the viewing the lady didn’t seem to show much interest in our wedding or us as a couple. Taking phone calls and talking to other people whilst showing up around. Attention to detail was somewhat lacked throughout the viewing. The tables had glasses missing and the girls that gave us odd looks at the beginning were smashing into things whilst setting the room up!

When we were viewing the main room (where the meal takes place) the lady offered the workers a drink but not us! And we were going to potentially be paying for our wedding to be held here!

And to top it all off the lady left us waiting and wasn’t going to say goodbye! In the end we had to say that we were going...

Overall the experience was awful. We were expecting so much more! We were both very...