Chester House Estate — Local services in Irchester

What has happened Chester House? I have been an avid supporter visiting the site for all occasions Easter and Halloween being my favourites but the past 12 month events have been a real shame.

Today I attended the Christmas event and we booked Curling expecting a festive family fun time at a reasonable price. The booking I had stated 10:30- 12 and I have the booking reference evidence for this. Upon arrival it wasn’t clear who we needed to sign in with or any information we were told someone would come over to show us. They never did. We had someone arrive to tell us we needed to get off at 11:30 despite the booking and my screen shot due to the next people arriving at 12… which made no sense. Most of the curling stones had missing ball bearings to help make them move and they kept falling out. But the most disappointing part was the service.

We decided to pop next door to get a hot chocolate and were told we needed to go to the farm house as they didn’t have any hot chocolate and oat milk. We were greeted in the farmhouse cafe by the worst customer service by one individual. Firstly told we could have a table unless we were eating, then asked WHY we were there if we wanted a hot chocolate, the rudeness didn’t end there as the woman stated “ this is ridiculous “ and stormed out with her oat milk in hand to give to the other cafe. A series of events occurred after this including being given the wrong drinks, given normal milk instead of oat milk ( caution if you have allergies !!!) told we weren’t being served hot chocolate and to go back to the other cafe the whole experience at The farmhouse cafe was a very frosty feel. We left with our drinks and stood in the rain as despite tables inside your not welcome unless you buy food. ( if we hadn’t of had a frosty welcome we probably would have !! Staff seemed disorganised and unhelpful, which made for a frustrating experience.

The event was advertised as having a festive theme, but the atmosphere fell far short of what was promised. There was little effort to create a festive environment, and it felt more like an ordinary event with no seasonal or thematic decorations. The market sheds had no garlands or fairy lights. There was no music playing. Minimal shops open. No staff around to greet like previous events. The ice skating looked dismal.

Overall, I left the event feeling very dissatisfied. I hope the organizers take these points into consideration for future events, especially when it comes to customer service this is not the Chester House experience I’ve had many times last year.

What’s more disappointing is I went to see the reviews on Facebook to see if others had reflected my feelings only to find I had been blocked. I posted some negative feedback earlier this year and clearly Chester House social media team deleted it! I checked with others who have also been blocked off the page too,...

If you’re thinking of holding an event here, I would save your money and book elsewhere. I organised a baby shower to be held in the Threshing Barn in February for my sister in law. We had our original tour with a member of the events team at the beginning of the year. She advised that the afternoon tea included hot drinks but if we wanted further drinks, then we could hire out the bar adjacent to the room. The room hire was confirmed to be £175.00 and I paid a £60.00 deposit on the day of the booking. I arrived on the day of the baby shower just after 1pm and was a bit disappointed to see the food already on the table. Guests were not due to arrive until 2.30 and afternoon was supposed to be served at 3pm. That is a considerable amount of time for the food to be sitting out. It was no surprise that the comments about the food were that the sandwich’s were stale and pretty much most of them were left uneaten. We had also agreed for the scotch eggs to be replaced with chicken goujons which also hadn’t been done and the cream and jam for the scones were not on the table and had to be asked for. With the hot drinks, I had to ask 3 separate times for the water to be replaced. I did find that the staff on the day were not accommodating when it came to topping up the tea and coffee or checking to see if there was anything we needed. The room itself is lovely but it was absolutely freezing in there. The bar was extremely warm but it seemed that there was no heating in the main room or it had gone off. The majority of the guests had to sit the entire time with a coat on and they even left early because of this. This is also another reason why the water needed to be replaced regularly as it was getting cold quickly. If we had been told that the room is susceptible to the cold, we would’ve chosen a different room or at least a different venue. It really did put a downer on the event. When it came to payment, the afternoon tea was paid in full along with the table cloth hire (£455.00) It was also disappointing that we were not informed of the table cloth hire until the week before the event. There was no mention of an additional fee on the tour of the venue and we felt we had no choice but to use them. Payment for the balance of the room hire should have been £115.00. However we were asked to pay £140.00 but there was no explanation as to what the additional amount was for. Overall experience was not a nice one with the food being stale and the room being extremely cold. I did feel that my sister in law did not have the baby shower she expected because of this. I have tried to resolve this with the general manager however it’s been 6 weeks and it’s still ongoing. Save your money, time and energy. Not...

Went to Chester House Estate today and had a lovely time. From wandering through the vintage shop just nest the Chester Farm Tractor, walking through the building to the farm shop and the florist/plant shop, before grabbing a hot beverage and some food from the outdoor bar and exploring the gift shop and bottle shop. We spent time checking out the museum and had a great time learning about the local area, history and extensive Archaeological exploration and excavations done on the farm. Very interesting an a great place to Visit. Loved the zero waste refillable options in the farm shop and a whole host of local foods and beverages.

This would be a great venue for weddings and other events as the Threshing Barn would be a fantastic place to host en event. The Threshing Barn is a stunning building with a small bar on the side with access to toilets and the main farm courtyard. The courtyard itself would add a festive flair for an evening event in the summer months too.

If you are travelling with people with disabilities there is a lesser known entrance, closer to the farm itself, that you can enter with a large close car park there that you can park in. The museum has lift access and the whole place seems to be fairly well thought out for people with disabilities. However the florist/plantshop and one Entrance to the Farm shop might not be accessible for all.

Overall, It was a lovely place to explore. Would...