The best UK gardens and their accessibility

As the sun starts to show its face and the flora blooms brightly, what better way to take advantage than by visiting some of the UK’s beautiful gardens and really taking in the beauty of nature all around us?

For those with limited mobility, the thought of visiting a public attraction might be quite daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. In this guide, we take you through some of the best gardens in the UK and how they have tailored their sites to be accessible to all. Keep reading for more information and some quotes from the sites themselves.   

Best accessible gardens in the UK:

• Kew Gardens
• Waddesdon
• Trentham
• Hestercombe Gardens

Kew Gardens, Richmond

Dating back to 1759, Kew Gardens was founded by Princess Augusta, mother of King George III, when she founded a nine-acre botanic garden on the site we still see today. The large glass palm house was completed in 1848 and still remains one of the iconic symbols of Kew Gardens, housing tropical plants from across the globe as it has done for hundreds of years.

Today’s site has a collection of over 50,000 living plants and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Kew has so much to offer, including a Japanese garden, grass garden, arboretum, the Davies Alpine House and the Great Pagoda, to name just a few.

Accessibility at Kew is incredibly important, and subsequently, they offer essential carers, personal assistants, support workers and next of kin accompanying disabled visitors, registered blind and partially-sighted visitors free entry to the site. Care and attention have been taken to make the paths as accessible as possible, and the garden is largely flat so those in wheelchairs and with mobility aids can get around easily. Accessible parking and toilets can be found on-site and mobility scooters and wheelchairs can be borrowed on a first-come, first-served basis at the entry gates.

We spoke to Billy Mayger, Head of Visitor Operations at Kew Gardens who offered some first-hand insight into the gardens and their accessibility: “Kew Gardens, a 320-acre UNESCO World Heritage Site, offers an incredible day out for everyone. The Gardens are largely flat, with tarmac paths offering accessible access around one of the most diverse collections of living plants of any botanic garden in the world. Whether exploring the vast collection of 12,000 trees in Kew’s Arboretum or marvelling at the botanical art collections in our galleries, there’s so much to discover. Kew’s historic Temperate House is fully accessible by both wheelchair and mobility scooter. Mobility scooters are available to hire (book in advance) from the main visitor gates, and some wheelchairs are also available to borrow.”

Waddesdon, Aylesbury 

Built by inheritance in 1874 by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, Waddesdon Manor and Gardens are one of the finest examples of a fine English estate in the UK. Today, the beauty and charm that was built and once enjoyed by the Rothschild family can now be explored by the public.

A fine example of Victorian horticulture, the gardens were finished at the end of the 19^th century and are made up of formal gardens, historic trees and pleasant walks. Visitors to the gardens can enjoy many attractions, including the aviary garden, water garden, woodland playground and parterre and carpet bedding area.

For those looking for accessibility information for Waddesdon, you’ll be pleased to hear that there is a free shuttle bus that runs from the parking areas to the house and gardens and is free for Blue Badge holders and their carers. Disabled parking and accessible toilets can be found on-site, and indoor and outdoor wheelchairs can be hired on-site.

Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent

Covering 725 acres, Trentham was originally a priory site but the first house was built in 1599 on the old ruins, although the Elizabethan-style house that can be seen today was built in 1633.

The English gardens were designed by Charles Bridgeman with many of his signature features still visible today, including the deer lawns and boating lake. Trentham is known for its giant surviving trees from Lime Avenue in the West and North Parks, and visitors can even have a go at guessing the ages of these giant species.

Accessibility at Trentham is paramount, and the gardens are geared towards all visitors. The site offers free entry for companions on both day tickets and memberships, free accessible car parking spaces, accessible changing facilities, a fully accessible pathway around Trentham Gardens and the lakeside walk and free wheelchair hire available at the garden entrance.

Hestercombe Gardens, Taunton

Image credit: Hestercombe Gardens

A house is thought to have stood at Hestercombe since 1280, but since then has been greatly embellished and expanded until its final transformation in 1904.

Coplestone Warre Bampfylde designed and laid out the accompanying Landscape Garden after inheriting the estate from his father in 1750. Spanning over 50 acres, Hestercombe sits pretty in the Somerset countryside near Taunton. A vibrant mixture of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian influences, the garden is a metropolis of flora and visitors can meander through the terrace walk that leads to the Chinese Seat and the Valley of Cascades, take in the beauty of the eighteenth-century Octagon Summerhouse or take a look at the Victorian Shrubbery

Accessibility at Hestercombe is something has been deeply considered, and we spoke to the team, who explained a little more about what they offer visitors with mobility concerns: “At Hestercombe, we very much welcome people with disabilities and their assistance dogs to our gardens. Although Hestercombe is a historic estate, we have made adaptations to make it accessible within the limitations of a listed building and grounds. We have marked out an accessibility route on our guide map which is suitable for wheelchairs and mobility scooters, and we have a four-wheel all-terrain 'tramper' mobility scooter available for hire, which we ask visitors to pre-book in advance.”

READ MORE: Garden activities for Grandchildren

If you’re looking for a garden to visit during the summer months, then hopefully, this guide has given you a little inspiration on some of the best locations that visit that are accessible to all types of visitors.

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