Nature & History at Ripley Castle Estate Gardens & Grounds

Approximate Duration: 3 hours

About

The Walled Gardens are a pleasure to visit at any time of year. The huge range of hot houses contain a highly impressive collection of tropical plants, ferns and cacti. Ancient wisteria and clematis thrive on the high south-facing walls.

The Walled Kitchen Garden contains rare apple trees, an extensive herb bed and an interesting collection of vegetables and herbs used when possible at The Boar’s Head pub, the Tearooms & Grindhus.

The woodlands contain a collection of specimen trees from around the world. In the spring, the gardens have thousands of spring flowering bulbs, daffodils, narcissi, snowdrops, aconites and bluebells.

No visit to Ripley Castle would be complete without a stroll into our deer park. Some of the oak trees are over a thousand years old, and they still look magnificent with their impressive girth and gnarled branches. You will see plenty of wildlife on your way round the deer park: fallow deer, rabbits, squirrels, heron, canada and greylag geese, mallard, teal and wigeon, pheasants, woodpeckers and, if you are very lucky, a kingfisher as it flashes past.

The Park Walk takes you round the Castle’s large ornamental lake, across the waterfall and into the deer park itself.

Accessibility

The Castle terrace is surfaced with gravel: not ideal for wheelchairs, but it is reasonably manageable. The gardens and grounds are reasonably level and a good network of stone paths ensure you can access most areas on the estate. The majority of the hothouses in the Gardens are not currently accessible, but you can pass through the Palm House to get to the Grounds. The Park walk around the lake is not recommended for wheelchair users.

Dogs

Dogs are welcome in the Castle Gardens & Grounds. Please note we sadly cannot allow dogs in the Deer Park or Showfield due to livestock.

Parking

Parking charges apply. Please pay at the machines in the car parks. Please note, as our car parks are camera controlled, parking charges do apply to blue badge holders.