We recently stumbled across this fabulous place. Whilst its official name is Mannington, we thought it was actually Narnia (the chapel ruins anyway). These chapel gardens were magical and a beautiful addition for curious little explorers! Just beware that you’re not allowed to enter the chapel itself but you can open the door to peep inside.
The Hall and formal gardens are currently closed, but there is a lovely family-friendly walk the incorporates the chapel ruins (a short stretch on a very quiet road), round the field with lovely views of the hall, some cracking trees, and looping back to the boardwalk. The boardwalk features a bird hide with views over a beautiful pond and loops back round to the hall. Definitely a welly walk in winter – there were a few stiles to contend with on our route and the ground was boggy in places, so not one for pushchairs. However, there is an accessible stretch of boardwalk from the car park to the bird hide/pond. The boardwalk is slippery so stick to the middle bits which have a non-slip surface!
🌿 Start point/Parking: NR11 7BB (Satnavs will take you to the private hall entrance so use the map for the public car park); what3words: ///quicksand.scripted.wolves
🌿 Length of walk: 1.3 miles
🌿 Accessibility: Accessible stretch from the car park to bird hide along the boardwalk. The chapel grounds are also reached from the quiet road – no obstacles but are leafy soft woodland surfaces. But the whole loop we did is not accessible for buggies
🌿 Toilets/baby change: Yes – at the visitor hut (basic baby change table but does the job!)
🌿 Seating: Yes
🌿 Picnic area: No
🌿 Play area: Yes, children’s garden and playground (closed until Easter)
🌿 Food & drink: From Easter 2021, refreshments will be available in the tea rooms during garden opening hours
🌿 Dogs: Dogs on leads welcomed
🌿 Opening times: Dawn til dusk
🌿 Entrance fee: £2 – honesty box at the visitor hut
🌿 Payment type: Honesty box – cash
🌿 Website: https://www.manningtongardens.co.uk/
🌿 Other: Bird hide offered lovely views of bird feeding. A lovely place, even in the bleak mid-winter
