After seeing beautiful pictures and reading great reviews of places like Sheffield Park and Gardens we spent a year ummming and ahhhing and then a few months following that thinking ‘I really must get us a National Trust membership.’ The promise of spring on the horizon meant I finally got my act together and signed us up.
With both kids being under 5 we only needed a joint membership as they are free to get into National Trust sites anyway. It cost us £10 a month which seemed a total bargain considering all the places you get entrance to! Plus we love to let the kids play outdoors and membership gives you access to some great places which also run special kids events in half terms and school holidays too. Your membership starts straight away (they email you a temporary membership card until your real one comes in the post). If you have kids over 5 you can add them onto your joint membership for £6 for the year.
If you are wondering where Sheffield Park and Gardens is located, its not in Sheffield! It is five miles east of Haywards Heath in East Sussex. It’s somewhere I have wanted to visit for a while. Its only a 40 min drive from our house so this weekend we paid a visit.
The first thing we realised when we got there was it was a lot bigger than I had imagined. I assumed the gardens and parkland would be one and the same. Actually the gardens are separate and the parkland is a huge 250 acres.
On this visit, we decided to explore the gardens as from the pictures i’d seen it looked so pretty. I was looking forward to seeing it and hopefully getting some nice snaps of the kids. With such little legs in tow, I knew we wouldn’t be able to stroll the garden and the parkland in one day. The natural play trail will be for another time.
We spent about 2 hours wandering the paths around the four lakes. There are ducks. Lots of ducks and they provided a fair bit of entertainment. They are pretty tame so came up close which Lockie and Scarlett found rather intriguing. They have a few bridges, one of which we threw coins into the water from while making wishes. The best part of the day for them though was a huge 140 year old Giant Redwood to climb. Lockie and Scarlett loved it. So much so they didn’t want to come down.
Scarlett, as always, spent her time looking at everything (pine cones, flowers, the stones on the path). Collecting sticks, splashing in puddles and making friends with people enjoying a walk with their dogs.* Lockie ran around taking advantage of the freedom that being outdoors provides, watching the swimming ducks and looking for spiders.
*Note that dogs must be kept on a lead and are only allowed into the gardens after 13:30.
Once we’d finished meandering down the garden paths which are perfect if you have a pushchair, we thought we’d treat the kids to a hot chocolate in The Coach House Tearoom. There was so much choice when in there. Literally loads of cake! All freshly baked on site too. They serve hot and cold food and kids lunch boxes. Great for a picnic if you haven’t come pre-prepared. They have bottle and baby food warming facilities and baby changing (also available in reception).
Sheffield Park and Gardens is a stunning place. The National Trust owns the beautiful big house which sits prettily in the backdrop (not open to the public). There is an array of plants and trees and the lakes which the garden is built around are just beautiful. Our winter visit didn’t leave us dissapointed and we are very much looking forward to our next visit. We spoke about what a lovely place it would be to picnic. They have picnic tables around the car park but you can picnic anywhere in the landscaped gardens or the parkland. We’ll 100% be doing that when the weather is a little warmer.
My top tip would be to get there early. We went on a drizzly winters day and the car park (free parking) was busy. I imagine on a summers day or other popular times to visit, it might be hard to find a spot. Failing that, combine it with a trip on the Bluebell Railway! Sheffield Park Station is a 10 minute walk away from the entrance to the gardens.
Since our visit I have found out that there are family activity packs which you can pick up from reception to explore the garden and Parkland. This isn’t something I was aware of before our visit bit I will update this post to include info once we have tried them out.
Children’s scooters are sometimes allowed subject to weather. Call to check beforehand.
Find prices at the National Trust Sheffield Park and Garden website here.
Will you pay a visit? Or have you been before? Let me know below. 😊