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Family days out at Wightwick Manor and Gardens

A girl running and playing with bubbles on the Thimbles Lawn at Wightwick Manor and gardens on a bright, sunny day.
Make memories at Wightwick Manor and Gardens | © National Trust Images/Annapurna Mellor

Come and discover family adventures at Wightwick Manor and Gardens. With seasonal activities for little explorers, our natural woodland play and lots of walks filled with nature to discover. Find out about our latest family activities and plan your day out.

Summer of Play

Join us every Tuesday and Wednesday, from Tuesday 23 July - Wednesday 28 August, in the summer holidays for family fun and creativity in the great outdoors.

Get creative making nature themed and traditional crafts - try a different craft activity each week - follow us on social media to find out what we will be making.

Play your way; have a go at playing tennis on the original Tennis Lawn next to the Manor everyday of the summer holidays, or on Tuesdays and Wednesday discover our other traditional games - who is the best hopper in the sack race and who can balance their egg on the spoon for the longest distance?

Try it all, find your favourite, come back again and again. Summer of Play, sponsored by Starling Bank.

£2 per person for crafts, no additional charge for other activities. Normal admission costs apply, no booking required. Please note, some activities are weather dependant and may be postponed on rainy days.

Outdoor Theatre

Folksy Theatre presents 'Angelica Sprocket's Pockets' - Saturday 20 July, 5pm - 6:15pm

Join Folksy Theatre for an open-air show filled with bold characters, live music, puppetry and audience interaction - it's a day out not to be missed!

Angelica Sprocket lives next door. Her overcoat has pockets galore! And you'll never guess what's in them...Prepare to be surprised, thrilled and tickled pink by Angelica Sprocket's never-ending pockets, and the marvellous things she keeps in them.

Filled with Folksy’s touch of live music, puppetry, audience interaction and madness! This fun-filled show is the perfect treat for the whole family!

Seating is not provided, you are welcome to bring your own folding chairs and picnic blankets. Our tearoom will be open for take-away refreshments. Tickets are non refundable. Sorry, no dogs permitted during the performance. The shows go on whatever the weather (unless fork lightning).

Booking essential, adults £12, children £10. To find out more and to purchase your tickets, please visit our website.

A lady in a red t-shirt wears a headdress that looks like a yellow daffodil, next to her is a small, white rabbit puppet on top of a cymbal on a drum set.
Open air theatre fun with Folksy Theatre | © Folksy Theatre

Play at Wightwick

Natural woodland play area

Suitable for young and old alike (youngsters under supervision please) see the woods from a higher level on our balance log walkway, scramble over the tangle climb and stretch those legs on our stilt walk.


Ask for directions from our welcome team, or see if you can find your own way, winding around the pools and heading up into the woods.


Two young children are walking along wooden raised stilts in the woodland play at Wightwick Manor. The younger child at the back is being helped by an adult.
Test your balance in our Woodland Play | © National Trust/Annapurna Mellor

'50 things to do before you're 11¾'

While you are up in the woodland, see if you can tick off some of your '50 things to do before you're 11¾'. Why not try:

  • No. 4 Build a den - who can make the sturdiest hideout?
  • No. 12 Have fun with sticks - can you make arrows to show people the way back to the pools?
  • No. 18 Create some wild art - make a square frame on the ground using sticks and crate some wild art using treasure from the woodland floor.

What will you take on?

Find out more here: 50 things to do before you're 11¾ | Visit | National Trust

Family adventure pack

Our Family Adventure Packs are available all year-round from our Visitor Reception.

For £2 your pack will contain an activity booklet with games, colouring in, fun facts, things to spot and puzzles, a pencil and a pack of pencil crayons and other fun surprises!

Looking over the shoulder of a person is holding a blue activity booklet which shows images of birds and a William Morris colouring page. They are outside in the gardens at Wightwick.
Discover nature at Wightwick with our family activity pack | © National Trust/Libby Taylor

Your visit

Picnics

There are many benches around the gardens and places to put down a blanket – we welcome picnics throughout the gardens.

Please do take your rubbish home, but bins can be found by our Visitor Reception and outside of our Tearoom.

Two children are sitting at a table on the South Terrace at Wightwick Manor. They have lunchboxes and are eating sandwiches and drinking from cartons through a straw.
Find the perfect spot for a picnic | © National Trust/Lindsey Bucknor

Facilities

Baby changing facilities are located in all toilet facilities – both next to Visitor Reception and in the toilet facilities next door to the Tearoom.

Your four-legged friends are welcome on leads in all areas outdoors, with the exception of the kitchen garden. We also have a dog-friendly seating area in the stables end of our tearoom. Our reception team are also stocked up on poo bags and dog biscuits, so please do ask. Dog waste can be put into any of our general waste bins.

We kindly ask that pushchairs are left by the front door of the Manor when visiting the house – we have ‘hippy-chicks’ to borrow here so ask the attendant on the front door if you would like to borrow one.

We welcome balance bikes for under 5s, but due to the nature of the gardens, no other bikes are permitted. We also ask that ball games of all kinds, frisbees and the like, drones and kites are left in your car.

Girl playing with a football on Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, Dorset in summer

‘50 things to do before you're 11¾’

Have fun exploring nature and the great outdoors with our list of ‘50 things to do before you're 11¾’.

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