Basildon Park is an 18th Century house with 400 acres of parkland to ramble around. This is the perfect place to get back to nature.
There are often special attractions to visit, such as the Ball Run and National Trust school holiday events. Read more about the Ball Run here.
Woodland Walks
You start by walking through a woodland area. There is a small play area at the start of this woodland path, with ball runs, balance beams and stepping-stones. There are areas for den making also. Considering this is a small play area, it kept George busy for quite a while and all the children play really nicely with each other building the ball runs. Just remember to bring your own tennis ball! The mushroom shaped seats are really cute, and there are a few adult size benches dotted around so you can watch your little ones whilst they play.
There are also a number of marked trails. The green trail is a brilliant family walk through the woodlands and open fields and it’s pushchair friendly too. It’s 1.5 miles and takes approx 40 minutes. If you go at the end of April you’ll likely see all the Basildon Park bluebells. There is also a shorter red walk that’s 0.5 miles and takes about 20 mins (it’s also suitable for pushchairs).
Basildon Park House
After rambling through the woods you come out to beautiful view of the house. At the front of the house there is a huge lawn area with lots of picnic benches dotted around, perfect for admiring the view from. There are some good trees for climbing around the picnic area too. George has really started to get into climbing trees lately!
The house is beautiful to walk around and wonderful to visit at Christmas where you can see the beautiful Christmas tree in the hallway as well as the dining room set up for a lavish Christmas dinner.
Cafe and Picnics
In the house, there is a coffee shop serving cream teams, children’s lunch packs and sometimes soup, a hot pot dish or baked potatoes. There are also plenty of picnic tables scattered around the grounds.
This summer there is a range of outdoor lawn games for children to choose from.
There was a block stacking game, skipping ropes, hurdles and balance beams to
race along, a beanbag toss, giant noughts and crosses game, and building blocks.
George really got into these building blocks, they included a range of shapes, and
he told me he was making a paw patrol look out tower. A bit further along the
front lawn there was also badminton nets set up, with rackets and shuttlecocks.
Toilets & Accessibility
A few pointers, baby-changing facilities are available in the accessible toilets in
the stable yard by the reception. The gardens are accessible for buggies, but the
parkland has uneven ground. Hot and cold drinks and snacks are available from
the tearoom.
Can you Bring Dogs to Basildon Park?
Dogs are allowed on the lead so we took our cockapoo Wilson. He really enjoyed
a nice walk around the grounds. There are four parkland walks that are ideal for
a dog walk. The walks range in length from 0.5 miles to 3 miles. Dogs are also
allowed in the shop and seating area of the tearoom. There were lots of dog
water bowls dotted around the site.
