Family Day Out to Wentworth

We spent the afternoon at Wentworth Castle Gardens recently with some friends. We’d decided to go because there was a classic car rally on that day and our 3 year old is car mad.

We’ve been to Wentworth a couple of times before so we knew it was good for a few hours of entertainment. Wentworth went through a huge restoration program between 2004-2008 and they’ve done a brilliant job.

It is a grade 1 listed site close to Barnsley (Google Map), come off the M1 at junction 37 and there are brown signs from there. There’s plenty of parking and plenty to do.

As well as 500 acres of parkland with a trail though there are formal gardens, a visitor centre with cafe and a children’s playground.

The parkland trail is great for exploring with children and it seems common to see deer in the parkland, we found some without having to try too hard.

The formal gardens are huge, you could easily spend the day wandering around in the gardens alone. There’s also a mock castle in the gardens which the children love playing in and around (Stainborough Castle). The 1st Earl of Stafford and his family used it as a play area.

But the best bit for kids is the playground. What could be so great about a playground I hear you ask? As well as the usual seesaw, swing etc, the main climbing frame is an enormous castle with a bumpy slide ;add to that a sand pit, zip wire, digger, wooden horse and more. There’s enough equipment for the kids to move from area to area without getting bored. Set within the walled garden the playground feels safe and sheltered. Because the playground isn’t sprawling it is easy to keep an eye on the kids without having to follow them around.

Although the park has a sand pit for small children it’s not ideal for toddlers as there isn’t any small climbing/slide equipment which they might find frustrating. A lot of the gardens are fine for a pushchair but there are parts (especially getting to the mock castle) where you’ll need to off road over grassed areas which is difficult unless you have an off road buggy.

Within the visitor centre (main picture above) there are private function rooms upstairs which often have colouring things for the children available, a nice cafe with seating upstairs, downstairs and outside that offers homemade food and a small gift shop.

It does cost to visit Wentworth. The parklands are free, you just have to pay £3.50 for parking. To use the gardens and playground adults pay £4.75, Children over 5 £2.95 and under 5’s go free.

Suitable for any age but better for children who can walk.