Wimpole Estate Access Statement

Wimpole Estate is a grand working estate, complete with house, gardens, parkland and a home farm. Wimpole is genuine, active, bustling, practical, a working estate. We celebrate both the natural and designed beauty of the estate and our work enhances it. We are shaped by the past but not held back by it; we keep Wimpole’s spirit of progress alive. We celebrate conservation but also innovation, seeking out new ideas and new ways of doing our work.

Contact details

Wimpole Estate, Old Wimpole Road, Arrington, Cambridgeshire, SG8 OBW T: 01223 206000 E: [email protected]

Points to note

The Wimpole Estate includes park and woodland, historic hall, gardens and farm. It is an extensive site with plenty to see both indoors and outdoors. The site has varying surfaces, gradients, light and noise levels in its historic and public buildings and countryside. It can be very busy at weekends, holidays or on special event days.

We work hard to increase accessibility to the site, working within the restrictions of a historic site not designed for public access. Staff and volunteers are available to help or answer questions throughout the site. There are 5 personal mobility scooters available for free loan from the Welcome Centre and 3 manual wheelchairs. An 8-seater golf buggy along with two Blue-Badge buggies, each with its own wheelchair ramp, is driven by volunteers to decrease walking distance between key features of the site. Induction loops can be found at ticket points as well as a wheelchair accessible ticket desk. There are accessible toilets and baby change facilities at all key locations.

For the safety of our buildings, animals and visitors, Wimpole is a non-smoking site; this includes e-cigarettes and other variations.

It is possible to come into close proximity with animals at the farm. Close supervision is recommended and safety measures including thorough handwashing are essential in this part of the visit.

Assistance dogs are welcome throughout the site. All dogs are welcome in the parkland, on short leads around stock and during nesting season. Please ask for water at any of our catering points, where dog water bowls are available.

There is limited mobile reception on site, in the event of an emergency please contact a member of staff who will have radio access to assistance or call our Welcome Centre on 01223 206559.

Arrival & Parking Facilities

The site can be found off the A1198 or A603, brown signs help direct from the A14, M11, A10 and A505. Since February 2020, we have moved our car park to a new location, which can accommodate the capacity we currently require for such a popular property. There are 700 hard standing spaces, with some under lighting, 10 electric vehicle charging spots and 46 Blue Badge parking spaces, a drop off point, coach parking and overflow parking for our busiest days. There is no charge for parking at Wimpole in the new car park, this is included with your membership or the new one-price Estate ticket (please see our website for pricing).

There are 46 designated Blue Badge accessible parking spaces; more are allocated for busy event days. The designated spaces are at most 140m from the Welcome Building. 10 cycle racks are available by the welcome building, at the drop off point and outside the rectory restaurant.

Designated accessible car parking is on level, tarmacked spacing. Other spaces in the main car park are also tarmacked, with the pathways leading to the visitor welcome building of lose stone/ aggregate set into tarmac. Please be aware there is a slight uphill gradient from all car parking spaces to the welcome building. At regular intervals along this pathway there are bench seats. On one side the benches have an arm support.

On busy days a designated compacted ground and grass field is used for overflow parking, with spaces from 300m to the welcome center. In the event of designated spaces being full we will try to get you as close as possible to them or may be able to provide drop off using our buggy service.

An 8-seater golf buggy is driven by volunteers, available daily between 10.00am and 16.00pm from mid-February to the end of October and 11am-4pm during the winter season. The buggy has fixed seating so may not be suitable for visitors unable to transfer from their own chairs. One folded wheelchair can be stored for transit. There are also two Blue Badge wheelchair accessible buggies, which have their own ramps. It is the responsibility of the carers to get the wheelchair user on and off the buggy by using the ramp. The driver will make sure the chair is secure before moving.

The buggy is a request service offering transit between the Welcome Centre to the Stable Block and to the entrances of the hall. There is no set schedule but staff and volunteers throughout the site can call the driver to attend on request.

Visitor Welcome

The Ticket office is located near the new car park in the Hardwicke Gate Visitor Centre.

In the welcome building, our only ticket and entry point, there are benches leading up to the entrance and indoor chairs which visitors are welcome to use. On our busiest days, queues

do form, and we work hard to prevent your wait from being longer than necessary.

The main entrance door is an automatic double door, and the tread points are flush with the floor for accessible use.

There are 6 ticket points and tills. 4 are podium-style standing desks, which are 102cm tall, along with a traditional desk at the same height. Our accessible desk is 76cm tall, with a wheelchair cut out at the front for visitors to place their legs for proximity.

There is a large amount of natural light from numerous windows in this area, supplemented by suspended and wall mounted electric lights.

Chairs are available in our membership recruitment area.

The space is large and can get very noisy when busy. An induction loop is available at the signed till to ease service. Please do ask a member of staff if you have not been directed to the relevant till or require assistance.

Entry tickets provided are printed tickets given together with printed leaflets. Members will be scanned in via the tills or one of our portable scanners on busier days.

There are 5 powered 1-person scooters available for loan, and 3 manual wheelchairs. While these are often available on arrival it is always recommended that you book in advance on 01223 206000, especially for weekends & bank holidays when we are at our busiest.

The Visitor Centre flows into a pathway which leads to the stable block, which is 430m long, where you will find the Shop, Book shop and Stable Café. The path is hard-standing tarmac, allowing ease of use for wheelchairs and our buggies to run up and down between. The Path takes you into the grade 1 listed parkland and wildflower meadow areas in the appropriate months. Please ask in the welcome center if you wish to use the buggy.

The Farm

Wimpole Home Farm is an active, working farm. This means that animals are not trained pets and machinery is in use regularly in the yards. It is a fantastic place to learn about historical and modern organic farming but this comes with certain risks. Please always pay attention to signage on the site and follow any guidance given by members of our team. Handwashing is a vital part of our safety requirements on the farm. Please do not eat or drink anywhere on the farm site unless signed as safe to do so and after thorough handwashing.

The entrance to the farm is 707m from the stable block, using the garden paths which are packed gravel and mostly level. Please be aware that the 6-seater buggy uses the main gravel paths only and this can need more space on the paths.

The farm animals are not pets. It is recommended that all visitors keep their distance unless under supervision. The farm can get very noisy. Animal waste is present and it is strongly

recommended that touching is minimised to avoid distress to the animals. All animals can kick or bite.

Handwashing facilities are provided throughout the site, by the farm cafe, and at the farm exits. These are 680mm high and 400mm deep. The taps are operated with a long lateral switch operated 380mm high.

It is vital that all visitors wash their hands with soap and water after any contact with animals, before eating or drinking and upon leaving the farm

Assistance dogs are welcome at Home Farm, on short leads. Please do be aware of the impact of dogs on the farm animals and we ask your help in dealing with any distress caused. We frequently welcome assistance dogs in training to the farm to help them become accustomed to animals and the animals to them.

There is a regular safety announcement made over a loudspeaker system, amplified throughout the farm site.

The mobility scooters provided at the ticket offices are usable throughout the farm site.

Small-wheeled vehicles may struggle in the gravelled and grassed zones, it is recommended you transfer if possible to one of our scooters. Pushchairs are welcome onsite.

The nearest yards are almost all hard-standing, with some breaks in continuity so do look out for cracks and small ramps. The gravel yard in front of the barn is kept to a low level to ease access but alternative routes are easily visible. The further yards are of a deep large gravel and some small, wheeled chairs may find this area challenging. We are looking into alternative surface treatments for this area. The paddocks, picnic area and play areas have grassed or woodchip surfaces.

There is ramped access into the historic dairy building, this ramp is 900mm wide. The

entrance to the hatchery and farm cafe both have short slopes. There is a split-level floor in the Great Barn, please do be aware of this height variation. Most other areas are level access.

The Great Barn is a large, thatched building in the heart of the historical yard. It frequently houses our horses or our youngest additions to the farm and has straw and hay present to feed and bed them. It has lintels at its footpath doors, but none at its cart doors, which are propped open. It is by nature a darker building; do be aware of the change in light levels when entering or when emerging from the darker barn into the daylight.

Piglets and young pigs are almost always visible in the piggery. It is a busy area which very frequently gets noisy, particularly around feeding time. These times are notified on a welcome board at the entrance of the farm. Hay is present to bed the pigs. Pig’s waste is present, and it is strongly recommended that touching is minimal to avoid distress to the animals. Pigs can bite. Please do be aware that the larger animals can jump up to prop themselves up on the boundary walls of their pens. The space has good natural light supplemented by electric lights. There is a small ramp to enter the piggery and an exit from the farm is located at the back of the piggery, along with a handwashing area.

At lambing time, it may be possible to see a live birth and hear the stockmen share their stories. Young lambs need to be handled in a specific way and so petting and feeding is only conducted by members of the trained farm team. It is not advised that pregnant or new mothers or those close to them visit during the lambing period. For more information see our website

The horses' stables are accessible via a small ramp 195mm high. Our horses are trained but are large and can kick or bite if distressed. The animal pens in the yards frequently house cattle, goats and sheep; these can have horns which emerge from the fences or gates. Please do approach with caution.

The play areas in the farm vary through the season but include a plastic play combine harvester and a small play area with a see-saw and tractor wheels.

The Hall

The entrance of the hall is 230m from the stable block. It is an imposing red brick mansion with significant stone stairs at its entrance.

The entrance is accessed along a fixed gravel path up the formal drive to the hall, which is surfaced in larger-sized loose gravel. We aim to keep this raked to a suitable level but some small-wheeled chairs may find this challenging. An alternative route on firmer surfaces leads from the garden entrance behind the Old Rectory Restaurant (includes a slight slope; hard standing surface), across the hall eastern courtyard (cobbles), around the south face of the hall to the entrance (fixed gravel). Directly in front of the hall entrance are historic paving stones, which are uneven. The volunteer driven buggy can assist visitors in getting to the hall entrance on request.

The hall is currently only accessible via a flight of 12 stone steps; we are working on providing alternative access in the future. There are 2 steps with a lintel at the entrance, with 2 doors; one is kept open and the other is opened by a member of staff or volunteer on visitors' approach. These doors are 65cm wide (but can be opened to 125cm on request). On the balcony outside the front doors is a large black plastic floor mat, for cleaning shoes, this is a direct colour contrast to the light stone floor.

We currently cannot provide access to powered scooters inside the hall. A dedicated wheelchair is available in the hall entrance for those able to reach the ground floor; this is kept for indoor use only to prevent any contamination or scratching of delicate surfaces within the building, and we appreciate your assistance in transferring to this if possible. We ask you to leave your own wheelchair, powered scooters, or other aids outside at the foot of the stone steps. We recommend bringing covers in case of poor weather.

The ground floor, accessed by this flight of 12 stones steps, is the main floor of the house. Below is a description of the stairs to the first floor, when it is open, and to the basement. The exit to the house is on the west end of the basement floor and means visitors will exit at a different point to which they enter on the south. The route from the west exit, back to the south entrance is across uneven gravel and paving stones (60m).

There are seats available at the inner entrance hall for those visitors who do not wish to explore beyond the ground (main) floor, so that they can wait for the rest of their party in comfort.

Due to the narrowness of some areas and the small spaces in some rooms we do not offer guided tours of the main house.

To protect the collection from being knocked, or damaged, we ask that all large bags, rucksacks or child carriers are left at the entrance to the hall; you will be given an identity ticket. A hip seat for carrying small children can be borrowed at the entrance. In the event of medical need to take a bag with you we ask that it is held at a low level or in front of you at all times, to protect the collection.

There are volunteer guides in some rooms; their role is to make your visit as safe and enjoyable as possible so please do ask for any assistance you need.

Doorways throughout the house vary in size. On the ground and basement floor, all doors are wider than 75cm, on the first floor (when open) all doors are wider than 70cm.

The historic floor surfaces are of varying types (wood, stone, fitted carpets and loose rugs) and are uneven throughout the house.

There is a great variety of room sizes and decoration within the house. Most contain soft furnishings, which soften sounds. We are fortunate enough to have volunteer musicians on a regular basis who make use of the historic instruments, adding atmosphere. Some clocks chime.

Light levels vary through the house with certain rooms needing more sensitive protection. Staff adjust conservation blinds throughout the day to manage safe light levels for our visitors as well as our collections. Some rooms have full length mirrors. Certain rooms (Long Gallery, Book Room, Library, Yellow Drawing Room, Dining Room, Chapel) have markedly higher ceilings.

When it is open to visitors, the first floor of the hall is accessed by a wide wooden stair with a central carper runner and one wide handrail on the left-hand side. There are 32 steps, that are 11cm high and 175cm wide, with the handrail at a height of 70cm. There is no wheelchair accessibility on this first floor as the route contains narrow corridors, where turning isn’t possible.

The exit from this floor is down a stone-floored servants' stair with a narrower handrail down to the bathhouse with a handrail on the right There are 21 steps, which are 16cm high and 85cm wide, and the handrail is at a height of 70cm. The stone steps are worn and uneven.

The route continues to descend through the bathhouse, from where there is a narrow stair with a narrow handrail on the left-hand side There are 5 uneven steps of different heights and widths (minimum 77cm to maximum 100cm), with no handrail; some steps are wood, some are stone. From this landing, there is a final stone stair to the basement floor. There are 14 steps of uneven height and width (minimum 98cm and maximum 122cm), the handrail is at a height between 87cm to 97cm, and there is a wooden step part way down the stone steps. While the main stairs up to the first floor are well lit the stairs descending from the first floor to the basement are considerably darker. Please do ask if you require assistance.

The basements are an atmospheric part of the house's history and are by nature less well-lit with uneven stone floors. There are a limited number of dimly lit electric wall lights. The basement corridor is 50m. The final exit the house is out through the west door of the mansion. There is a 22cm step up to the raised threshold, which then steps down as you exit, before 2 more high steps up, with a narrow metal handrail (to the right), to return to ground level outside. We are investigating alternative exit opportunities. Do be aware of the contrast in light levels when exiting the darker basements into the daylight.

Historic chairs in the collection can be weak and unsteady and are not suitable for use. There are modern seats provided for visitor use, some with and some without arm rests, around the house. Please do ask if you are uncertain.

There are no public toilets available within the hall, but a guide can direct you to the quickest exit to reach those accessed from the outside of the east wing.

When the fire alarm sounds, the noise of the alarm is loud and echoes, particularly in the stone staircases and in the basement corridor. The fire doors around the building are normally held open but will automatically close in the event of an alarm sounding. They

close with a series of repeated loud bangs as each door around the house latches closed. Given the stepped access to the ground floor of the hall, the stairs to the first floor and the steep and narrow stairs to the basement exit, we would ask you to consider whether you would be able to safely evacuate the building in the event of a fire alarm sounding. Our volunteers will direct visitors to the closest exit, but will not be able to provide any physical, or mechanical aid to assist people to exit.

Gardens

The garden's delights include great seasonal variation. From spring bulbs providing a wash of colour to scents in the walled garden when the roses and fruit trees are in full bloom, to the tactile grasses in the orchard, there are elements to appeal year-round.

The entrance to the garden is 120m from the stable block up a slight slope; the entrance to the walled garden is a further 407m from the garden entrance.

The welcome leaflet provided at our ticket offices shows the principal paths to explore the garden. With the exception of the 'Explorers' Path', all are surfaced in a fine packed gravel and are level. The 'Explorers' Path' is surfaced in loose bark chipping.

The mobility scooters provided at the ticket offices are usable on both types of paths. There is sufficient room for 2 such vehicles to pass each other on all our paths excluding gateways, where we ask your consideration.

The only steps in the garden are to reach the Soane glasshouse in the walled garden. These do not have handrails; however, there is a narrow ramp to the right of these steps to allow alternative access. We regret that there is limited turning space in this area, so it is recommended for users of single axle wheelchairs only.

There are benches throughout the gardens including at the parterre, west garden, pleasure ground paths and walled garden.

Please be aware that trees, shrubs and grasses can overhang the paths. Berries and fruits both edible and inedible do grow on our plants and can fall to the ground, within reach of small children. Wildlife and our team do attempt to pick these up, but it is not recommended that windfall of any sort is eaten.

There is a dipping pond in the walled garden and a wildlife pond in the orchard. The Explorers' Path crosses a small, watered area in the stumpery. It is rare to hear water flowing but wildlife can be active in these areas.

Regular guided tours of the garden are available and advertised on boards at the Stable Block. The guides will adapt routes to suit your needs, please do approach them when joining the group at the stable block.

Toilets

There are accessible toilets throughout the site. There is one toilet available each at the welcome building, stable block, at the main restaurant, at the eastern range of the hall and at the farm. There are no adult changing facilities but baby changing facilities in each of these areas. There are bins in each dedicated to sanitary disposal.

The largest space is at the Welcome Centre. It is in a room 2000mm by 1800mm with hand transfer assistance rails on both sides, left rail can be moved out of the way to assist with transfer and the right rail is fixed. There is a changing facility suitable for babies and small children. It is lit with two fluorescent spotlight and has an automatic hand dryer.

The Stable Block accessible toilet is in a room 2000mm by 1750mm with left hand transfer assistance rails. There is a changing facility suitable for babies and small children next door. It is lit with a fluorescent strip light and has an automatic hand dryer.

The main restaurant accessible toilet is in a room 1900mm by 1700mm with transfer assistance rails for transfer from left to right. It is lit with a sensor-switch fluorescent light and has an automatic hand dryer.

The hall accessible toilet is in a room 1900mm by 1700mm with a left-hand transfer assistance rail. It is lit by a ceiling light with a standard electric bulb. The ceiling is high. The floor is of dark red stone tiles and the plastered walls are painted in a light colour. It has a large mirror above the sink, plus there is a fold-out baby change unit and disposable waste bin in the same space, and an automatic hand dryer. The smoke detectors are fitted with orange beacons, which will flash to indicate when a fire alarm is sounding. This area is not patrolled by staff or volunteers, so visitors should exit immediately on hearing the alarm, or seeing the beacons flash.

The farm accessible toilet is in a room 2100mm by 1500mm with transfer assistance rails for transfer on both sides. It has a fanlight above the door giving some natural light, supplemented by a standard electric bulb. It does not have an automatic hand dryer but paper towels are available.