National Trust - Calke Abbey Reviews Summary

Grounds and Nature

Pros:

• "Calke Abbey is a beautiful place with massive grounds to walk around with varied routes."
• "Got to see the ancient 1000yr old trees and the bluebells in full bloom."
• "The walks and views that were available were exceptional."
• "Beautiful, large, varied parkland and working kitchen garden. Several greenhouses and interesting plants."
• "The grounds are lovely to walk around plus the flowers to see in the garden."
• "Lovely grounds, lakes, and scenery."
• "Massive parkland estate to lose yourself in and a great walled garden, which in the summer was thriving."

Cons:

• "Also additional litter bins would help keep the area tidy."
• "Only really 1 set of toilets between the car park and the house. Not helpful if you're disabled."
• "Lovely grounds for a walk but the house is looking really badly maintained."
• "A little too many stuffed animals for my taste."
• "In some areas near the house there are sheep and cattle so obviously dogs have to be on short leads."
• "Car park is large and would benefit from better signage for disabled parking."
• "Lovely grounds, lakes, and scenery, but we found the red route unsignposted from the car park, so we ended up on another by mistake."

House and History

Pros:

• "The house is in decline but very interesting rooms to look around."
• "An overlooked gem of a national trust property - the UnStately home is fascinating and fantastic."
• "The estate itself is as to be expected from a National Trust property, gorgeous parkland, ancient trees, sheep and deer, beautiful house with fascinating history."
• "The Hall is very fascinating and is stuffed with lots of historical interest."
• "Following a four year repair programme the house was opened to visitors who are now able to see Calke Abbey as it was acquired by the NT with nothing added and nothing taken away."
• "This palatial mansion is unique among English stately homes in that National Trust decided to preserve it in the dilapidated state it was in when the organization took over control from the owners in the 1980s."
• "The house itself is amazing having been deliberately preserved in the way it was found."

Cons:

• "The house is in decline but we'll worth a visit and the surrounding grounds are a joy to walk around with a family church on the hill and walled gardens and a lake with deer in the grounds."
• "The house itself is in a state of disrepair, but it is interesting to see."
• "But I find the rooms quite dark and depressing - it just seems a place that needs a complete rejuvenation of its rooms!"
• "A lot of the house has been left in the, fairly poor, condition it was in when the NT took it over."
• "The house wasn't open on our visit (winter hours apply)."
• "The house is beautiful on the outside, but inside it needs a lot of investment for repair and restoration."
• "However it does smell very mouldy due to national trust leaving it in a decaying state."

Facilities and Services

Pros:

• "A lovely place and its accessibility is enhanced by the helpful and attentive staff."
• "Big outdoor field with activities for the kids."
• "Easy for wheelchair to 👍🏻"
• "The cafe was super too."
• "Café and picnic barns."
• "The Volunteers both in the Abbey and the grounds were extremely knowledgeable and friendly."
• "Good cafes - recommend the scones."

Cons:

• "Parking on the day was £7 per person not per car and the house would have been £11 per person on top."
• "Sadly the same cannot be said for the cafe staff."
• "This was the let down as the food is normally overpriced at these places anyway… but, why can’t it at least be good."
• "Was super busy when we visited this afternoon, so there were queues for the toilets and long queues for the cafe."
• "A cafe and restaurant serving hot and cold food and drinks...is a little pricey."
• "The restaurant gets extremely busy."
• "Went for a hot chocolate in the cafe. It was barely warm."