"Would recommend a visit to this place a beautiful historic house."
"Plenty of space and lots to explore."
"A peaceful but amazing Jacobean Country House situated in a little visited bubble of North Yorkshire."
"Lovely house with plenty of history and evidence of great adventures of previous owners with artifacts and trinkets, furniture and maps."
"The hall itself is fascinating with 400 years of history."
"A beautiful, restored Jacobean building with lots to look at from across the centuries."
"Beautiful place with lovely volunteers talking to guests about the rich history of the hall."
Cons:
"Nice house and grounds visited as they are part of the historic houses membership. I hope to revisit in the summer when there is more colour in the gardens not totally convinced its worth the entrance fee though think there are better properties to visit."
"A bit pricey for what it is... Couldn't walk around the lake as it was covered in goose poo."
"Better free places around to go for a walk, unkept gardens hardly touched for years."
"Not suitable for wheelchairs in house or gardens really."
"The 1 star drop, refers to the unusual (not nice) smell inside the hall."
Tea Room and Catering
Pros:
"Great cafe too, I had wonderful soup and most meals come with vegetables and fruit from the garden."
"The tearoom was full when I arrived and definitely looked worth a visit."
"The tea room serves cakes, sandwiches, salad pots and cakes. Food can be eaten in the tearoom or taken away for a picnic in the grounds. The food was delicious."
"Had a lovely Sandwich with salad in the tea room situated inside the hall."
"The food served in the tea room was very tasty and well presented."
"Tearoom is lovely with drinks served in china cups and Excellent choice of cakes."
"The scones were delightful, freshly home baked."
Cons:
"The tea room only served cakes and drinks when a sandwich or panini would have been nice."
"However, one criticism they did not start sandwiches till 11:30 which was I found was a bit silly as this should be starting sooner in a business you should diversify I'm doing sandwiches for lunch."
"Sadly when I visited it last Weds 13/10/21 there was no lunch menu due to staffing issues, so I had to suffice with scone and coffee as my lunch."
"Tea room a little disappointing as they stop serving sandwiches at 3pm."
"Disappointing 'special' quiche in cafe. Served cold, soggy pastry, not much flavour, hardly any filling."
"However my scone had seen better days, very dry and hard."
"The only one thing I have to complain about is the time you have to wait to be served in the tea room in fact I walked out after waiting quite a while."
Staff and Volunteers
Pros:
"A friendly welcome and knowledgeable volunteers we were welcomed into the first room by Bob who was a lovely man who gave us a brilliant overview of the halls history and it's owner's."
"The guides on site were extremely knowledgeable and made the visit very interesting."
"Volunteer guides who we very knowledgeable in the rooms available to answer any questions."
"The staff are friendly and welcoming, the guides around the house are knowledgeable and no question is too much trouble."
"The staff were very informative and friendly."
"Staff super friendly and efficient."
"Very friendly and helpful staff and volunteers."
Cons:
"This is a dog friendly place but we were disappointed there was nowhere to sit and have a coffee etc indoors with our puppy."
"We would have looked round the house and gardens, but we were pounced on by a lady who seemed really put out when we chose to go in the tea rooms."
"Inside the hall the reception area was dark and unwelcoming, staff seemed to find it a chore to serve you."
"The women had medium grey hair and glasses FIRE HER."
Accessibility and Facilities
Pros:
"There is free wheelchair hire here, and one of the wheelchairs is more suited to rougher terrain."
"I was using a mobility scooter and managed to get around most of the grounds."
"Also allows dogs in all but the house which is more than you can say for a lot of other historic properties."
"Very accommodating with our wheelchair."
"Parking is ample and the walking is flat."
"A bonus that one entry ticket gives a years visits, great value."
"You purchase your ticket which is valid for up to 12 months so you can keep going back."
Cons:
"Though the lake walk is probably a little problematic for wheelchairs as it is mainly grass."
"A suggested improvement would be to upgrade the paths in the garden etc. as it was challenging pushing the wheelchair on grass and deep stones."
"We visited on Wednesday. Rang in advance to book afternoon tea for three people. One disabled in wheelchair. Wish they had told us we could not access the house apart from two rooms downstairs."
"The toilets were closed a full half hour before the grounds closed."