According to English Heritage Audley End House in Essex is one of England’s finest country houses, and a mansion with a difference:

“Following the restoration of its great Service Wing, visitors can now tour the ‘parallel world’ where armies of servants laboured to ensure the smooth running of this great mansion.

Audley End takes its name from Sir Thomas Audley, Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor who, after 1538, adapted the extensive buildings of suppressed Walden Abbey as his mansion. His grandson Thomas Howard, first Earl of Suffolk, rebuilt the house on a massive scale between 1603 and 1614. Known as ‘the Palace of Audley End’, this Jacobean ‘prodigy house’ was three times its present size, and one of the largest mansions in England. But in 1618 Suffolk fell from favour and into massive debt, and his great house went into decline. More

Disabled people can find access and other useful information on Visitor Information page of Audley End House and Gardens where it states:

Facilities Available:

Facilities Details:

Wheelchairs: we have four wheelchairs, available on request; four motorised wheelchairs available in grounds, but must be booked in advance. Please ring 01799 522842.

Toilets: Adapted; level access.

Shop: Level access.

Tea rooms: Ramped access to the tea rooms. Please note there are 3 steps to the self-service cafe.

Access:

Access to house: Via loose gravel, tarmac, cobbles and smooth grass. Ground floor level apart from Butlers Pantry which has 4 steps.

Gardens: Access via tarmac and gravel paths and very smooth grass. Seats provided. A number of bridges either have a step or steep slope.

Parking:

200m from entrance, with reserved parking for disabled visitors. Please make arrangements in advance if possible.

Visually Impaired Visitors:

Fountain, wildfowl and bird song in grounds; flower and rose gardens

Please see the English Heritage site for further details.

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Tags: Access, Architecture, Attraction, England, English Heritage, Essex, Gardens, Level Access, Tourism, United Kingdom, Visual Impairment

This entry was posted by Craig Grimes on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 6:51 pm and is filed under Architecture, Attraction, England, English Heritage, Essex, Gardens, Things to Do, Tourism, United Kingdom, Visual Impairment, Wheelchair User. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.