packwood house

This review is in praise of the well informed and numerous volunteer staff at Packwood House who made our visit so enjoyable. Each one of them conveyed sheer enjoyment in their duties and joyfully informed us about the house and the life of Graham Baron Ash; our questions were answered most skilfully. The grounds were immaculate, even on a cold Spring day, and the house with it's array of lamps and fresh flowers was very homely. All NT properties are worth a visit but this house has a particular ambience that makes it most attractive. It certainly lives up to it's strap line of " A house to dream of and a garden to dream in...." It's well worth a visit. We hope to return at Christmas to see the house in its festive glory, and with an open fire burning in the entrance hall....great stuff! You won't be disappointed.

We visited Packwood House as we are members of The National Trust. Easy drive from Birmingham down the M42. Good sized car park where, if you are energetic enough, you can go on the five mile country walk to Baddersley Clinton which is another National Trust site. Packwood house is a lovely well maintained house with many pieces of period furniture and some beautiful tapestries which were collected by a previous owner. Lots of historical information on display and some very knowledgable volunteer guides who took us around the building telling us of the previous families who lived there and some great history of the building. Nice restaurant on site where we had lovely fresh sandwiches, tea and cake (very nice). We then walked around the gardens which are very well maintained. All in all a nice relaxing day out.

We stopped off here and at Badesley Clinton, which is quite closs, on the way to Stratford. The house and gardens are well worth the visit and we found the staff to be very friendly and informative. Both the house and gardens are worth the time spent on them. Although there is a small giftshop at the entrance there is a larger shop in the main building. The cafe was quite good, although it does fill up very quickly.

I understand that the visitor entrance area and cafe have been newly developed and my first impression was that although it has been smartly and sympathetically done it really should have been twice the size it is. The shop looks like a bit of an afterthought in the corner of the entrance and did not seem to have a dedicated staff member. The welcome we received felt a bit grudging (once we had declared that we were not NT members and did not wish to join there and then) we were taken to one of just two tills taking entrance payments. I noticed long queues later in the day and I felt that the staff were struggling a bit. The cafe was jam packed (pardon the pun!) and although there is plenty of outdoor seating on a chilly February day it wasn't too appealing! The actual food was below par, the curry especially was most odd, bland and watery (more like soup) and served with bread rather than rice and pricey too.We had a mixture of experiences in the house, some room attendants were more friendly than others and one comment just made me laugh - when asked to remove a rucksack by one attendant (fair enough) I commented that they are bulky things and a nuisance on buses - the attendant replied that she never went on buses so couldn't comment - that put me well and truly in my place!The gardens and grounds are really charming, even in winter, with striking topiary and snowdrops.Overall our visit was very interesting and felt like good value at about £10 per person.

What a fabulous play. There is so much to do for all ages, but I particularly like how child friendly Packwood House is. The welly walk is fab (and free) but the gardens are amazing, especially the kitchen garden with its play house and teddy bears picnic. My 3 year old Son spent nearly an hour playing in that area and did not want to leave The restaurant is great with fab food and a really friendly environment. The house is just beautiful inside and out. Highly recommend a visit to anyone.

Just had lunch with newborn grandson and 20 month old granddaughter. The staff in the cafe couldn't have been more helpful. The facilities for baby and toddler feeding and changing are excellent. Thank you very much.

Attended just before Christmas. Spent an enjoyable morning pottering around the Xmas stalls. Managed (by luck) to get a slot to look around Packwood house itself which was fascinating. We also spent some time looking around the kitchen gardens which bearing in mind it was December was a bit sparse - I imagine in the summer it is glorious. The upstairs of the house was closed during our visit so I intend to return!

I hadn’t visited Packwood House in years and was delighted to see it moving with the times. Principally, as a volunteer for Guy’s Cliffe Walled Garden, I was keen to see the kitchen garden. This is described mischievously as an 18th-century garden with a contemporary twist, and it is an inspirational gem. We went on New Year’s Eve (great to find it open in the winter), and it was overflowing with lovely ideas, mini horticultural scenarios and botanical gems. I loved the clever storage solution for the pots, and thought it was a good move for the public to be able to see ‘behind the scenes’, so often hidden from the public behind grim fences. The auricula theatre, populated with gourds, was such fun, as were the herbs in wellies (a clever Pinterest-type moment), square cloches, decorative pine cones and even a Heath Robinson mole deterrent. Of course, the formal gardens are super, too. The frozen pond had a mystic quality, the coins suspended in ice, and I was impressed at the variety of ways the gardeners had filled the winter beds with so much interest. With the new café, and access to great walks around, I’m looking forward to going back soon to see the first signs of spring. More photos and review on my blog here ... pamkelt.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/planting-ideas-in-my-head.html

Unfortunately on the day we visited the saturday between Christmas and new year the upstairs was closed so we could only look round the ground floor. That said we did enjoy our visit and found quite a bit to look at. The restaurant was really good and the food although expensive really delicious and something for everyone.

Decided to visit here late afternoon, being quite local to packwood house, we've visited a few times over the years.It never fails to impress, such a charming house with wonderful gardens and great walks around the countryside.The volunteers all very friendly and informative, particularly a gentleman whose knowledge kept our children chatting for atleast 15 minutes about how life would have been living in packwood house. We'll certainly be visiting again in the summertime - love this place!!The cafe is also worth a mention the cakes are delicious!!

Whatever time of year we visit Packwood we have a lovely time. Sometimes wet weather closes the garden, and yes it's popularity means that the house now is viewed in timed visits, the garden cafe is lovely, and yes the staff forget to smile sometimes because they are so busy, but you know it is a fab place with many dedicated people working there and don't forget many of them are volunteers. Chill out peeps, go and see for yourselves, it's a historic gem of a place!

We arrived at Packwood in time for the 11.30 tour. Our tour guide Owen was a very pleasant young man who made our tour very enjoyable he told us he was new to taking groups on a tour. After a nervous start he became more relaxed. His was funny, patient with the children whose parents had little control & Very informative. I loved the story about the long table. Well done. The place itself was decorated for Christmas it was beautiful. The.gardens were lovely even in winter. Tea room was warm, although the staff here we're operating like robots no welcoming smiles. I eill definatly visit again in the summer but would take a picnic.

We went to Packwood as it's just up the road and we needed to keep my retired parents occupied. We went on a tour of the house but not the gardens as the weather was poor, plus the tours overlapped (hopefully not a problem during more summery months as more volunteer guides are no doubt available). The tour was lovely - good pace with a friendly and knowledgeable guide - although the rooms were sometimes a tad small for the size of the party. Parking was easy. We had a coffee and snack afterwards in the cafe - good price and good quality and the new build fits in well to the overall ambience. We were jealous of the folks sat in armchairs in front of the fire! We also visited the small but well-stocked gift shop and came away with some lovely bits and pieces for friends and family, as well as some treats. All in all a nice way to keep my folks entertained for a couple of hours on a wet day.

Having visited nearby Baddesly Clinton with it's homely and friendly feel earlier that day we were left feeling a little disappointed in Packwood house. In comparision this house was very empty and austere with little of interest to us. The topiary garden was a truly amazing spectacle, but with no benches in this garden you couldn't sit and admire the views. Ok perhaps on a summers day when you could sit on the ground, but not on a cold autumn day. The rest of the garden too was sparse on seating and didn't come across as welcoming. The quirky follies made out of old pieces of furniture though were very interesting to come across as you walked around. The kitchen garden was very interesting too with lots of different ideas on what to grow and how to grow it. A teddy bears picnic and various scarecrows gave interest for any children there. All in all we were left feeling Packwood wanted us in and out of the house and gardens in a short a time as possible in order to use their huge restaurant across the road and next to the carpark.

Both the gardens and the house are well worth a visit. The amazing sculptured trees are great to see. It is well worth going to the top of the garden to see the view through these sculpted trees.The house is very interesting with some amazing exhibits inside. The guides in the house were full of information and only to happy to share their knowledge with you. It was also fun when we visited during the Half term for children as they had Halloween trails for the children and cleverly placed spiders for them to find. This kept the children occupied while their grown ups could enjoy the .This is a place that would be good to return to to see the gardens during different seasons.There are plenty of places where you can picnic too.