Dorney Court

Over het museum

Dorney Court is an early Tudor manor house dating from around 1440 that stands in the most southerly village of Buckinghamshire, near Windsor and the River Thames. A manor at Dorney is already recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, and the estate then passed through several families before Sir William Garrard, Lord Mayor of London, bought it in 1537.

Soon afterwards Garrard’s daughter Martha married Sir James Palmer, and since then the Palmer family have lived at Dorney Court in unbroken succession, over fourteen generations. The house is Grade I listed and is still a family home, so the layout is little changed from about 1500, with a vaulted Great Hall, a Parlour, a Great Chamber, a William and Mary dining room and a so-called Ghost Room. The collection includes family portraits, tapestries and furniture, and the family’s links with India appear in several objects. Tradition says that the first pineapple grown in England was cultivated here.

Dorney Court has been open to visitors since 1981. It is mostly visited on guided tours, which last about an hour, and the gardens, park, walled kitchen garden and the nearby Dorney Lake, the 2012 Olympic rowing venue, make a longer outing. The house is also much used as a film location and wedding venue.

Hoogtepunten

• Grade I listed Tudor manor house of about 1440
• Vaulted Great Hall and rooms little changed since about 1500
• Portraits, tapestries and furniture of the Palmer family
• Rose garden, walled kitchen garden and parkland
• Guided tours, including two-hour connoisseurs’ tours with refreshments

Vaste collectie

• The house and its collections – A guided tour through the Tudor rooms, including the Great Hall, the Parlour and the William and Mary dining room, with family portraits, tapestries and furniture.

Opgericht

1981

Beheerder

Palmer family

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Prices are for the house, garden and grounds. Payment by card or Apple Pay is encouraged. Parking is included in the admission price.

Toegankelijkheid

• Deels rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift: geen informatie
• Aangepast toilet
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats
• Hulphonden welkom
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

The ground floor of the house and the gardens are accessible to wheelchair users, but the route includes ramps and gravel paths and only the ground floor of the house is stated to be accessible; wheelchair users are advised to bring a companion. A DVD tour of the upstairs rooms is available. There is a drop-off point in front of the house and a dedicated parking area in the visitor car park. Unisex accessible toilets are in the Coach House Barn and at the Kitchen Garden. Assistance dogs are allowed in the house and grounds.

Kinderen & gezin

School visits are offered with guided tours of the Tudor house for pre-booked classes; schools pay a reduced pupil price.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

Leave the M4 at junction 7 and follow the brown signs; the entrance is through signed gates on Court Lane. Satellite navigation: SL4 6QP. It is about a 20-minute walk from Taplow, or a one-hour riverside walk from Windsor & Eton. The nearest national cycle routes, 4 and 61, are within 2 miles.

Service & horeca

• Café
• Museumwinkel

The tea room at Dorney Court Kitchen Garden serves light snacks, cakes, soft drinks and cream teas, and the garden centre sells plants. The small gift shop sells stationery, postcards and estate honey. Visitors may bring picnics to the gardens.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

• Ruimtes te huur
• Privéfeesten
• Zakelijke evenementen
• Bruiloften / trouwceremonies

The estate offers weddings and civil ceremonies for 60 to 120 guests, marquee weddings and dry hire for 130 or more guests, an on-site church, conferences on Tuesday to Thursday, corporate events and filming.

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