Hestercombe House

Over het museum

Hestercombe is first recorded in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 682. The Warre family acquired the estate in 1391, and in the 1720s John Bampfylde removed most of the medieval house and gave the west side a Georgian front. After 1750 his son Coplestone Warre Bampfylde created the landscape garden, with its cascade, pools and garden buildings.

In 1872 the 1st Viscount Portman bought the estate and gave the house a Victorian makeover. In 1904 Edwin Lutyens designed the formal garden, with planting plans by Gertrude Jekyll. After Mrs Portman died in 1951 the house became the headquarters of the Somerset Fire Brigade, which used it for more than 60 years.

The Hestercombe Gardens Trust acquired the house from Somerset County Council in 2013, and it opened to the public for the first time in 2014. Today it holds a gallery with changing exhibitions on the estate's history, the Portman family and the gardens, as well as a bookshop and event spaces. Gardens admission is needed to enter the house.

Hoogtepunten

• Historic house with gallery and exhibitions on the first floor
• Exhibitions on the estate's history, the Portman family and the Jekyll and Lutyens partnership
• Georgian landscape garden with the Great Cascade and garden buildings
• Edwardian formal gardens by Edwin Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll
• Restored 17th-century water mill

Vaste collectie

• A Perfect Partnership: Jekyll and Lutyens – An exhibition on the first floor of the house about the working partnership of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens.
• Layers of Time – A display on how the gardens developed over four centuries.
• The Portman Family and Their Estate – An exhibition on the ownership history of the estate under the Portman family.

Opgericht

2014

Beheerder

Hestercombe Gardens Trust

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Prices are those without a Gift Aid donation; with a donation an adult pays £16.90 and a child £8.45. Day admission covers both the gardens and the house. Members of the Historic Houses scheme enter free, and the website lists discounts for some partner gardens, RHS members and Gardeners' World vouchers. Hestercombe is fully cashless.

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 is wheelchair accessible, but the first-floor galleries are not yet accessible. A step-free route is marked on the guide map, but many paths are uneven and some areas have steps. Hestercombe House has a Changing Places toilet, and other accessible toilets are by the ticket office, the visitor centre courtyard and café and the Mill. There are four Blue Badge spaces, and drop-off is possible at the front of the house. Free wheelchairs are available for the smoother paths, and a Tramper all-terrain scooter can be booked for £5 per two-hour slot. Assistance dogs are welcome throughout, including in the house.

Kinderen & gezin

• Kinderwagenvriendelijk

Children aged 4 to 15 pay a reduced price and under-4s are free. Family tickets are offered for one or two adults with up to three children. The guide map marks routes suitable for pushchairs.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

Use postcode TA2 8LQ for sat nav. From junction 25 of the M5, follow the brown daisy signs via the A358, Taunton town centre, Cheddon Road and Lyngford Lane through Cheddon Fitzpaine, then bear left up Pitchers Hill for 0.4 miles; the entrance is on the right. The site is about 10 minutes from the motorway.

Service & horeca

• Café
• Restaurant
• Museumwinkel

The Stables serves food (full menu Monday to Saturday, Sunday lunch menu on Sundays); there is also a plant centre and gift shop and a second-hand book shop. Picnics are allowed.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

• Ruimtes te huur
• Bruiloften / trouwceremonies

The site promotes weddings and event hire.

Je bezoek plannen