Sherborne Castle & Gardens

A fascinating castle covering 400 years of history set in beautiful landscape gardens. Built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594, this historic house reflects a glorious variety of decorative styles.  Experience nationally important collections of furniture, paintings and porcelain.  The Grade I listed Garden was one of Capability Brown’s first commissions giving us a magnificent English Landscape Garden which survives largely unaltered today.

Discover walks around the lake to garden features such as Raleigh’s Seat and the Cascade and Fossil House. Other walks take you to the courtyard garden, the Ginkgo Lawn and Orangery, the boathouse and pier where there are wonderful views of the old castle ruins.

Home of the Wingfield Digby family since 1617.

Gift shop and Cafe.

Opening Times and Admission Prices

Accessibility/ Wheelchair / Disabled Access Information: 

The Castle: Castle viewing takes place over three floors, with four sets of stairs to encounter between the floors. Only the ground floor is accessible to wheelchair/scooter users, however this floor does include some of our most notable rooms. There are resting chairs for visitors in most rooms.A photo slide show is running constantly on the ground floor to show portraits, furniture and porcelain on display in the inaccessible rooms.

Gardens and Grounds: The gardens cover a large area of some 42-acres round the lake, and whilst wheelchair/scooter users have full access to them, the individual physical circumstances of wheelchair/scooter users and their ‘helpers’ will determine the amount and areas of the Gardens they will actually be able to reach; wheelchair/scooter users or those who have difficulty walking can still enjoy the gardens together with the lake and parkland views from the more accessible areas closer to the Castle. Our garden paths all have a smooth gravel surface which has wheelchair/scooter users in mind; benches are located throughout the garden areas.

Tearoom & Gift Shop and WCs: The Tearoom & Gift Shop and WCs are all accessible in the Castle Yard and we have cubicles in the garden WCs with wheelchair access. The Castle Yard does have some difficult historic cobblestones to contend with, however we have re-laid the cobblestones around the edge of the Yard to provide a smooth route for wheelchairs and walking frames to access the facilities located within the Yard.

Disabled Parking: 5 minute walk to toilets, 6 minute walk to the front of the Castle.