Access at Hylands Estate

We are working to make Hylands Estate as accessible as possible for everyone who visits or hires our destination.

Our team is always happy to help, and if you have any questions that aren’t answered in the areas below, then please contact us via the details on our Contact Us page.

Preparing for your visit

Our website is filled with useful information regarding Hylands Estate, including What’s On, historic information, and how to explore the grounds. Hylands Estate is free to visit and explore, and parking charges apply. If you would like to prepare your visit in advance, we advise visiting these pages:

Click on the arrows below for more information to prepare you further for your visit.

Bringing a group

If you are planning a group visit to Hylands Estate, we recommend you contact us before you come, so we can advise you if the Estate is busy that day due to private events in the park or at the house.

Hylands House is open to the public on our Open Estate Days from 10am to 3pm. You can find out more via our Open Estate Day page. Outside of these days, contact us to see if we can help you with your visit.

Getting here

Hylands Estate has two entrances. The Hylands Park entrance on Greenbury Road, CM2 8FS, is closest to The Adventure Playground and to visit the park. The Hylands House entrance on London Road, CM2 8WQ, is closest to the house and The Stables which includes The Deli and the resident Artists’ Studios.

Public transport options are available, though we advise planning these in advance of your visit if you are a wheelchair user so you can book wheelchair accessible taxi services. There isn’t an accessible route to Hylands Estate via bus, so we recommend traveling by car or wheelchair accessible taxi services.

Visit our Explore page for full details under Find Us where you can also find sustainable routes to us.

Parking

There are three car parks at Hylands Estate: London Road car park, Writtle car park, and The Stables Visitor Centre car park.

London Road car park is situated directly to the right of the London Road entrance. It has 4 designated accessible parking spaces for blue badge holders. The spaces have a gravel surface and are nearby hard standing pathways leading up to Hylands House.

Writtle car park is down a long driveway when you exit Greenbury Road. There are speed bumps down this entrance, and you may have to manoeuvre your car to share the road with oncoming exiting vehicles. There are two sections to this car park, one has a hard standing surface and the other is concrete textured and may be difficult to walk on or use a wheelchair. There are 10 designated accessible parking spaces for blue badge holders.

The Stables Visitor Centre car park is in the centre of the Estate and is accessed by the London Road entrance. This car park is closest to accessing Hylands House and The Stables. It has a hard standing surface and 9 designated accessible parking spaces for blue badge holders. Pathways which are also hard standing lead up to the house where it then changes to gravel.

If you are a blue badge holder, you can park for free all day when displaying a valid blue badge.

If you need dropping off or picking up directly from Hylands House for an event, you will need to press the button at the gate, where a member of the team will help you access the house driveway.

Opening Times

Hylands Estate is open during the opening times for Hylands Park. Hylands House is open every third Sunday of the month for the general public from 10am to 3pm. It is used as a private events venue for the rest of the year and isn’t open to the public unless an appointment has been made with the Events team.

Hylands House

If you are visiting Hylands House for an Open Estate Day, or another private hire event, you can access the house in the following ways:

There is step-free entry to the house via the front door ramp. The door to the house is a heavy wooden door. Some assistance may be needed to help open and close this door.
When you enter the house through the front door, you will be in the entrance hall. This large space has a smooth marble floor where you can access either the West or East wings of the house.
There is a lift in the West Wing of the house to access the first-floor rooms and basement. The first floor is not available to access on Open Estate Days unless there is a special event.
The lift has capacity for up to one wheelchair. It measures 1.4m by 1.1m and has a weight limit of 825kgs or 11 persons.
There is an accessible toilet in the West Wing on the ground floor and basement.
As standard, there is no accessible route out to the back lawn, and you will need to exit the house via the front door and travel around the house on the gravel through the gate to the Terrace. From there, there is a step-free route to the back lawn.
Depending on the event, The Terrace Room, Banqueting Room, and Saloon have a ramp available. Please ask a member of staff for help to see if it is available for use.

The Grand Pavilion next door to Hylands House has accessible ramp access via the decking. There is an accessible toilet in the Grand Pavilion, and the surface is smooth wooden floors in the main space.

Toilets

Information regarding the toilets at Hylands House and the Grand Pavilion can be found in the above Hylands House information.

There are toilets available at the nearby Stables, including an accessible toilet. These are open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 5pm at weekends.

There are also public toilets at the Writtle car park entrance near the Adventure Castle playground and Go Ape.

A Changing Places toilet is also available at the Writtle car park entrance for people with disabilities who need help from the carer to use the toilet. You will need a Changing Places access key to use this facility. You can apply for a key via the Chelmsford City Council website.

Visitors with physical disabilities and wheelchair users

Information about accessing Hylands House for wheelchair users can be found in the Hylands House information above.

A mobility scooter for use around the park can be hired for free from The Stables Information point. You will need to book this in advance of your visit by contacting us on 01245 605523 (10am to 4pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm at weekends) or on hylands.stables@chelmsford.gov.uk

A majority of the pathways around Hylands Estate are flat hard standing surfaces, though some areas may not be accessible due to the weather or works in the park. We advise contacting the Chelmsford City Council parks team to check before you visit. Our walking routes map can be found as a PDF on our website and we are working to make this more accessible to read.

For those visiting with young families, the Adventure Castle play area in Hylands Park is now officially accredited by PiPA (Planning Inclusive Play Areas). Much of the playground was specifically designed in conjunction with the special needs school Columbus School and College with disabled children. Inclusive features comprise an acoustic roller providing musical stimulation and a cradle swing to whoosh through the air. There are only 18 sites nationally with PiPA accreditation and the play area in Hylands Park is one of only nine that have the top-level ‘Destination’ status.

Blind and partially sighted visitors

Assistance and guide dogs are welcome at Hylands Estate. There is a water available for dogs at The Deli Doghouse at The Stables, as well as dog treats such as Puppaccinos, dog sausages and dog chews. Hylands Park is ideal for dog walking and exercise. Please note that in certain areas of the park, dogs must be kept on leads.

D/deaf and hard of hearing visitors

There is an induction loop at Hylands Estate for events which can be used by staff members with visitors wearing an induction loop necklace. If you are attending an event at Hylands House or the Grand Pavilion, please contact us via the details above so we can arrange use of this service with our team or the company who has hired us.

Hylands Estate is in the process of adding more events that are British Sign Language interpreted. We will link to these events on our What’s On page via this page when we have more information available.

Visitors with autism spectrum conditions and sensory difficulties

If it is helpful to know more about areas at Hylands Estate before you visit, we advise visiting the links above in Prepare for Your Visit, which will help you navigate and plan your day with us. There is plenty to do and explore, and everyone is welcome to enjoy the parks and gardens whenever we are open.

Visitors may be interested in finding out more about the history of the estate and gardens. Read more about our multimedia tour and watch the video on our webpage.

If you are attending an Open Estate Day, there are free activities for families of all ages, from arts and crafts to playing with nature. These activities are available 10am to 3pm every third Sunday of the month (excluding May).

If you need to prepare your visit to Hylands House, we advise watching our virtual tour which will give you a better idea of what to expect. You can view this at the bottom of our Hylands House web page. You might also enjoy exploring our multimedia tour before your visit or from the comfort of your home.

Eating and drinking

If you are looking to purchase food at Hylands, we can recommend The Deli, which is situated at the Stables and by the Writtle car park.

The Deli at The Stables is an indoor café setting with seating outside in the Stables courtyard. They offer a varied menu that also offers vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options. Sandwiches, seasonal salads, their famous sausage rolls, cakes pastries and tarts are all crafted by their staff in their kitchens in West Hanningfield. There is also a delicatessen counter and plenty to purchase for picnics in the park.

This café can be quite noisy at busy times of day, especially on the weekends or in the school holidays. The Deli at the Stables is accessible for wheelchair users, and assistance and guide dogs. Their seating is chairs without arms. No dogs apart from assistance and guide dogs are allowed in the Stables courtyard, The Deli or Artists’ Studios.

The Deli Doghouse is to the side of The Stables and has outdoor seating. The Deli at the Writtle car park offers a smaller variety of food and drink options, but still the same high quality. All services provided by The Deli are open every day from 8am, and you can find their contact details via the web page. All their venues are step-free and on a ground floor.

Hylands Park is the perfect place for a picnic! There are benches dotted around the park closer to the house and in the Pleasure Gardens. Hold onto your lunch, some wildlife by be interested in what you have!

Eating and drinking is not permitted within Hylands House, unless as part of a private event.

Accessible events

Hylands Estate is in the process of adding more events that are accessible for all visitors. We will link to these events on our What’s On page via this page when we have more information available.

Accessibility promise

Chelmsford City Council’s Access Policy Statement confirms its commitment to accessibility:

Our commitment is long term and of continuous improvement as our resources permit. Our aim is to achieve the optimum level of access to the Council’s services for all, and to enable the widest possible independent use of the Council’s facilities by all sections of our community.

Access at Hylands Estate

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