Dunham Massey Hall & Gardens

Dunham Massey Hall & Gardens

Dunham Massey Hall & Gardens
4.5
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
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  • Joanne H
    7 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Wonderful treasure filled house with brilliant guides!!
    Such a wonderful house, artwork by Reynolds, Lely, Grinling Gibbons, and an enormous collection of Huguenot silver. Wonderfully friendly and informative room guides, and especially Maurice in the silver room, (and his fellow guide- sorry didn’t catch his name) Also the lady in the parlour who shared stories of the house and family. All very passionate about Dunham and rightly so!
    Visited March 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written March 25, 2023
  • Katie
    153 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    good day
    the flowers outside were very pretty however i much preferred the hall, probably because I’m a history nerd. the art hung throughout the building was truly beautiful. cafe was good with a variety of options. they also have a second hand book shop which was great for value.
    Visited April 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written April 8, 2023
  • kellylou81
    Flintshire, United Kingdom172 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A lovely walk and wonderful visit to the house.
    We have visited here a few times now as part of our National Trust membership but today was when we visited the house. The grounds are wonderful to wander around and the children enjoy seeing the wandering deer as we walk around. I was disappointed to see that some of the activities set up for the Easter trail were worn such as the large dice as this game could not be played as there were huge chunks taken out of the foam possibly by other guests but it was a shame that they were in this condition. We went inside the house and really enjoyed the volunteers and staff inside the house that helped tell the story of Dunham Massey and explain the history of the property as well as showing us how their roles would have been carried out during the Edwardian times such as the Butler he was wonderful and really engaged us as he shared the history of the wonderful property.
    Visited April 2023
    Written April 11, 2023
  • Amanda S
    Winsford, United Kingdom588 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Lovely Day Out
    Great day out looking around the house, gardens and seeing the deer in the deer park. The house is informative and there are volunteers willing to answer questions you may have. The garden had beautiful spring flowers and was a delight to walk around. In the deer park we saw probably all the deer as there were so many. They even crossed the path in front of us! We treated ourselves to an ice-cream which was well worth the wait. The toilet blocks were all clean. A lovely day out.
    Visited March 2023
    Written April 13, 2023
  • Warringtonclarets
    61 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Lovely staff. Restaurant expensive
    Beautiful walk followed by breakfast. Staff really pleasant and lovely but prices in Stables restaurant are high. The toast (2 slices) was cheap white bread, barely toasted, costing £2.55 with jam . Come on ...that is such a rip off.. how can that price be justified?
    Visited April 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written April 26, 2023
  • Vicky Stevenson
    Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy85 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A really good visit on a rainy day.
    A very interesting house with extensive grounds. The cafe is good and other amenities, including parking are very good. It was a rainy day so we only saw the house itself. There is a lot of information, in a range of formats, about each room. The volunteers and staff are friendly and helpful and there were places to sit down in many of the rooms. This is unusual in National Trust properties; it is very helpful for those who cannot stand for long periods. We enjoyed our visit.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written July 19, 2023
  • shelley w
    Manchester, United Kingdom3 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Poor food
    House and gardens fabulous, cafe and restaurant terrible! Food was almost identical in both. Ordered pulled pork bun which was fatty, wedges which were soggy, and coleslaw which were tasteless. Cappuccino was good. Cake was dry, both the lemon drizzle and the walnut cake. Spent over £35 and ate hardly any of it. Was very busy with a captive audience and would have expected better.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written July 29, 2023
  • Julie C
    Liverpool, United Kingdom19 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing!!
    Came for a visit on a Sunday. Plenty of parking still available. Man in kiosk in car park most helpful as my hubby had lost his membership card. Went into reception area, and spoke to nice staff member who showed us where the maps were and also gave us some directions. Went to cafe and had coffee and cakes before we walked around. Cafe very busy but did not wait long to be served. Coffee and cake both very nice. Walked towards the house, gardens are lovely and we stopped to look at a fountain, the smell from the flowers was lovely. Got to the house and was greeted by a friendly member of staff who told us the route to follow. In the dairy there was a member of staff in full costume making butter and explaining about how sometimes the kitchen staff would make 100 pounds of butter a week. Walked around the rest of the house. My favourite was the butlers pantry, the member of staff in there, in full butler’s uniform was so informative, he answered lots of questions and was so patient, I did not get his name but he deserves a big gold star!! The house is amazing , there is so much to see. Do not take any notice of the negative reviews on here. The staff here are lovely and so helpful. If you get the map from reception it is easy to find your way around. We will definitely return, but there are so many national trust properties to see first.
    Visited July 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written July 31, 2023
  • Christine S
    14 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A BRILLIANT DAY
    I went to Dunham Massey Hall and found it to be absolutely beautiful there was so much to see and do there was not enough time in the day.I did not go into the mill as we ran out of time. The house was so vast so many rooms with beautiful furniture we spent 3hrs in the house alone.There were also the laundry and dairy which was awesome. Before going into the house we did the tour with a guide which took 1hr.there are two well stocked cafes with. Plenty of indoor and out door space.The car park is huge.The grounds are vast with deer 🦌 roaming free.In all a fabulous days outing.I will be going back to see the things I missed.
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written August 17, 2023
  • Nimmy37
    Chester, United Kingdom326 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Summer visit
    Another lovely visit to Dunham Massey. Never done the house before so now we are NT members we had a good look round. Very well laid out and due to it being school holidays there were room guides dressed for the period in the lower areas with great information. Grounds and Deers were lovely to enjoy as usual and the gardens were in full bloom. Lunch in the loft restaurant was enjoyable and reasonably priced. Didn’t seem overcrowded due to the size of the place and sufficient parking available even on a busy day. Large gift shop and book shop at the entrance are worth a look.
    Visited August 2023
    Traveled as a couple
    Written August 27, 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles2,526 reviews
Excellent
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690
Average
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Terrible
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J0nandL0u
Birkenhead, UK36 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
I don't normally find an attraction so bad as to give it one star and a bad review but here goes.... We went for a day out between Christmas and New Year. We planned to have lunch, enjoy the winter garden and walk around the deer park. We knew The Hall was closed but as members this wouldn't stop us from enjoying a day out and ramble around the grounds. We had not planned for utter chaos and bad management though. It took us close to an hour queuing in the car once we arrived. We then joined another extensively long queue for the restaurant (glorified canteen) watching in dispair as incompetent staff struggled to cope with orders of soup and barms. The pregnant lady in front of us nearly fainted. About an hour wasted here for jacket potatoes and salad at tables groaning under the pressure of previous customers dirty plates.... Apparently it is customary to take other people's plates back and wipe down your own table as we saw other tables like this. So to recap it was 2 hours to park and eat a light bite salad, which took us neatly to about 20 past 2, which coincidentally is the time they decided to close the winter garden in preparation for winter lights. No apology to us and other's perplexed at not being granted access. The staff member just seemed to indicate it was closing early in preparation for the evenings events. Pure ineptitude and lack of organisation was in abundance and when we told a member of staff about our terrible visit his reply was "tell me about it".
Written January 1, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Mike
Glossop, UK616 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2021 • Solo
Bit disappointed with the paucity of rooms on display, just three rooms in the servants quarters plus the gardens so disappointing for £8 when rest of the grounds are free anyway. At nearby Lyme there was much more to see for same price and they are both NT owned.

They didn’t seem to cater for anyone coming there on foot. Went to the house and was told to go all the way down to the car park entrance and after dodging cars to get to the booth in the roadway I was told to go back and someone would come down to reception especially. Very bizarre!

At the very least there should be some sort of a museum display giving the history of the house and family that owned it, but there was absolutely nothing. The servants quarters visit was totally geared to children and not very interesting or informative for adults.

The mill and orangery both totally concealed in scaffold and metal hoardings.

It could do with better information on what is open and what is closed in the website.

The deer in the park are very tame and came right up to me which was surprising. Nice walks in the park and garden too but was quite busy and not many benches to sit and ponder.
Written September 5, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

FFJ
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021 • Couples
Such a rip off now! This used to be a great day out for families, car park used to be 5 pounds to park and you can choose to pay separately if you want to go in the house (which you'd only do once same with the the gardens) National trust have now increased price to 8 pounds per person with no option to just pay to park and to walk the in the wooded deer area. So for people turning up with a dog then youve paid 8pp to not be able to do anything there. Me and my husband went today and the house isnt even open on a weekend at all so we basically paid £16 to park our car because you can technically park somewhere else and walk in for free. Lyme Park are also doing this now! I've seen the houses many times I don't want to see them again I just want to go for a walk! Won't be coming back again!
Written October 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Eleanor Mason
Bromyard, UK12 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021
The grounds are the best bit without a doubt, customer service is a different matter altogether. I recommend visitors be told the house is closed before being admitted to the car park and grounds. Signposting for the servants quarters needs to be clearer. Overall customer service leaves everything to be desired. Staff were disappointing, failing to take on board general education and existing specialist knowledge. I recommend management follow the example of other National Trust properties!! We attended as a family with grown up children............ Of all the National Trust properties, this was just cringe-worthy.
Written August 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Barbara F
United Kingdom4 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021 • Family
Visited on Sunday morning,for a walk around the park. 2 members and 2 grandchildren ( non members). Astounded that we were expected to pay for the children! The cost is extortionate, especially as the hall and gardens weren't even open. No information regarding payment once you have joined the traffic jam queue, Discussion with the attendant only adds to the slowly moving queue!
Non attendees do not spend in your shop or cafe!!
Think you need to rethink your money grabbing policies!!
Written July 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

meddleman
Crewe, UK23 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020
I have enjoyed many visits to Dunham Massey though not always without incident. There was the time when I saw a dog defecate in the middle of the picnic area with its owner conveniently looking the other way (and, of course, making no effort to clean up afterwards); there were the two occasions when I witnessed dogs urinating against the picnic tables (again the owners finding something interesting to gaze at in the far distance); plus, of course, several occasions when off-the-lead dogs invaded my personal space and that of my infant grandchildren in both the picnic area and the park. I suspect that none of these incidents were seen by NT staff who are,after all, busy doing other things.
The one peaceful haven I have always escaped to was the beautiful enclosed garden where,I believed ,dogs were not allowed. A garden visited by many parents and grandparents with young children and which is a focus of Dunham Massey's attempts to attract young children with frequent activities. Imagine my shock then, when, on Tuesday, as I had lifted my one year old granddaughter out of her buggy to stand on the lawn (she is not yet walking but close), she was approached by a dog on a very long extendable lead which was only snatched away by its owner at the last moment. Yes, I found out that extendable leads are not allowed but,as with all the other incidents, this had not been monitored or observed by NT staff. In any case, we have had many incidences recently of the apparent inability of a sizable portion of our population to follow simple rules.
Dogs are allowed in all other spacious areas of the park but,it seems, those of us who, like the abundant wildlife in the garden, feel safer with young children in a small dog-free area, are to be denied this security. It is especially galling as Dunham Massey's enclosed garden is ideal for maintaining a dog free area.
Perhaps the National Trust, with its billion pounds in reserves, is desperate to gain additional funds. I could suggest safer ways to achieve this.
Written November 18, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Keith M
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2020 • Couples
We visited Dunham today with a pre booked slot of up to 2.30 to find that last entry into the garden was at 2.45! Whilst the garden was open until 3.30 the NT staff were very keen to get us out of the garden by 3.00, saying they wanted to get it empty and pointed to the gate for us to leave.
As NT members it was one of the first visits we have been able to arrange this year. We were really looking forward to it but having been asked to leave after only 35 minutes we left feeling very disappointed, particularly given the over zealous approach. Having regard to the cost of our membership it was one of the most expensive half hour garden visits we have ever spent! We are probably going to give our NT subscription a miss next year.
Written December 5, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

lifewith3boys
Warrington, UK2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021 • Family
Called today with my hubby and son, asked to pay £20 for a walk around the park. We'd previously been around the house and with it now being autumn I doubt the gardens will be up to much, but we've seen them already, so why would we want to see them again !! We refused to pay and left, this is such a shame as this is our nearest NT and we'd been visiting for many years. NT should hang their heads in shame, talk about ripping people off these new charges will have a detrimental effect on the visitor numbers. Went to Marbury Park instead, £2.50 for all day parking.
Written October 23, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sarah K
Preston, UK1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2021 • Couples
Last Sunday (14th November), we visited Dunham Massey, after printing off the ancient trees walk and planning to follow it.

Upon arrival, as non members currently but open to joining, we were told that to park and access the gardens was £8 per person. With two of us that was £16. The first issue was that, this was the price to visit the property and the gardens, so the fact that they are still charging this when the house is closed, is frankly robbery. The second issue is that if we’d have turned up with two children it would have been £4 cheaper for double the amount of people. The third is that I believe not all National Trust sights are taking this stance on charging per person. Where’s the consistency?

We paid it, begrudgingly because we thought about the impact of lockdown etc. However when we actually got onto the grounds, the ancient tree walk was closed to help nature re-build the area which has been damaged by walkers. So we paid £8 each to do a walk that wasn’t open, and to visit a property that wasn’t open and to visit grounds that are free of we’d have parked on the roadside.

I’ve been a member of the National Trust in the past, and have visited many properties as a member and a non-member. I really feel that charging that amount to park is absolutely unfathomable to me. How can they justify the cost? The car park was full. With cars coming and going continuously. I feel charging per car is much more reasonable and would attract return visitors. We’ve all been hit financially because of Covid and it seems they’re exploiting your customers.
Written November 20, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Lynne H
Manchester, UK47 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2021
I pay for membership which is debateable value for me as I'm a carer and use my membership to park so I can take a friend or elderly relative occasionally to enjoy the grounds, shop and cafe. Not interested in the house. My son who is on Universal Credit can no longer give a break to his mental ill health by encouraging him to come with me. In addition, my other son with autism who lives with me, has zero chance of sharing my car to entice him out of his bedroom, unless I pay extra out of my pension.

Although I respect the car park was often full, I have never actually been unable to park if I was prepared to walk from the overflow car park. In this area of South Manchester, it is absolutely dreadful that the National Trust are becoming more elitist in effectively blocking people who cannot afford a full subscription in enjoying the site.

Maybe do what the RSPB do for members, and issue 2 x complimentary passes for each annual membership.
Written October 10, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Dunham Massey Hall & Gardens - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Frequently Asked Questions about Dunham Massey Hall & Gardens

Dunham Massey Hall & Gardens is open:
  • Sun - Sat 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM