Loseley Park – Our First Visit

We have Historic Houses Association membership which opens up a new world of places to visit. This weekend it was Loseley Park near Guildford.
Loseley Park

Loseley Park has a lot of history. Once visited by many Kings and Queens (including Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Anne Boleyn off the top of my head), it is a property owned by the More-Molyneux family.

Loseley Park flowers

The house itself is fascinating. Built in the 1500s it’s a very sturdy building with the majority surviving. Only the West Wing is no longer there. The More-Molyneux family live in one half with the other half open as part of a guided tour. The property has fields around it, as well as the Botanical Gardens to the right of the house.

Loseley Park wisteria

Loseley Park has enough to keep you busy for an afternoon. We started with our customary game of hide and seek (which H loves in new gardens). A glorious, sunny day, we hid and laughed, breathing in the fragrant wisteria which grows over the walls as you enter the gardens.

Loseley Park sculptures

We stopped for a quick sandwich at the Wisteria Tea Rooms. It was a quick service and yummy food. A little bit more expensive than National Trust places but filling nonetheless.

Loseley Park moat

H had space to run around and made the most of it. There’s a moat with a small tunnel from the gardens to reach it. We wandered around there hoping for a sighting of a kingfisher – but it wasn’t to be.

Loseley Park foot sculpture

The tour of Loseley Park takes 45 minutes. H had a clipboard with questions on to answer. Our guide told us about all the rooms, the family and where a lot of the things on show there originate. When H returned her clipboard she won a Loseley Park pencil which I was happy about. It’s nice they win sweets at these kind of things, getting something practical is so much better.

Loseley Park gardens

After that we grabbed a Loseley Park ice cream. It doesn’t seem to have much to do with the site any more these days, but was still delicious. We wandered around the lake which isn’t too big and definitely walkable, before heading to the play area. The play area is pretty basic but it was enough for H and she had a fun play for 45 minutes or so.

Loseley Park lake

Loseley Park is somewhere we’ll definitely go back to, especially with the change of the seasons. For more information they’re over here.
Loseley Park is also now part of the Gardener’s World 2 for 1 deal if you bought a copy of the magazine this month.

Loseley Park field of dandelion clocks