Date of Visit
9 August 2011
The needs apply to:
Myself, a manual wheelchair user with good upper body strength
Particular Needs Satisfaction Rating
| Disabled/Parent & Child parking bays with transfer areas | Partially Satisfied |
| Doors and aisles wider than 70cm (28in) | Fully Satisfied |
| Enough disabled parking near entrance to ensure at least one vacant space | Not Satisfied |
| Level or ramped access into and throughout the building | Fully Satisfied |
| Drier or towels adjacent to wash basin | Fully Satisfied |
| Outward opening door in toilet cubicle | Fully Satisfied |
| Space to turn wheelchair around in toilet cubicle | Fully Satisfied |
| Wheelchair accessible toilet facilities | Fully Satisfied |
| Lift providing access to upper/lower floors | Partially Satisfied |
| Stairlift between floors of building | Fully Satisfied |
| Under table clearance over 70cm (28in) | Fully Satisfied |
Additional Comments
Clearly, the nature of this type of attraction means that certain parts are inaccessible, but well trained staff everywhere helped deal with situations that occurred to enhance the visit.
it was a busy day when we visited and we struggled to find a disabled parking bay. There were only about 3. We found another suitable place to park.
The first place we visited was the Courtyard Cafe. It had an outdoor area with ramped access as well as an inside eating area, which was also suitable for me.
The accessible toilet was in the building next to the cafe. This toilet was suitable for me, but had no transfer area, should anyone need that facility.
Within the courtyard area, movement was a little tricky as the surface comprised uneven flagstones and cobbles, so care was needed. There was a farm shop off the courtyard which was accessible.
These parts of the Castle are free to enter, but you then go through to pay to access the gardens and the house. There was no charge for me as a wheelchair user.
Into the grounds, the house is some 200 yards away down a combination of tarmac and compacted gravel path ways. There was a slight slope down towards the house.
The main entrance has steps, but we had been told at the ticket office and there was signage directing us to enter via the gift shop. After speaking with a member of staff in the shop, another staff member promptly arrived to take us through a side door to the foot of the stairs leading to the first floor exhibit area of the house.
Here there was a long stair case, but it featured a large platform stair lift, which was supervised by a member of staff.
On the first floor, it was possible to see all of the exhibits and paintings.
On arrival at the part of the house where it was necessary to go upstairs, we were greeted by another member of staff who pointed out that the floors weren’t wheelchair accessible. However, he signposted to to a collection of display books with large print and photographs of what could be seen on the upper floors.
We used the stair lift to exit the building and then travelled the the level parts of the extensive grounds and gardens. The surface was compacted gravel in most cases, so was suitable, although some areas required going across grass, which was more difficult.
It was too steep to push down to the lake side, but had we wished to go, there is a land train, which takes you form the ticket office to the house and then down to the lake side. There appeared to be a space on this train for a wheelchair user.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at how accessible Castle Howard was and the staff were well on the ball in providing support.
