Family-friendly things to do at Lacock

Spring at Lacock

Spring is sprung in the abbey gardens and woodland. From April showers to May flowers, wind your way around the woodland path and watch the season come to life. Can you spot the lambs skipping in the fields around the abbey? Or perhaps hear the woodpeckers in their favourite trees? Celebrate blossom in the Orchard until 12 May and learn about the importance of pollinators and treat the family to a tasty lunch in the Stables Cafe (open 10am - 5pm), or an ice-cream from the Courtyard Tea-room (open 11am - 4pm weekdays and from 10am weekends).

Take a peek into the abbey's medieval and Tudor periods with a walk around the Cloister and Courtyard, and don't forget to stock up on reading material for all the family in the secondhand bookshop. In the Abbey, pick up an animal spotter sheet and see if you can find the 10 animals hidden amidst the collection items on display; from a horse in the stone gallery to a pangolin in a high place, can you find them all?

Light Struck

The Fox Talbot Museum hosts a solo exhibition by artist and photographer, Ellen Carey, from 27 May 2023. Carey has been working with analogue processes since the 70s and was named by the Royal Photographic Society in 2019 as one of their Hundred Heroines of photography. Light Struck celebrates two centuries of photographic discovery, with Carey's pieces prompting questions of 'how is this made?' and 'what is photography in the 21st century'. Fox Talbot named his early experiments 'photogenic drawings' or 'light drawings' and Carey responds to this with a new piece in homage to his 19th century photogram 'Cascade of Spruce Needles'. The large format prints combine photogram with Polaroid technology and are created on a supersized instant camera in Carey's studio in the USA.

Light Struck runs in the Fox Talbot Museum until 5 May 2024. . Entry is included in general admission, free for National Trust members.

May Half Term

This May half term Lacock Abbey is feeling arty and inspired by the Talbot family, Lacock's Victorian residents who knew a thing or two about art and photography. Henry and Constance Talbot were early photography pioneers, with the negative invented at Lacock in the mid 1800s. Constance and her daughters were also talented artists, you can see some of their watercolours on display in the abbey on selected days throughout the year. From 25 May - 2 June take part in art and photography themed activities in the Orchard and around the Botanic Garden, from 'mud' photography workshops to learning how an analogue camera works. All activities are included in the cost of normal admission, with no need to book.

Outdoor Theatre: Beauty and the Beast

Join Chapterhouse Theatre Company on 15 August for a brand-new telling of this classic fairy tale. Beauty and the Beast is a show suitable for all the family and presented with lively original music and sparkling humour against the atmospheric setting of Lacock's abbey and grounds. Pack a picnic and some seating (low-backed please) and treat the family to a night of magical theatre under the summer skies. Book via our events page below:

Outdoor Theatre: Beauty and the Beast by Chapterhouse Theatre Company | National Trust

Planning your family visit

Here's all the information you need at a glance to help plan your next day out to Lacock Abbey:

• Baby-changing facilities are available in access-friendly toilets in the courtyard at the Abbey and in the Red Lion car park toilets
• A children's menu is available in the Stables Café, including ice creams
• We welcome breastfeeding everywhere at Lacock, including in our cafe and we can provide hot water for making up baby bottles.
• Picnics are allowed in the grounds (the orchard is a great place for a picnic) and there are picnic benches in the Pound by the play area in the village
• Pushchairs are admitted in the garden, but not in the Abbey or cloister
• Children’s scooters and bikes (including self-propelled or balance bikes) are not permitted in the garden.