The parkland at Basildon Park

Autumnal colours in the park at Basildon Park. | © Hugh Mothersole

The Basildon Park estate spans 162 hectares (400 acres) of historic parkland surrounding the house and garden. Discover the diversity of the flora and fauna in the historic parkland and enjoy the changing colours of the surrounding landscape.

Summer in the parkland

A variety of trees start to show their summer colours throughout May and June, such as hawthorns, Norway maple and copper beech. Rest under their branches on days where you need to find a shady spot.

The blue walk in the parkland takes you through the hidden valley, where the common spotted orchid blooms at this time of year. This precious stretch of land has a high standard of biodiversity, meaning it is specially conserved to allow plants to flourish and wildlife to thrive.

Walking trails

There are four waymarked walks around the parkland that are easy to follow and vary in length and terrain. Choose from a short 20-minute stroll to a two-hour trek across the landscape.

Views and vistas

Take in the views of the 18th-century Bath-stone house as it glows in the distance. The best viewpoint of the house is from the woodland on the green, blue and orange walking routes, where the trees and landscape frame the building.

The view is particularly striking in May where buttercups transform the parkland into a sea of yellow, or on a cold winter’s morning, where frost makes the grounds sparkle.

Common spotted orchid wild flower at Whipsnade Down, Bedfordshire — Common spotted orchid in bloom | © National Trust Images/Rob Coleman

Trees to look out for

There are a number of venerable oak and sweet chestnut trees on the parkland. Over the centuries their crowns have died, leaving the remaining the dead branches looking like a stag's antlers.

You might also notice unusually shaped trees dotted across the parkland. These are mostly likely to be lapsed pollards. Pollarding is an ancient form of tree management and trees grown within grazed pastures had their crowns regularly cut at around eight feet high, to keep them well above the browsing height of the livestock below. This allowed the land to be used for grazing animals and to provide useful material from the trees.

Visitors walking in the grounds in autumn at Basildon Park, Berkshire — Take a stroll in the grounds at Basildon Park | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

Military foundations

The parkland was used for tank training during the Second World War and Nissen huts were built to hold prisoners of war. You can still spot the foundations of some of the Nissen huts today in the main park and along the green walking route.

Family-friendly things to do in the parkland

Walk, play and picnic

There are many areas of the parkland for children to explore and play in, plus many spaces to enjoy a picnic.

Take the waymarked route in pink to discover Basil Den and see how many of the '50 things to do before you're 11¾' your kids can tick off their list, including den-building (No. 4) and hunting for bugs (No. 31).

While you're walking, try to spot a red kite or the many butterflies that flutter past. If you're really lucky you might see the native English orchids that pop up in the parkland to share their pretty flowers with us.