Accessibility at Sunnycroft

Arrival and parking facilities

Our entrance/exit is a domestic double gate along a residential road. There are brown signs to follow and a large sign at the entry to the driveway. Please use the postcode TF1 2DP for your satnav.

Visitor Reception is a wooden hut in the visitor car park. Our carpark is small and close to the house, in addition there are three designated spaces for accessible parking adjacent to the main house. The main carpark is part grass, part lightly gravelled surface. The drive and area for accessible parking is hoggin (compressed sand and gravel) surfaced. The car park is level.

As our site is small we do not supply any vehicles to assist with mobility. Our property is accessible by public transport, with a bus stop close to the driveway entrance and the train station a 0.8mile walk through the town of Wellington. Additional parking can be found within the town.

WCs

Visitor WCs (three individual toilet cubicles) are located in the converted outbuildings in the back yard, adjacent to the house. There is one gender neutral accessible WC. The accessible WC is left-hand transfer.

Due to the size of our property we do not have a Changing Places facility. Baby change facility is within the accessible WC.

The WCs (both accessible and non-accessible cubicles) have automatic hand driers, hot water, and electric lighting. There is no natural light when cubicles are in use.

Visitor reception

Visitor Reception is a small wooden welcome hut, the floor is wooden floorboards. Space within the hut is limited and visitors do not need to enter it. If entrance is needed there is one step, approximately 70mm from ground-level.

The entrance is double doors, opening outwards. They remain open whilst the hut is in use and have a 1.2m entrance width. We have no reception desk or other barriers.

All staff and volunteers are standing or sitting when welcoming visitors. The hut is outside and lit by natural light. We have two non-armrest chairs at the hut for visitors to use if needed.

The House

The main path to the house is hoggin (compressed sand and gravel) with a slight incline towards the property. To the rear of the house is yard or brick surface, to the front of the house the path is gravel. Entry and exit points of the house have three steps at every point. Two of the points have handrails, entrance via the historic front door does not. Due to the nature of the site we do not have the space for low gradient ramps.

All entrance/exit doors are manual opening and remain open whilst the house is in use. The primary entrance door is 0.9m wide, the widest entry point is 1.2m wide. Light levels vary room to room due to conservation need and have plenty of natural light that is managed with curtains and blinds. Spaces without natural light are dimly lit.

Access to the first floor is via two staircases. The primary staircase is wide with carpeted low-rise treads and substantial bannisters. The secondary staircase is narrow, steep, wooden and has one handrail. The hallways and landing within the servants’ quarters at the rear of the house are narrow and have tight turns.

There are seats for visitors to use in position around the house, there are no armrests on these chairs. There are volunteers/staff within the house to assist with moving/locating a chair for visitor use.

There are no visitor toilets inside the house. We have a virtual tour of the property that can be viewed on-line on the Sunnycroft website. Due to the small size of the property we are not able to accommodate the use of powered wheelchairs and mobility vehicles inside the House. As a small property we restrict the visitor numbers within the House. If additional quiet space is needed, we can accommodate this.

The Garden

The garden is sectioned into areas and each has its own characteristics. You can move around the gardens without having to use any of the steps or gateways and there are benches and seating near the lawn.

The Wellingtonia Avenue runs along the main drive and route from car park to the house and garden. A gentle gradient with hoggin (compressed sand and gravel) surface; minor undulation due to the roots of the trees.

Stream Garden is accessed from the drive via a narrow iron gate. Narrow circular path of crazy paving leading to a narrow wooden bridge across the stream. The stream is open and flows adjacent to the drive/lawn before heading into a grated culvert.

Meadow & Orchard has a large uneven grassed area spotted with several fruit trees. There is no dedicated path. There are three wide steps down to the lawn, or narrow gate to lawn and/or herbaceous border.

Croquet lawn is a large flat lawn with gravel path along two sides. Three wide steps at rear to meadow, narrow side entrance to orchard and/or herbaceous border.

Herbaceous border has garden paths winding through shrubbery and hosta circle. Mix of gravel, moss, and crazy paving surfaces adjacent to the glasshouses.

The Glasshouses have a gravel path surround, tile flooring in the conservatory, brick flooring in the green house. Access to the glasshouses from the car park is good via the south side of the house. On the north side there is a small step between the glasshouse and the yard.

Visitor toilets and back door of the house are located in the yard. Historic brick surface with minor undulation. Access via the front of the house is unobstructed, access via the glasshouses incorporates a small step.

Stables & Garage have a wide, sloped, hoggin (compressed sand and gravel) pathway from house and/or Wellingtonia Avenue. Buildings have mix of brick and cobble floors.

The Vegetable garden has a central, narrow, grass pathway with vegetable plots either side between stables and car park. There is a narrow iron gate on the access point to the car park.