Mawson's terraced gardens
Layers of borders and stone steps falling from the house to the lakeshore, Grade II-listed and the finest thing to survive the old era.
J Scott — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lewis Clarke — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lewis Clarke — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lewis Clarke — CC BY-SA 2.0
Britain's first national park visitor centre opened in this house in 1969 and closed for good in March 2025. Know that before you drive out: the tall house built in 1897 to Dan Gibson's design, a summer home for a Manchester silk merchant, no longer holds exhibitions, maps or a ranger to decode the fells for you. What remains is what was always the better half of Brockhole: Thomas Mawson's Arts and Crafts terraces stepping down in layers to the water, lawns big enough for a few hundred families, thirty acres in all with ten of formal garden and the rest ancient oak wood and wildflower meadow, and all of it free. You pay only for parking, 5.50 pounds for up to two hours rising to 9 pounds for the day. In April 2026 the estate passed to BeWILDerwood, the nature-play company, and the changes are starting to show. The Whitehouse cafe is trading again, though only at weekends and in school holidays and on a short menu of cold sandwiches, cake and drinks, with a catering trailer by the play area for ice cream. On 25 July 2026 'Minty Land' opened, the company's first indoor play space, at 10 pounds per child including one adult, 2 pounds for each extra adult and babies in arms free, pre-booked in hour-long slots from ten in the morning with last entry at four, and you may stay on when the room is not full. The signature outdoor BeWILDerwood playground is promised for spring 2027, so this is a place mid-transformation rather than at its peak. Everything else on the grounds is a separately ticketed operator. Zip World's treetop nets take children from age three for a two-hour session at about 25 pounds a head plus a 5-pound booking fee, with tree-climbing treks for older kids; Wild Bounce inflatables run in summer, eleven until four, at 10 pounds for anyone over a metre tall and no booking taken because it hangs on the weather. There is no boat hire here either, despite the jetty: the rowing boats go out from Bowness and Waterhead. The arithmetic is simple. A family that wants a free afternoon gets an adventure playground, a garden, a lake and room to run. A family that wants the paid thrills will spend theme-park money. The main paths are surfaced and take a pushchair, though the garden terraces fall away steadily as you near the shore. The position is one of its best assets: on the A591 roughly midway between Windermere town and Ambleside, about ten minutes' drive from either and a little further from Bowness, with the 555 stopping at the gate all year and the open-top 599 alongside it in the warmer months. Better still, arrive by water: Windermere Lake Cruises' Red Cruise launches call at the Brockhole jetty right through the main season, late March to the start of November, from Bowness or Ambleside, so you step off, spend two hours and catch a later boat. In July and August the car park fills after lunch, so come before eleven. In winter the grounds stay open but the light is gone before four and the woodland turns to mud, and Minty Land becomes the only real reason to come.
Layers of borders and stone steps falling from the house to the lakeshore, Grade II-listed and the finest thing to survive the old era.
A big timber playground among the trees that absorbs a full hour of children's energy for nothing.
Red Cruise boats from Bowness or Ambleside call at the Brockhole jetty from late March to early November.
Brockhole, A591, Windermere LA23 1LJ
Honestly no, except as a stop off the lake launch to walk Mawson's gardens for half an hour, and for a coffee if you come at a weekend or in school holidays when the cafe opens. The visitor centre and exhibitions closed in 2025 and everything ticketed here is aimed at children; Bowness and Ambleside serve adults better.
Under five, choose Minty Land: much cheaper, indoors, and an hour is enough. The nets take children from three but come into their own from about six, and they cost roughly three times as much once the booking fee is in, take two hours, and want closed shoes rather than sandals.
