The Victorian kitchens
A chapel-roofed cooking hall with dairy, pastry room, bakehouse and larders shows how the servants lived, not just the family.
One April night in 1881 a fire took most of Lanhydrock, and the Robartes family rebuilt it with every modern comfort the age could supply: central heating, bells to summon the servants, hot water on tap, real bathrooms. So what you walk into today is not an antique in the usual sense but a wealthy family home frozen at about 1900, some fifty rooms open, and the stars are not the drawing rooms but the kitchens. A cooking hall with a roof like a chapel, a dairy, a pastry room, a bakehouse, cold larders, and whole corridors where maids were at work before the family stirred. What survived the fire is the oldest and finest part: the 17th-century Long Gallery with its Jacobean plaster ceiling of Old Testament scenes, and the detached stone gatehouse that stands in front of the house like a toy castle. Outside, formal gardens of clipped yew cones step up to a sloping garden famous for its huge magnolias and rhododendrons, at their best in April and May before the trees leaf up. Beyond that the estate runs to almost 1,000 acres of parkland, woodland and heath dropping to the River Fowey, about two miles of which are yours to walk, with family-grade cycle trails and a bike hire shop by the car park. The visit stretches to fit: an hour and a half in the house, an hour in the gardens, and as long as you like in the woods. From Bodmin it is a ten-minute drive south, signed from the A30 and A38; from Truro or Newquay allow 30 to 45 minutes. From Bodmin Parkway railway station you can walk up through the estate, about 2.8 km or 40 minutes. The car park sits roughly 600 metres and a ten-minute walk from the house across the parkland, with an electric buggy running from reception to the gatehouse for anyone who finds the walk hard. House and garden entry for non-members of the National Trust is 24 pounds for adults and 12 for children aged 5 to 17, under-fives free, or 26.40 for the ticket that includes a donation, plus pay-and-display parking at 2 pounds an hour or 6 for the day. No advance booking is needed even in summer, but the place is busiest between 11am and 2pm, so do the house first or leave it to late afternoon. The house also keeps shorter hours than the garden and closes on some winter days, with a Christmas dressing in December, so check the opening calendar before you travel; the gardens, estate and cafes stay open daily all year. For families: pushchairs roll easily through the gardens and parkland, while inside the house the upper floors are reached by stairs, though a lift serves the first floor and only the attic servants' rooms are stairs-only, and the nursery route laid on for children usually rescues the visit. There is an adventure play area near the car park, two cafes and a courtyard restaurant. Honestly, if you want a countryside walk rather than a house, the estate and river trails cost only the parking fee; the house is what the ticket is for. And on a wet day, which Cornwall supplies generously, this is one of the best indoor visits in the whole county.
A chapel-roofed cooking hall with dairy, pastry room, bakehouse and larders shows how the servants lived, not just the family.
One of the few parts of the house to survive the 1881 fire, with a Jacobean plaster ceiling of Old Testament scenes.
Giant magnolias and rhododendrons flowering in April and May above the clipped formal parterres.
Lanhydrock, Bodmin PL30 4AB
If you enjoy historic houses, yes: the fifty-room tour here is more complete than at many English country houses. If you only want walking and cycling, the estate and river trails cost nothing but the parking fee, so skip the ticket.
In rain it is one of Cornwall's best indoor visits, since most of your time is inside the house. In winter the house keeps shorter hours and closes on some days, apart from the December Christmas dressing, so check the calendar before making the drive; the gardens and woods are open either way.