Gawsworth Hall
BEST FOR
Up to age 16
ENTRY
from £5
WHERE
Macclesfield
What it’s like
A Tudor manor house you tour on open days, with an Elizabethan garden and open-air theatre outside.
You wander through the historic rooms at your own pace, looking at the paintings, sculpture and stained glass the house has collected over the centuries, then head out into the grounds where the pleasure garden, tilting ground and rookery are the real stretch-your-legs bit. It's a proper old building rather than a hands-on museum, so this suits kids who'll happily poke about a garden and ask what a tilting ground is, more than ones after buttons to press.
It only opens Saturdays and Sundays through June, July and August, 2pm to 5pm, which is a narrow window if you're planning a visit around it. £12.50 for an adult and £5 for anyone under 16 feels reasonable for a house and grounds like this, and if you're coming as part of a bigger group, coach parties of 20 or more get it down to £10 a head.
The open-air theatre in the Elizabethan pleasure garden is the detail worth knowing about if you can time a visit around a performance, since watching something staged outdoors in grounds this old is a different afternoon to the usual house tour. Given the short summer-only opening, it's one to plan ahead for rather than a spontaneous Sunday drop-in.
Need to know
- Best for
- School-age kids up to 16 who'll enjoy a house and garden tour
- Only open weekends in summer (June to August), so check the day of the week before you set off
- Under 16s go in for £5, which keeps a family visit affordable
- The open-air theatre in the pleasure garden is worth timing a trip around if you can
Plan your visit
When is it open?
Saturdays and Sundays in June, July and August, 2pm to 5pm. Outside that window it's not open.
How much does it cost?
£12.50 for an adult, £5 for anyone under 16. Coach parties of 20 or more pay £10 each.
Is it suitable for young children?
It's listed as suitable up to 16, and it's a proper historic house tour and gardens rather than a play-based attraction, so it works best with kids old enough to enjoy looking round a building and grounds.
What is there to do outside the house itself?
The Elizabethan pleasure garden, the tilting ground and the rookery are all part of the grounds, and there's open-air theatre staged in the garden too.
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