Upton House in Oxfordshire is the first stately home that I actually took children into. I hadn’t been planning on it, but the volunteers at the entrance were so lovely and said how child-friendly it was inside the house so we went in. The house was owned by the founders of the Shell oil company – we’ve since had a tour and found out all about the fascinating history of the family – did you know the company starting selling shell covered trinkets? During the war it was used as the headquarters of their bank, and it’s set up like it was then. This review of Upton House has been written over a couple of different visits and so has been updated a few times.
The nature play trail
The car park is a few minutes from the house. You can either walk straight down the drive to the house or you can take the nature play trail. This is a longer route around the perimeter of the “front garden” of the house and leads to the restaurant which is next to the house. There are lots of obstacles and areas for the children to explore and quite often there are children’s trails along this path. My two could happily wander and play along this trail for hours!
On our most recent visit I was really surprised how much the play-trail had deteriorated in the previous few years. Since I first wrote this review of Upton House covid has hit and this may well have had an impact. That said, parts of the trail needed urgent TLC. Or even just to have the weeds cut away.
Inside the house
There are several hands-on areas for the kids within the house, including the banking hall where they can type on a real typewriter. Like, an old-school, proper typewriter. Apparently this is a hilarious way to type anything and I’m a million years old for having used one when I was a child!!! Thanks kids.
There are plenty of rooms that are open for them to explore, including the basement. My kids always love having a look around how different it is “below-stairs”. They also have a pool table that the kids can play a game on. The house isn’t massive but there’s a decent number of rooms to look around and they’re very engaging. Only the first floor is accessible and I don’t think pushchairs are allowed in. You’ll need a carrier to explore the other floors with smaller kids but you can borrow one if you need to.
The gardens at Upton House
The grounds themselves are not as large as some others locally, but they’re lovely and have a variety of areas. They have an orchard, several marked walks, ponds including a large mirror pond and there’s a swimming pool (which has now been drained). They used to have an Anderson shelter in the grounds but I think it got too dangerous and has been removed. The massive dip (which may well have been another pond at some time?) is great for rolling down.
There’s a nice grassy lawn at the side of the house overlooking the surrounding hills. It’s great for letting the kids run around and there are some perfect spots for rolling down hills. In the spring the snowdrops and daffodils in the orchard and woodland walk look so beautiful. The main terrace garden is stunning in summer too. It’s got both flowers and vegetables growing and it’s set-out over several terraces (hence the name). There are a LOT of steps though and it is only partially accessible via slopes if you’ve got a pushchair or wheelchair with you.
Despite access issues the view from the mirror pool at the bottom is pretty spectacular and worth it. On my most recent visit to Upton House there was a grass snake SWIMMING across the lake. It was awesome. The first time I’ve ever seen a snake in the wild. I was very excited.
Most importantly, the scones
A visit to the restaurant is definitely a good idea. We’ve eaten in there several times – the food was nice, portions are decent and it’s a reasonable price. The scones were really good. It’s always been very clean and the staff have been very friendly and helpful. Be warned though, if you sit on the chairs outside there are several very “friendly” robins who would love to share your lunch with you – we had to move a couple of times!! There are a couple of places throughout the grounds you can have a picnic as well, including some that are sheltered.
Our Upton House Review
What makes this place different is that you can be hands on. Not quite as much as at Avebury Manor, but still loads more than most of the places we visit. Whilst this isn’t the biggest site, you can still make a full day of it. It’s also more than possible to do there and back from Aylesbury between school runs and still have a decent amount of time on-site (I’d recommend coming off the M40 at Jct 10 not Jct 9 to avoid the risk of traffic).
Admission Cost
Entry – £30 for a family ticket or FREE for NT members. For the latest prices visit their website (Affiliate link)
Parking / How to get there
Parking – On-site, free.
Address – near Banbury, Warwickshire, OX15 6HT
Toilets
On-site, including baby change
Food
Nice restaurant, picnics welcome. Good scones but do be careful sitting outside, there’s a few overly friendly robins
Hi, I’m Vicky. My husband and I live in Aylesbury with our three children; a 14 year old son, an 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter. I (mostly) love spending time together as a family. We visit all kinds of places and we’re quite happy to drive a fair distance for a decent day out. A few years ago I decided to set up Free Time with the Kids as a way to share our experiences of these family days out.
You’ll find the essential information you need to know before your visit that can be surprisingly hard to find out. Where do I park? How much will it cost me to get in? Are there any discounts available? Are there loos? Can I take a picnic or get food? My aim is to be your go-to guide for all your free and cheap family days out across Bucks, Beds, Oxon, Herts & slightly beyond. I really hope you find the reviews helpful. If there’s anywhere that you’d recommend please get in touch contact@freetimewiththekids.com or get in touch via Facebook
Your information is outdated and misleading. The typewriters in the Long Gallery were part of a wartime themed exhibition from 2015 only and not permanently displayed. The ‘below-stairs’ areas are a living room and the Porcelain and picture gallery, the other basement areas are not available, though they may have been in 2015. Also the full size billiard table is certainly not available for children to play on! Do please come for an updated visit in 2023.
Hi Julie. Thanks for the feedback. As with all of my reviews, I can only comment on our experience at the time. Although I’ve been back to Upton House about 5 times since that first visit I mention in the review, I’ve only been inside the house on one other occasion back in 2017 for a guided visit. I do appreciate that things will change so it’s always useful to know when they have. Re the pool table in the basement, what can I say? Other people were playing on it when we went in the room and talking to a volunteer whilst doing so, and then we played on it. Maybe that was just temporary too? We are always very respectful of the places we visit and would never have just played a game on the table otherwise.