Despite the fact that there is not one, but two houses at Lyveden, this is one of the most outdoorsy National Trust places I have written a review of. Part of the reason for that is because one of those houses doesn’t have a roof. Or any floors for that matter. It’s just a shell as it was never completed, which is why it’s so cool. There’s a manor house as well but that only has two rooms open, plus the cafe. You will spend the vast majority of your time outside when you visit here.
This review of Lyveden is based on our experiences at the time of our visit. Things can change over time, including the facilities available. If you have any specific requirements such as access it’s always best to check with the site directly before visiting. If anything I’ve said in this review is no longer accurate then please do let me know. Thank you.
The manor house
I’ll start my review at the manor house, mainly because that’s where the loos are at Lyveden so it’s where we started our visit! They had a children’s craft activity (nature crowns) available for £1 per child on the day that we visited. The staff doing the craft were absolutely lovely. Lyveden has easily some of the nicest NT volunteers I’ve met in a while. We had a look around the history room which takes a couple of minutes, then went up to the only room that is open upstairs.
It’s quite a unique room because you can eat and drink in here and there’s various games to play. There’s also their second hand books to buy. Downstairs there’s a cafe that takes up the rest of the downstairs rooms.
The lodge
The lodge at Lyveden is the main reason I wanted to come and review this place – because it looks so cool! They ran out of money and so the floors and roof were never completed. As we were walking over Biggest Child said he thought it was going to be boring just walking around the outside of the building. Then we found the servants entrance and you can actually go inside. Suddenly it was no longer boring!!
For the most part you’re just below stairs, but there’s also a staircase that lets you see what the view would have been like from the main house. There’s also some very cool (and very old) graffiti scratched into the rock.
The gardens
The gardens have spiral mounds, a labyrinth, a water garden and an orchard. The time of year we visited Lyveden to do our review wasn’t exactly the best for the gardens! The labyrinth is made from mown grass, and the grass hadn’t grown long enough for it to be cut yet.
There’s a lot of open water here (well, they are water gardens) but the water is next to big hills. My kids wanted to keep running up and down the hills near the water and that didn’t seem like a good idea at all! Apparently that made me boring.
Our Lyveden review
The staff at Lyveden were all so lovely – genuinely the nicest NT team I’ve met so far. I wouldn’t necessarily say that Lyveden is the most family friendly place to visit though as there isn’t necessarily that much to do here. There’s no playground (which in itself isn’t actually an issue), there’s not much in the house, there’s not much to see in the gardens, there’s no woodland and the site isn’t really that big. You can spend a few hours here quite happily, but I can’t imagine spending more than a few hours here, and I’m not sure you’d come back again and again. I’m glad we’ve ticked it off our list, but I think there are more interesting days out nearby such as Stanwick Lakes or Irchester Coountry Park.
Admission cost
Free for National Trust Members (affiliate link). £24.80 for a family (2A, 3C) or £14.90 (1A, 3C).
All prices correct at the time this review of Lyveden was published. For the latest prices please visit their website (affiliate link)
Parking / How to get there
Parking – On-site, free
Address – Lyveden, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, PE8 5AT
Toilets
On-site including baby change
Food
Cafe on-site. Picnics allowed.
What other National Trust properties are worth visiting?
Northamptonshire is quite light on National Trust Properties, but there are plenty of others nearby. You can check out all of my NT reviews in the National Trust and English Heritage area of the website.
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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
