Spring is all around us here in the UK so it seemed the perfect weather for a day out exploring somewhere new. With our trusty National Trust membership cards in hand we decided to visit Basildon Park, only an hour from London. Basildon Park is a Grade I listed building, built in the Palladian style. It runs regular events and you can visit the house, gardens and tea rooms.

Exploring Basildon Park

We were fortunate with some lovely weather so enjoyed the drive to Basildon Park in Berkshire. We picked up a map and film trail leaflet at the entrance before setting off to explore. My daughter couldn’t wait to walk the Basildon Park film trail.

She followed the clues on her Lights, Camera, Action! trail leaflet to solve clues and learn some interesting facts too.

After we had finished the children’s trail (which was a great way to see some of the pretty Spring flowers in the gardens) we carried on exploring the gardens around the house. Then it was time to visit the house which has been used as a location for films such as Bridgerton, Downton Abbey, Pride & Prejudice and Dorian Gray.

According to its Wikipedia page, Basildon Park is not one of the great houses of Britain. It is pretty, with lovely furniture and paintings, but it does feel like a small country house. The house was rescued by Lord and Lady Iliffe in the 1950s at a time when many country houses were being demolished. You enter the house on the first floor and see some of the reception rooms before heading upstairs where you can visit some bedrooms and bathrooms.

My daughter asked why the table was set for afternoon tea in the bathroom, so I had to explain that it was actually set with perfume bottles and a ring holder that you would expect, rather than tea and biscuits. This room had a definite 1950s feel to it, as did the kitchen that the 1950s owners had put in.

We also loved the beautiful Bamboo Bedroom and the pretty Shell Room, which featured a huge range of shells from around the world, collected by Lady Iliffe.

We really enjoyed our trip to Basildon Park. We enjoyed our lunch in the tearoom which was in the original kitchens and had a fun walk back to the car park through the old stable block which now houses the shop, toilets and small tea shack.