Dorney Court is open this month of August every afternoon for around £8, and is an ancient Tudor house that you will have seen on TV in Horrible histories, or or Midsummer Murders etc without realising. The rest of the year it is being used for films, adverts or TV series, but well worth visiting in August or at a Bank Holiday. There was a wedding in the Church and gardens when we visited this week, but the house was open for an hour tour, including the ghost room, where a woman comes through a bedroom wall upstairs (and this happened in the last few years on a tour!). The Palmer family have lived in the house for the last 450 years, and the family of one of 3 brothers is currently in residence with their daughter and dogs who we saw in passing.
In 1661 the first pineapple was raised at Dorney Court so you will see the pineapple sculpture in the garden, which you can explore with some lovely grasses in the beds and an elephant fountain, as well as the House and Church. The house has a lot of history including a tunnel which was only re-discovered about 10 years ago, and is open to look down.
The garden centre provides lunch or tea as well as plants of course, and the situation between motorways is a lovely historical oasis near the Thames.
“Opening times Dorney”:http://dorneycourt.co.uk/visit/opening-times-prices/
