West Horsley Place
Guildford
Children will enjoy the Willow Walk and the Sensory Garden on this walk. If they are fans of the TV Show ‘Ghosts’, starring the Horrible Histories team, then they will also enjoy seeing the filming location.
West Horsley Place is better known to some as Button House from TV show Ghosts.
The Basics
Time: 1 hour
Distance: 3.5 km / 2.1 miles
Terrain: The outward leg past the Willow Walk and bluebells wood is on a wide, flat chunky gravel path. The homeward leg involves uneven and narrow paths.
Pushchairs: Pushchairs will be able to do a linear walk as far as the Willow Walk and the bluebell wood, as well as the sensory garden, manor house and cafe.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome but should be under close control and on leads around the cafe and manor house.
Refreshments: The Tiger Lily Bus Company sells barista coffee and sweet treats from a re-purposed milk float in Place Farm Barn courtyard (closed Mondays) . There is plenty of outdoor seating. Picnics on the grounds are also permitted.
Toilets: There are toilets at Place Farm Barn courtyard.
Public Transport: You could easily join this walk on a footpath from Horsley station or the 479 Guildford-Bookham-Leatherhead-Epsom bus service stops in East Horsley, Duke of Wellington, from where it is a seven minute walk to the estate.
Parking: Free car park at West Horsley Place (Postcode: KT24 6AN - W3W: ///curl.sounds.races)
Children will love the Willow Walk in the grounds of the estate.
West Horsley Place is a historic manor house and estate between Guildford and Leatherhead. It is familiar to many as the sole filming location for hit BBC sitcom Ghosts, starring the Horrible Histories cast. Cared for by a charitable trust, volunteers work to maintain and restore the mansion and estate. As part of their vision, the grounds are open to the public to use for well-being and nature connection. Highlights of a walk around the estate include a sensory garden, the children’s Willow Walk with interactive nature activities, a wood that fills will bluebells in spring and of course coffee in the courtyard beside the manor house.
The Route
This walk is a rectangle shape with four turns, making it nice and easy to follow. Begin from the car park by the information board and walk up between the two black barns. Turn left along the wide gravel track, passing a wooden noticeboard to your right. This path will take you in a straight line to the start of the Willow Walk. A circular sign will show children where to start. They will find a mud kitchen, den making area, balance beams, a sky lounge, stone library, willow tunnels and log seating all within a small area. Once the kids have had their fun, continue the walk along the wide, chunky gravel track to the right of the Willow Walk. This straight path will take you along the edge of Lollesworth Wood, where you will see bluebells in spring.
When you finally reach the fence and the railway track beyond, turn left and walk along the small tarmac path with the trainline to your right. Continue until you reach the road. From this point on, the path is unsuitable for pushchairs.
Turn left just before the road and join the permissive path. This is a narrow and uneven path through bushy scrub. Soon fork left towards the telegraph pole and then continue with a paddock to your left. At the end of the paddock, when you can walk forward no longer, turn left and then right. The path will bring you out into an open space and you should walk in a straight line down the left-hand edge. Continue until the first path branches off to your left.
Take this path and it will bring you in a straight line, past the back of the opera house, to the Willow Walk again.
To find the coffee van, follow the sign in the car park into the courtyard.
The house is just beyond the coffee van. You can see it from behind the fence, but need to be a ticket holder to go inside. See the West Horsley Place website for information on guided tours and open days. If you are a fan of the show, this is a MUST as the interior looks exactly like it does on TV!
If standing facing the house, the sensory garden is on your left and is open to the general public. There is a little wildlife pond, flowerbeds, seating areas etc all designed to be enjoyed by everyone. There is a more formal walled garden, but this is only open to ticket holders.
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Did you know?
The oldest wing of the house dates back to 1425 and was once the residence of Henry Viii’s cousin and the king would often visit for hunting and feasting. The house is currently on Historic England’s ‘Heritage at Risk’ register. If you enjoyed your time walking at the estate, please consider making a donation to the trust via the QR codes around the site.
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