Clumber Park for families

Clumber Park near Worksop in Nottinghamshire offers historic buildings, a Discovery Centre and an adventure playground among the lakeside walking trails.

What is Clumber Park?

Clumber Park is a National Trust property near Worksop in North Nottinghamshire. It covers around 3,800 acres, which is mainly a mix of parkland and woodland.

This Nottinghamshire park belonged to the Dukes of Newcastle for centuries, although the estate’s house was destroyed in 1938. Several buildings remain, however, including the surprisingly large Gothic chapel.

The centrepiece of the estate is a lake, where swans, geese and ducks are in abundance.

Clumber Park is very much a sunny day place – and can be absolutely glorious in autumn when the turning leaves swathe it in colour.

Clumber Park with kids

In the simplest terms, Clumber Park is a good spot to let kids loose and burn off some energy. They’ll hide behind bushes, see how close they dare to get to swans and test their nerve and balance in the playground. The latter is deliberately designed to challenge – it’s about adventure rather than being standard swings and seesaws fare.

The Discovery Centre inside the former brewhouse is worth a look, too. It shows a couple of films about the property, allows you to look in on the resident bat colonies and has a tank of various water-based critters, such as freshwater shrimp, great pond snails and water boatmen.

This is also where you can pick up one of several child-focused activity sheets, encouraging the little ones to look out for different bird species, fallen leaves, nutshells and more.

Bike hire at Clumber Park is overpriced at £12 per adult and £8 per child for two hours, so stick to the walking trails for exercise.

Clumber Park review: The best bit

Clumber Park is seemingly where everyone from hundreds of miles around comes to walk their dog. Children who love animals will probably see more dog breeds than they’ve ever seen in their life, and frequently get distracted from what they’re supposed to be doing to fuss a golden retriever or old English sheepdog.

Infants, juniors or secondary?

Clumber Park’s activities and Discovery Centre are largely aimed at infant-aged children, although nature-minded juniors will also get something out of it. Don’t expect older children to be too thrilled by a visit to Clumber Park, however.

Clumber Park entry prices

Standard entry tickets for Clumber Park, without Gift Aid, cost £5 for adults and £2.50 for children. There are also family tickets available, but they come out at more or less the same price.

There’s no need to book online – just pay one of the attendants on the way to the car park.

Prices were last checked and updated on 5 October 2024.

Full day, half day or a couple of hours?

How long you’ll spend at Clumber Park depends largely on the weather. If the sun’s out, you’ll be merrily occupied for at least half a day

Attractions near Clumber Park

You can combine Clumber Park with a visit to other nearby attractions, such as…

• The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest.
• Creswell Crags.
• Bolsover Castle.
• The Gulliver’s Valley theme park in Rotherham.
• The Sundown Adventureland theme park near Retford.

Nearby cities

Cities within a 90 minute drive of Clumber Park include Sheffield, Doncaster, Nottingham, Derby, Hull, York, Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield, Peterborough, Lincoln, Leicester, Coventry, Birmingham and Stoke on Trent.

Is it open on Mondays?

Clumber Park is open daily – you’ll be able to visit if your kids are off school on a teacher training day.

More information

For more information, visit the Clumber Park section of the National Trust website.