Access Guide
Admissions
- At this location the following are free to access for all visitors: All areas except the Formal Garden.
- At this location the following areas are free to access for National Trust members but payable for everyone else: All areas.
- Parking is free for National Trust members and Blue Badge holders but chargeable for all other visitors.
- This site offers companion or carer discounts.
- Disabled National Trust members can bring an essential companion which must be requested at the time when membership is taken out.
Public Transport
- There is not a bus stop within approximately 150m of the site.
- There is a regular bus from Staplehurst station to Sissinghurst Recreation Ground which is 1.3 miles from the venue.
- The nearest train station is Staplehurst.
- Staplehurst train station is approximately 5.9 miles away.
- For the latest travel options and information you can plan your travel using Traveline (opens new tab).
Parking
- This site has a car park.
- This is an open air car park with a grass, loose chippings and compacted earth surface.
- Parking is free for National Trust members and Blue Badge holders, but charges apply for all other visitors.
- There are clearly presented payment signs.
- Maps and information boards are available.
- There are more than 20 Blue Badge parking bays.
- There is no hatched zone.
- The nearest Blue Badge bay is 300m from the Visitor Reception.
- Obstacles from the car park include: loose chippings, uneven surfaces and bollards with low colour contrast and no visual identification band.
- There are not parent and child parking bays available.
- The Blue Badge bays are sign posted but are not marked.
Equipment and Resources to Borrow
- You can borrow or hire the following equipment: manual wheelchairs. It is highly recommended that these are booked in advance, where this is possible. Please check the National Trust website for details.
- You can borrow these from the Visitor Reception. View more information about booking and collection of equipment.
- Powered mobility vehicles cannot be borrowed or hired.
Visitor Reception
- There is step-free level access into the area.
- Access into the area is via a slight ramp/slope.
- The slope is over 150cm wide, with no handrails.
- The door is manual, opens inwards and has a high colour contrast with the surrounding walls.
- The width of the door opening is 142cm.
- Internally the door has a low colour contrast.
- There is step-free level access around the area.
- The majority of aisle widths are over 150cm.
- There is room for wheelchair users to manoeuvre (150cm x 150cm) throughout the area.
- The flooring is not smooth and even.
- Where the flooring is not smooth or even, this is due to carpet.
- There is step-free level access to the counter.
- The height of the counter is 83cm.
- There is not a low level section at a suitable height for a wheelchair user.
- The counter has a clearly signed hearing assistance system.
- The hearing assistance system was tested and working at the time of the survey.
- There are tables and chairs without armrests available in the visitor reception.
- Services/facilities available include: a portable card machine for payment and a member of staff to provide assistance.
- There is no (or very little) background noise here.
- Lighting levels are moderate to good.
Toilet with Adaptations (Left Hand Transfer)
- This toilet is located to the left of the Visitor Reception.
- There is step-free level access into the toilet.
- This toilet is approximately 10m from the Visitor Reception.
- There is tactile and pictorial signage on or near the door.
- The door is manual, opens outwards and has a low colour contrast with the surrounding walls.
- The width of the toilet door opening is 78cm.
- The door has a locking handle.
- The dimensions of the cubicle are 138cm x 157cm and it does not have a 150cm x 150cm turning space.
- There is a lateral transfer space to the left of the seat but it is obstructed.
- The lateral transfer space is 66cm from the side of the toilet pan to the wall.
- There is a lever flush on the transfer side.
- The following grab rails are available: a horizontal grab rail on the non transfer side, a vertical grab rail on the transfer side and vertical grab rails on both sides of the wash basin.
- There is a dropdown rail on the transfer side.
- The following fixtures can be reached from the toilet seat: toilet roll holder and wash basin.
- The following fixtures cannot be reached from the toilet seat: hand dryer.
- The height of the toilet seat above floor level is 47cm.
- The height of the toilet roll holder is 120cm.
- The wash basin tap type is push.
- The height of the wash basin is 68cm.
- The height of the hand dryer is 84cm.
- There is a pull cord emergency alarm but it is not at a recommended height (within 10cm from the floor).
- There is not a shelf.
- The cubicle has: a nappy/incontinence items bin and a sanitary bin.
- The cubicle does not have a full length mirror.
- The height of the coat hook is 100cm from the floor.
- The following have a high colour contrast with their surroundings: the toilet seat, all grab rails, the floor and the dropdown rail.
- The following have a less clear colour contrast with their surroundings: the internal door.
- Lighting levels are low.
Standard Toilet
- There is step-free level access into the toilet.
- The door is manual, permanently held open and has a high colour contrast with the surrounding walls.
- The width of the door opening is 73cm.
- Internally the door has a high colour contrast.
- The male and female standard toilets were surveyed.
- The width of the widest cubicle door opening is 67cm.
- The wash basin tap type is push.
- Lighting levels are moderate to good.
- There are hand dryers.
- There is a baby change facility which is not at a suitable height for a wheelchair user.
- There is a baby change table in the extended cubicles in both the female and male toilets.