A new natural playground called ‘Acorn Dell’ opened in July at Hever Castle & Gardens. Find out what we thought about it when we tested it out recently…
♥ What is it?
Acorn Dell has been designed to allow children to freely explore and use their imagination. Features include a 2 metre high living willow structure, a giant sandpit, a mound with three tunnels to clamber in and a climbing frame. Located in the trees are two lookout platforms linked by a clatter bridge with a slide for making a quick escape!
There are also 42 play boulders of various sizes dotted around the play area to climb on, sit on or to use as stepping stones.
In case you are wondering, the playground is named after one of the main features, a large Oak tree – ‘Acorn’ as the young of the Oak and ‘Dell’ which is historically associated with a hollow in a wooded valley, which perfectly describes where the playground sits.
The new play area aims to blend in with the terrific Tudor Towers adventure playground with the built in seating area for parents made up of curved oak benches topped with castellations (the first line of defence).
The new play space complements the current facility for the under 5s with its swings, slide and climbing frame. Parents and carers are also catered for with a new dedicated refreshment area.
♥ What did we think?
We regularly visit Hever Castle and Gardens so it was exciting to have a new addition for the boys to try out on this visit.
The playground is in a beautiful setting, right next to the trees and feels spacious and tranquil despite there being quite a few children there on the day we visited.
My eldest son loves the Tudor Towers too but Acorn Dell now gives my three year old even more to do when we visit Hever Castle. Their favourite part of it was the clatter bridge with slide, though they really liked crawling through three tunnels in the mound and had a go at the climbing frame too.
The Tudor Towers!
From a parent’s perspective, there is plenty of seating both to the side of the playground and looking down over the playground (next to Tudor Towers). This is handy for keeping an eye on the kids if one of them is in Tudor Towers and the other is in Acorn Dell.
There is also a new refreshments area which is a very welcome addition. It was very hot and sunny on the day we went, so sipping on a cold drink while the children played was just bliss. There was also quite a bit of shaded area in the new playground because it is right next to trees.
The new playground will no doubt make visits to Hever Castle even more appealing for us over the coming months and years.
♥ What else can we do there?
We had taken a picnic with us which we ate on the grassy area opposite the castle and visited the water maze (which is brilliant on a hot day) too. We spent pretty much the whole day outside which is just perfect for a tired pregnant Mum with two busy boys. They slept like logs that evening!
We usually visit the castle itself too but didn’t have time on this occasion. But I can highly recommend it, especially at Christmas when it is dressed up for the occasion. We often do a speedy tour through it, before the boys have time to grab anything they shouldn’t!
The annual Summer Jousting Tournaments are continuing on selected dates throughout the month on 18th & 19th August plus 24th to 27th August 2018. If you haven’t been to it before, you can read all about it in our review HERE.
Knights and Princesses School also continues daily from now until 27th August, which can be pre-booked on arrival. This is a super activity (included in entrance price) for children age 6+.
Find out more about Hever Castle admission prices, events and opening times HERE.
Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Hever Castle, a partner of My Tunbridge Wells. Our entry was complimentary but as always, all thoughts are my own.
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