Last Updated on April 3, 2019 by Suzy McCullough

Normanby Hall Country Park in Lincolnshire is in the north of the county and not too far from the Humber estuary. It’s somewhere we’ve never been before but have been meaning to visit for a few years now.

They have had recent investments with new playgrounds and a Go Ape! on-site. We visited on a day in March when not everything was yet open. We did manage a few hours here, however, we could have certainly spent a full day out had everything been open. Always a good excuse to return as entry costs aren’t especially high.

The Playgrounds

There are two new playgrounds at Normanby Hall. The larger one is near the car park and was busy all day so I didn’t get a very good photo of it I’m afraid. There is a sand play area, a zip wire, a climbing frame, a slide and lots of other things to play on. There was equipment for toddlers up to teenagers.

Normanby Hall Country Park | Day out Review Day 14 80 days
Part of the larger playground near the main car park
Normanby Hall Country Park | Day out Review Day 14 80 days

There is also a baby-to-toddler playground that is located over by the splash pad and was certainly a lot quieter than the larger playground.

Splash Pad

There is a splash pad at Normanby Hall Country Park. It is open over the summer months. It’s not massive but I can imagine it’s a lot of fun on a hot day. Just to the right of the splash pad is the newer playground for little ones.

Normanby Hall

They have made a huge effort to make children welcome at Normanby Hall. You can pick up an explorer backpack for your kids when you enter which gives them plenty of activities and tasks to carry out on their way around.

Normanby Hall
Normanby Hall

Normanby Hall was built back in 1825. There are some very elegant rooms to wander around and upstairs they have rooms, especially for children. We loved the room with the dress-up. In there they also had a bed kids could make up, a large doll house they could play with, old objects they could identify and more. It is a lovely room and one we spent some time in. There are tours of the house over the summer months.

Inside Normanby Hall
Inside Normanby Hall
Normanby Hall Country Park | Day out Review
Dressing up
Dressing up
The dolls house
The Dolls house
Identifying objects from the past
Identifying objects from the past

The Stables, Coach House and Cafe

Over at the stables and coach house, they have a few displays you can wander around. Including a stable with some large realistic-looking horses, a fire engine and more.

The Stables at Normanby Hall
The Stables at Normanby Hall

In this area, you will also find their cafe. Be warned that they don’t have many tables inside. They have plenty outside but people can also have their picnics on these benches. We chose to eat early so that we wouldn’t struggle to find a table. The food ranges from sandwiches to jacket potatoes. They have sandwich boxes for children.

Victorian Walled Garden

We found this a little disappointing as other places local to us make sure that their walled garden looks good pretty much all year round. This was very sparse and not interesting to look at. We did, however, find a few exhibition rooms at the back which were interesting to wander around.

The Victorian Walled garden
The Victorian Walled garden
Normanby Hall Country Park | Day out Review
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The Farming Museum

This doesn’t open until early April so it was shut when we visited in March. The museum brings rural Lincolnshire to life with displays such as the tenant farmer’s kitchen and backyard. Plus the saddler’s and blacksmiths workshops. Old farm machinery and transport tell the story of how the land was worked back in the 1850s up to the 1950s. There is an under-fives play area in the museum.

Inside the farming museum at Normanby
Inside the farming museum at Normanby
Normanby Hall Country Park | Day out Review

Go Ape!

Go Ape! Is not included in your admission ticket to Normanby Hall. To find out more about Go Ape! please see – Go Ape Tree Top Adventure. You won’t need an entrance ticket to the hall and grounds to visit Go Ape! Go Ape! is a treetop adventure for those over 1.00m for Treetop junior and over 10 years old and 1.4m for treetop adventure.

Go Ape! at Normanby Hall country park
Go Ape! at Normanby Hall Country Park

Normanby Hall Country Park – The grounds

There are over 300 acres at Normanby Hall Country Park. This includes a golf course, fishing, deer park and park runs. We loved exploring the parkland at the country park. There is a path and although rough it is fine for wheelchairs and buggies. Along the walk, we found a few sculptures, a new storytelling area which looked to be a mud kitchen (my son didn’t want to take a closer look) and a lovely duck pond. If you haven’t brought your own duck food you can buy bags of it in the gift shop.

Posing in the giant picture frame in the grounds
Posing in the giant picture frame in the grounds
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Keep your eye out for the Peacock
Sculptures at Normanby Hall country park
Sculptures at Normanby Hall Country Park
Normanby Hall Country Park | Day out Review
Story telling play area
Storytelling/mud kitchen play area
Duck Pond
Duck Pond

Other Summer only activities

Also during the summer months, there is a miniature railway. This looked like a fun and quite long track over by the larger playground. There is a small charge for this.

During the warmer months, they also have a land train which takes you around part of the grounds at Normanby. It’s a vintage train and is the nicest I’ve ever seen. A ride on the land train costs £2 per person and under 5’s are free.

The Land Train at Normanby Hall
The Land Train at Normanby Hall

Normanby Hall has plenty of events throughout the year such as party in the park music festival, outdoor cinema, Christmas market and more. Please visit their website for up-to-date pricing for entry to Normanby Hall Country Park.


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