Stansted ParkHouse, arboretum, farm shop and a flat walk, ten minutes away

What is there

Stansted is a working estate of about 1,750 acres on the Sussex and Hampshire border. You park for free at the visitor car park (postcode PO9 6DU) and everything is a short walk from there. Nothing needs booking except events at the house. Times below are from the estate’s own visit page, so check it before a special trip.

• Farm shop: daily, 10am to 4pm. A butchery counter with wild game and rare-breed meat, a deli, and a fish counter on Fridays.
• Pavilion Tearoom: daily, 9am to 5pm.
• Garden centre and bookshop: Monday to Saturday 9am to 5:30pm, Sunday 10:30am to 4:30pm.
• Arboretum and Dutch Garden: daily, 9am to 5pm.
• Light railway: Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10am to 3:30pm, weather permitting. £3.50 for adults, £2.50 for children, under-threes free.
• Maze: weekends and school holidays from Mothering Sunday to the end of October half-term, 11am to 4pm, £2.50.

The house, summer and winter

Stansted House and St Paul’s Chapel open on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday from 1pm to 5pm, with last admission at 4pm, from Easter Sunday to the end of September. In 2027 Easter Sunday is 28 March.

In winter the house is shut apart from special openings. Christmas at Stansted House is on Sunday 6 December 2026, 11am to 4pm. The grounds, farm shop, tearoom and garden centre carry on all year, which makes Stansted one of the few places near us that is as useful in January as in July.

One thing to know: the Garden Show no longer runs at Stansted. It was last held here in June 2024 and has moved away. The estate’s own Summer Festival was at the end of June in 2026, and we expect the same in 2027 once dates are published.

The walk

Octagon walk 1 starts here. It is 2.7 miles with 38 m of climb, so almost flat, through the parkland and the long avenues. Allow about an hour. It is the easiest of the nine Octagon walks and the one to choose with small children or anyone who does not want a hill.

The National Park’s booklet also describes a surfaced, level out-and-back route at Stansted that works for a pushchair. Two long-distance paths, the Monarch’s Way and the Sussex Border Path, cross the estate. Stansted Forest is one of the local bluebell woods, usually at its best from late April to mid May.

Dogs

Dogs are welcome under close control on the forest footpaths and bridleways, and on a lead in the walled garden. Only assistance dogs are allowed in the arboretum, the maze, the Dutch Garden and the house. So with a dog, do the walk and the farm shop, and leave the arboretum for another day.

From the farm

Stansted is the nearest place to us with a butcher, a deli and a cup of tea in one stop. Go on your first morning, walk the loop, and come back with supper for the barbecue.

With a dog, stay in Barley Cottage. With grandparents or a pushchair, The Old Stables is on one level. Stansted is also licensed for weddings of up to about 200, ten minutes from us, so see wedding guests if that is why you are coming.