Disabled Facilities:-
There are disabled toilet facilities at the following locations in Ripley:
- The public WC's in the village car park.
- The Boar's Head Hotel in the centre of the village.
- The Ripley Castle Tearooms.
- The Castle Gift Shop.
- The Church.
Wheelchair users:
Ripley was built on fairly level ground, so progress is relatively unhindered throughout the village. The Market Square is cobbled but a good tarmacadam road runs the full length from the Main Street to the Castle gates.
Gatehouse:
Visitors to the Castle, Gardens and Tearooms are advised to make their way into the yard adjacent to the Castle Gift Shop and Tearooms (see map): parking spaces are normally available very close to the entrance point. A four-wheeled electric mobility buggy is available for castle visitors at the Castle Gift Shop, and can be reserved by emailing us or phoning 01423 770152. The Castle Tearooms and Gift Shop are both fully accessible to wheelchair users and have disabled WC's. The castle's main entrance is ramped and five of the seven rooms on the tour are fully accessible: we make allowance for this in the ticket price. DVDs of the tour of the upstairs rooms are available for you to watch.
The castle terrace is surfaced with gravel: not ideal for wheelchairs, but it is reasonably manageable. The gardens and grounds are reasonably level and a good network of stone paths ensure that you can get to most places. The majority of the hothouses in the gardens are not currently accessible, but you can pass through the Palm House to get to the grounds. The park walk is not recommended for wheelchair users.
Facilities for the Hard of Hearing:
The Castle Guides operate a state-of-the art neck loop system for the hard of hearing, and have four neck loops that they can hand out. You can reserve these in advance: contact us to let us know when you are coming.
Facilities for the blind and partially sighted:
The guided tour system works very well at Ripley Castle, and because virtually all of the items here are on open display anyway, blind people are encouraged to handle some of the items as they are being discussed. We have always worked on the basis that the civil war armour was made for fighting battles in: anything that our visitors manage to do to it while handling it can't be much worse! Additionally Braille menus are available in the Tearooms.
If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.