Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Last updated 2nd June 2020
We are not open today (2nd June)
To open, we have made changes to our booking process and the gardens themselves to ensure we remain compliant with social distancing measures. Please read the below carefully before continuing to book your tickets.
Booking
As a temporary short term solution to manage visitor numbers and keep them at a safe level, we will be moving to an online only pre-booking system. We will not be offering tickets for sale at the Visitor Entrance. This new system will be linked from our website homepage and you will be able to book a visit a maximum of one week in advance
As we monitor the ongoing risk of Covid-19, we may reintroduce a limited number of “on-the-door” ticket sales later on in the season, but this is largely dependent on the Government’s traffic light system for risk monitoring.
Ticket numbers will sold in either morning or afternoon timeslots and each timeslot will be capped to manage visitor numbers, so you may need to check the booking page frequently to find a suitable time and date that is available.
Season Ticket Holders
If you are a season ticket holder, you will be able to use this same system to reserve a space, or to add additional guests whether these are a part of your season ticket cost or not. Additional guests that are not entitled to free entry as a part of your membership will need to pay for their ticket upon arrival.
Please remember to bring along your season ticket when you visit so this can be verified. If you do not bring your season ticket with you, you will not be permitted entrance to Penshurst Place and Gardens.
Season Ticket reservations will be capped per timeslot to manage visitor numbers, so you may need to check the booking page frequently to find a suitable time and date that is available.
All current season tickets will have their renewal date extended to reflect the number of weeks we were closed during our covid-19 lockdown.
If your Season Ticket membership expired during our covid-19 lockdown period of 23rd March - 2nd June, you will still be able to reserve a ticket as a Season Ticket Holder on the online booking site. On the day of your visit, please bring your expired card with you so that we can extend your renewal date to reflect the number of weeks we were closed.
If your Season Ticket membership expired prior to our lockdown, you will need to purchase a standard entry ticket on the online booking site. If you choose to purchase a new season ticket during your visit, we will refund the cost of your day visit.
Partner Promotions
Regretfully, whilst we are operating on an online-only booking basis, all partner promotions including those with the RHS, Gardener’s World, Gardens of the South, South Eastern and English Heritage are temporarily suspended. This is to help keep our daily visitor numbers at a manageable level. We are unable to provide “on-the-door” tickets at this time, and cannot share a booking system with partner promotions due to GDPR and processing implications.
It is hoped that when we are able to provide a small number of “on-the-door” tickets, we will be able to resume our partnership with these promotions.
Historic Houses Members
If you are a member of the Historic Houses Association, you will be able to use this same system to reserve a space. Please remember to bring along your HHA membership card when you visit so this can be verified. If you do not bring your membership card with you, you will not be permitted entrance to Penshurst Place and Gardens.
HHA reservations will be capped per timeslot to manage visitor numbers, so you may need to check the booking page frequently to find a suitable time and date that is available.
Facilities
To reduce the risk of cross contamination, the following facilities will be closed:
- The Adventure Playground
- The House
- The Woodland Trail
- The Garden Restaurant
- The Stable Yard Visitor Toilets
- The Gift Shop
- The Toy Museum
Please take care to leave a 2 metre space between your household and other households during your visit. We have installed hand sanitiser stations across the gardens and would encourage you to use them as you pass. A map detailing their locations will be available on the day, or is downloadable via the link at the bottom of this page.
And finally, a thank you
Thank you to all of you for your kind words and engagement with us over the last few weeks. It has been incredibly strange to see the Gardens without visitors and we are looking forward to welcoming you again safely. The online booking system is a new venture for us and may well have a few teething problems in its initial stages, please bear with us as we navigate through these uncertain times and new initiatives, and know that we are committed to putting systems in place to help keep you as safe as we can during your visit to Penshurst Place and Gardens.
See you soon,
The Penshurst Place Team