New £400k visitor car park for historic hall near Spilsby

National Trust’s Gunby Estate, Hall and Garden has enjoyed record visitor numbers since it increased its opening times in 2012.

However, as a result the grass car park area near the house, which was adequate until 2012, has become too small.

In addition, when it rains the impact on the car park's heavy clay soil means the area becomes saturated and unsuitable for traffic, taking longer to recover.

The historic lime tree avenue has also been impacted due to the volumes parking on the verges..

Gunby Operations Manager Rachel Marriott. said: ‘’We' re confident that this investment in Gunby's future will allow many people to enjoy this special place for years to come.

"We are committed to progressing a car park at Gunby to a successful conclusion as swiftly as possible."

Building work is already underway at a new location near the entrance,. The new car park will be gradually introduced during the 2020 season..

An on-call buggy will be operating to transfer visitors from the car park to the entrance near the courtyard. Alternatively, the lime tree drive is 500 metres long and will offer a pleasant walk for visitors.

The drive will also be resurfaced as part of the car park works and there will be bike racks for cyclists.

Volunteer buggy drivers are being invited to join the team already operating at Gunby Estate.

Since 2012, when visitor numbers have grown more than three-fold, from around 12k to 42k in 2019, the staff team increased from around six to 14 people and the volunteer team has grown from around 20 to nearly 200 regular helpers - also impacting on the visitor facilities..

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer buggy driver should email [email protected] for an application form.

More information about the new car park can be found on www.nationaltrust.org.uk/gunby-hall.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer buggy driver should email [email protected] for an application form.