Markshall Estate
A family day out at Markshall Estate, exploring its arboretum, gardens and woodland walks.
Coggeshall, CO6 1TG
Our visit
The Markshall Estate is one of our perennial 'go-to' places to visit, suitable all year round for all ages and levels of accessibility. We first visited nearly 40 years ago with our very young children and have watched it develop from predominantly an arboreteum with walking tracks to a more developed arboreteum featuring trees and shrubs from every temperate region on Earth. Our particular favourite is Gondweanaland with its large collection of Wollemi pines and numbers fragrant eucalyptus trees.
A jewel in the Estate's crown is the historic Walled Gardens which are not just a delight to the senses but a joy to younger visitors who can freely walk or run on the wavy wall and play in the little maze shrubbery. We love that children are encouraged to play and enjoy this beautiful part of the gardens.
On this visit we took our 11-year old grandson who has been visiting for as long as he can remember, feeding the enormous fish in the ornamental lake with grandad, collecting interesting leaves and other interesting objects on his walks.
The Estate has recently been enhanced by the addition of the locally renowned, excellent Mrs Salisbury's lovely tea room and takeaway kiosk. The new children's playgound located near the entrance, with plenty of picnic tables, is another welcome innovation.
There is so much to see and do!
Good to know
Wear comfortable walking shoes as there is so much space in which to amble and absorb the beauty and peace of the arboreteum. The Walled Garden is stunning, full of colour with small separate gardens within, each with its own colourway or type of planting. The Millennium Walk is also a treat, especially in the spring, as is the recently opened Cottage Garden. If one of the resident peacocks decides to show off his feathers, that is always a treat!
Getting around
There are two different paved paths leading from the entrance to the walled garden. However, information regarding accessibility is detailed on the website.
Photos from our visit
