Croome Visit

Croome is a National Trust property in Worcestershire that is just under an hour's drive away. 

Photo 1: The House at Croome

We arrived just after 11 o'clock in the morning on the 2nd March to find the 'Car Park Full' signs up. This is unusual but there were two reasons, one obvious and one less so. The unexpected factor was down to local precipitation rendering part of the car park waterlogged and therefore unusable. The more obvious reason was that the day of the week (Sunday) was really living up to its name. Indeed, it was the sunniest day of the 2025 so far - although the following day (3/3/25) turned out to be sunnier still!

Figure 1: Daily Solar Radiation Values for 2025

Fortunately, there was a steady dribble of visitors leaving so we did not have to wait long before being directed to our parking slot by the patient volunteers.

Croome's main feature is the wide open parkland (designed by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown) with its well-maintained paths. For this reason, it does attract a lot of dog walkers. The majority are well-behaved and the dogs are mostly on their best behaviour too.

The house (Croome Court, designed and furnished by Robert Adam) has some fine plaster work (walls and ceilings) but is largely devoid of furniture, sold after the second world war to pay off debts. From 1948 to 1979 it was a Roman Catholic School for boys and then, briefly, the headquarters of the Hare Krishna movement from 1979 to 1984. The house was a private home for a time (1999 - 2007) before being purchased by the Croome Heritage Trust and leased to the National Trust for 999 years. The National Trust had bought the grounds 1996. It is for these reasons that the house has not had the TLC it needed to maintain its structure and decor. The space left by the absence of furniture is sometimes used for exhibitions. We saw an impressive exhibition at Croome (in 2019) by Grayson Perry.

There are plenty of other buildings and features at Croome including RAF Defford (development of radar in the WWII), St Mary Magdalene' Church (Video 1), a walled garden (only open at certain times) and other outbuildings/follies (designed/built by Robert Adam and James Wyatt).

Video 1: Bells Ringing ay St Mary Magdalene's Church, Croome

Grab a map and plan your next visit! There is an excellent cafe at the main reception area (the curried cauliflower pasty is highly recommended) and a coffee bar in the house. Toilets at reception and the house and play areas for the children.

There are fine views to the Malverns ...

Photo 2: Croome Park with the Malvern Hills in the Background

Photo 3: Croome Court Viewed over the Lake