Painshill
Cobham, Elmbridge
Photo: Amandajm, CC BY-SA 3.0A 160-acre 18th-century landscape garden in Cobham, laid out as a series of views around a serpentine lake with follies placed along the way. It is run by an independent charity, Painshill Park Trust, and the old house is private and not part of the visit.
Highlights
- Crystal Grotto beside the lake
- Ruined Abbey, Gothic Temple and Turkish Tent
- Gothic Tower with views over the landscape
- Mr Hamilton's Tea Room
Good to know
- Dogs are welcome on a short, fixed lead on the paths and in the Tea Room
- Picnics are welcome; bikes and scooters only for under 5s
- Painshill can close in dangerous weather such as high winds, snow or flooding
- The Tea Room opens Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 3.30pm from November to January
Getting there
Painshill, Between Streets, Cobham, Surrey, KT11 1AGParking: Free car park (sat nav KT11 1AG), locked at closing time. A height barrier is opened on request for high vehicles if you ring ahead.
Get directionsChecked on 19 October 2026 against painshill.co.uk, painshill.co.uk, painshill.co.uk. Details change, so please confirm with the venue before you travel. How we check
Spotted something wrong or missing? Tell us
What's on at Painshill
Photo of Cobham: Stacey Harris, CC BY-SA 2.0Half-term woodland sessions at Painshill
Painshill runs outdoor sessions for children over half-term in its 18th-century landscape garden. Whispers in the Woods is an interactive storytelling tree walk with woodland characters, and Woodland Hideouts has children building a den from natural materials.
Nearby
Photo: Len Williams, CC BY-SA 2.0Cobham Mill
A Grade II listed early 19th-century watermill on the River Mole, restored by volunteers after decades of neglect and now the only fully working watermill in Surrey. On open days the team mills corn and shows a short film about the restoration.
Photo: David Howard, CC BY-SA 2.0Esher Commons
A 360-hectare patchwork of woodland, heathland and wetland stretching from Esher to Cobham and from Oxshott to West End, managed by Elmbridge Council. The commons are a Site of Special Scientific Interest for their rare butterflies, beetles and reptiles.
Photo: nick macneill, CC BY-SA 2.0Claremont Landscape Garden
An 18th-century garden shaped by Vanbrugh, Bridgeman, William Kent and Capability Brown, once a royal retreat for Princess Charlotte and later bought by Queen Victoria. Paths lead round a serpentine lake to a grass amphitheatre, a grotto and the Belvedere Tower.