Temple Newsam

Temple Newsam is set in 1500 acres of scenic parkland, forming the second largest part of the Forest of Leeds over in the east of the city. The house is made up of 42 rooms and has drawn flattering comparison with London’s Hampton Court Palace in its style and presentation. Temple Newsam drew national recognition in 2004 when it was placed in the top three non-national museums (publicly funded) and pulled in a good chunk of the record breaking 1.7 million visits that Leeds Museums & Galleries recorded in 2019.

To find out information on admission price, take a look at the Temple Newsam website.

When planning your trip to Temple Newsam consider that access in places like the gardens are free while you will have to pay entry to the house and farm. Ticket information can be found here.

Map of Temple Newsam

If you are looking to explore the site, a map might help the journey.

House

The Tudor Jacobean house contains a treasure trove of beautiful items, displayed in 40 interiors, in each room you will admire the craft behind the furniture, wallpaper, silver and ceramic collections. This collection of decorative art is unrivalled outside of London.

Rare Breed Farm

Within the cobbled yards of yore the workshops were the focal point for craft and farming. Temple Newsam has resurrected these workshops – the timber yard and sawmill – with the original sounds, sights and smells. Adjoined to the workshop is the farm where rare breed geese, guinea and pigs including Middle White, British Saddleback and Tamworth .

Parks & Lakes

Temple Newsam boasts three lakes, all at different levels, and all with different characters exemplified by a diverse range of flora. From parkland to bright perennials to bamboo. Each lake is distinctive.

Gardens

Capability Brown was the 18th century gardener that formalised the gardens. His nickname came from his survey of a garden, it usually had “capability” to be better. Brown’s imprint on the gardens at Temple Newsam was to box, border and arch a series of formal gardens. The result is a haven of peaceful tranquility. And one of the best things to soak up this tranquility is to have a picnic within one of these gardens.

Events

Since the mid-90s Temple Newsam has been recognised as a venue for large scale outdoor events. Some of the UKs more mainstream music festivals like ‘Party in the Park’, ‘V Festival’, ‘Cocoon in the Park’, ‘Reading and Leeds’ and Slam Dunk festival have all done well here.

Adventure Playground

The playground has been designed with disabled and non-disabled children in mind. There’s an adventure playground, a zip wire, a sensory maze and a selection of swings.

Go Ape

The adventure park Go Ape has opened up a forest canopy at Temple Newsam. Explore it by a treetop rope course. Find out more about Go Ape here.

Sports

Get stuck into football, golf, horse-riding and orienteering in the grounds of the house. Colton Juniors FC  are a youth football team that play their home games on the football pitches surrounding the house.

Walking & Running

The Wykebeck Valley Way finishes at Temple Newsam. We recommend doing the route in reverse as it gives a whole different perspective both visually and physically. It is 10km in length and well signposted, connecting Template Newsam to Roundhay Park. It passed through Giptop, Seacroft, and Killingbeck, circumnavigating the inner ring of east Leeds. When starting from Temple Newsam this route is a continual uphill gradient all the way to Roundhay Park – definetely one if training for a longer hike!

Running wise Temple Newsam parkrun hosts a weekly 5k timed run. And St Theresa’s running club start their weekly club night runs from the grounds.

If you are looking for a longer run route, the team over at Leeds Run Routes have put together a 15km loop that takes you on a tour of Temple Newsam and Skelton Lake.

Cycling

The British Cycling route between Temple Newsam and Roundhay covers parts of the Wykebeck Valley Way. This ride is sometimes guided if booked in advance.

Dog Walking

You can’t take your dog into the house at Temple Newsam but they are welcome to enjoy everything in the grounds, apart from the courtyard, off the leash.

Built by Lord Thomas Darcy between 1500-1520. Temple Newsam was the largest house in Yorkshire at the time. The name Temple Newsam comes from the Doomsday book of 1086, with ‘Newsam’ meaning “new houses” and ‘Temple’ a reference to the Knights Templar who were the original owners of the land.

Lord Darcy’s reign of the house was short-lived when he was beheaded by Henry 8th for his part in starting a popular uprising in northern England. Since then the house has changed hands from one member of English and Scottish royalty – including the infamous Lord Darnley – to another.

In the 1760s it was bought by Charles Ingram, a British landowner and politician. The Ingram family sought to change and rebuild many parts of the house until it was passed over to Edward Wood and his wife Dorothy who led on turning it into a makeshift hospital during the First World War. Leeds Corporation (now Leeds City Council) acquired the site in 1922 and it’s been looked after under covenants ever since.

Temple Newsam has toilets and bins onsite. It’s worth noting that the toilets close at 6pm daily.

The Temple Newsam tea room is located on site and offers a range of hot and cold bites for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea – the cream teas are highly rated! A little further down the road but still in walking distance of the park is Morenos Mediterranean Tapas, a family owned tapas restaurant that is full of Mediterranean inspiration. To make the most of the beautiful landscape at Temple Newsam, we think that taking a picnic is a no brainer (and even features in our top places for a picnic list!), but check the weather forecast beforehand… it is Leeds!

Parking comes at a charge if you park in the patrolled house car park next to the house, you’ll need to do this on the day. The postcode for this car park is LS15 0BG (Google Map Directions).

Fortunately, there are free parking spots to the north and south of the grounds but it’s worth considering the walk which is just over 500 metres.

• North car park postcode: LS15 0EZ (Google Map Directions)
• South car park postcode: LS15 0HH (Google Map Directions)

Disabled parking is available at Temple Newsam in all three of the above car parks. The main car park provides level access to the house, the two others have a gradual uphill gradient.

The house is accessible to all, including wheelchair users and pushchairs.

To get to Temple Newsam by train you will need to catch the TransPennine Express from Leeds to Cross Gates, situated just under 2 miles away from Temple Newsam. The second part of the journey is a 30 minute walk from the station to Temple Newsam.

To get to Temple Newsam by bus you will need to catch the First Bus number 19 or 19a from Leeds city centre. This will take you to Whitkirk, a 1 mile walk from Temple Newsam.