Welcome
Castle Drogo, encased in scaffolding, is in fact only 100 years old. It was built as an ancestral family home for Julius Drewe, the founder of ‘The Home and Colonial Stores’ who retired a millionaire, aged just 33. Designed by one of the greatest architects of the day, Edwin Lutyens, Drogo is utterly unique.
Unfortunately Castle Drogo’s flat roof failed early on in its construction and has leaked ever since, by 2012 its steel infrastructure was under severe threat. We are now over half way through the project to make the castle watertight and are now about to embark on the last phase of building work continuing until the end of 2018.
Level access
Hearing
Visual
General
Getting here
Travel by public transport
Travel by taxi
Parking
The distance from the start of the path from the car park to the visitor centre is 32 metres down a gentle slope.
Arrival
Path to main entrance
Main entrance
The visitor centre, where you first arrive, has automatic sliding doors. The castle which is 200metres away has entrance via a ramp and a door which is always open during open hours.
There is a transfer vehicle (golf buggy) which regularly takes up to 5 visitors from the visitor centre down the tarmac main drive to the castle and back again. If you ask the buggy driver they will be able to take you back to the main car park or pick you up from it. It is not possible for the buggy to serve the overflow car park.
Getting around inside
Things to See and Do
Visitor centre
There is a timelapse film showing the scaffolding being installed.
There is level access through the shop, cafe, toilets and visitor reception.
Castle
There are 4 floors on the visitor route in the castle. There are only 2 rooms on the ground floor and then the route goes down to the lower ground level via 22 shallow steps with no handrail. After the lower ground floor there are 2 more staircases to climb to reach the next 2 floors.There are many seats for visitors to use around the house, but none have armrests.
Getting around outside
There is an accessible route which winds down through the garden .Most of the garden is accessible if you use the main drive just left to of the garden to bypass the steps. Coming up from the castle there are 2 level paths taking you into the garden without using steps. Castle Drogo is situated overlooking the Teign gorge. There are many winding paths leading down to the river.There is a tramper which is available to hire from the visitor centre to access the garden, grounds and estate. (The tramper is part of Countryside Mobility which non-members can join for a small fee and receive a short induction. To find out more visit http://www.countrysidemobility.org/membership)
Customer care support
There is a tramper available to hire from visitor reception to access the garden, grounds and estate. (The tramper is part of Countryside Mobility which non-members can join for a small fee and receive a short induction. To find out more visit http://www.countrysidemobility.org/membership)
Emergency evacuation procedures
Staff and volunteers have been briefed on the BSL sign for fire.
Customer care support