Baddesley Clinton at Christmas and The Snowman trail

I do love a sculpture trail, and we rarely have many near us.  I’d decided to do a National Trust Christmas visit on my December flexi day off work, and the fact Baddesley Clinton had a Snowman trail swung it for me.

I’ve not been to Baddesley Clinton since N was about 4. Luckily I checked my membership card before going because it seems I’d thrown out my current card rather than my old one when clearing out my purse. They do temporary cards while you wait for a new one to be posted out, so that was a relief.

The car park was a bit waterlogged thanks to all the rain, but I arrived not long after opening. If you’re visiting the busy times are once the house is open, from about 11.  The car park was rapidly filling when I left around that time despite it being a weekday and miserable wet weather.

I decided to do a wander around the gardens and the trail first.  In the winter there’s not much to see outside; the kitchen garden’s limited, and everything’s bedded down until next year. So it was nice to have the trail to see.

The Snowman art trail

The Snowman trail is one of the Wild at Art trails. With 12 Snowmen around the grounds, they’re based on the 12 days of Christmas theme, decorated by various artists.

It doesn’t take long to walk round because the grounds aren’t that extensive at Baddesley Clinton, plus they presumably wanted to keep people to the paths as much as possible given the weather and potential mud being trailed all over the place.

The Snowman always makes me think of childhood Christmasses when we would watch Raymond Brigg’s The Snowman as a family without fail. I still try and catch it annually. 

There were some lovely decorated Snowmen – it made me smile to see the ladies dancing. And by the geese a-laying one, there were 2 Canada geese in the garden around the corner from it. 

The trail is on until 11th January 2026.

I nipped into the second hand bookshop after I was done with the trail. This was really big, and well organised, but I didn’t find anything I thought N would like.  For second hand books, I thought £2.50-£3.50 was too high a price to pay, when I can buy for cheaper on Kindle which is how I prefer to read nowadays. 

Then it was time to warm up with a hot chocolate and slice of cake in the restaurant.

Christmas at Baddesley Clinton

The house opens from 10.30, and it’s ticketed entry handed out on arrival.  There were a few people waiting to go in for that first slot, and it can feel a bit crowded when everyone arrives together, but I was able to scoot past slow people and could take it at my own pace from then.

The Christmas decorations are all white based downstairs which is pretty, then each tree is themed to that room.  So one was based on cards and games, the lady’s bedroom was female accessories like fans and shoes, while the library was all books and paper themed.

Each room has a folder of information if you want to find out more about the Jesuit priests’ boltholes, or other history of the manor house.  

There were also helpful and enthusiastic volunteers to tell you about the history in different rooms too.

For children they also have various decorations like snowmen to look out for as they walk round.

Baddesley Clinton is quite an understated Christmas display which suits the house well. I didn’t find it takes much time to wander round, but I’ve visited a couple of times before, so I’m happy just to dip in and out to National Trust places because I’ve got my annual pass.

I’m glad I made it there early so avoided the crowds, and the rain had eased a bit by the time I was leaving too.

It was a nice Christmassy morning out, and I really liked seeing the sculpture trail. Hopefully I’ll catch some more of those soon.

Check out my visit to Blenheim Palace this Christmas season too.