The National Trust’s Wimpole Estate Case Study  

Making Wimpole Estate accessible with our wheelchair stair climber results in a surge of visitor numbers.   

Access for everyone mission  

The National Trust are on a commendable mission to provide access for everyone.  Their initiative represents a significant step in ensuring visitors of all mobility levels can fully experience their treasured sites without compromising their architectural integrity. 

The Stair Climbing Company is supporting them on their quest and provides access for people with mobility challenges in a number National Trust properties, including Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire.  This case study outlines the difficulties Wimpole Estate faced in gaining access for all, how these stumbling blocks were overcome and how their inclusive approach has resulted in a surge of visitors to the site.     

Accessible Heritage – A Balancing Act  

Iain Stewart, The National Trust’s Senior Collections & House Manager at Wimpole Estate contacted the Stair Climbing Company.  He’d been searching for a solution to make the house accessible.  The challenge he had was how to make the front of the building wheelchair accessible without any permanent adaptions to the property ruining the aesthetics, whilst conserving the space and not damaging the historic stone steps.     

Providing access for people with mobility challenges and ensuring that the customer journey is inclusive presents difficulties in heritage buildings.  These buildings weren’t built with access in mind so the balancing act between preserving the building’s aesthetic and inclusivity is challenging.   

Many National Trust sites are protected by regulations that limit alterations, making it a complex and an extremely time-consuming process to get consent to add modern accessibility features like ramps or lifts.  The high costs of adjusting the building and working with a limited budget complicates efforts to improve access even further.   

An Access Solution Endorsed by Curators  

After doing some online research Iain came across the Stair Climbing Company, offering a compact solution to allow people with mobility challenges to travel up and down stairs with ease.   

The Stair Climbing Company visited Wimpole Estate, assessed the situation and trialled their Skyline Stair Climber on the grand exterior stone steps.  We worked closely with their curators and conservators to demonstrate and give reassurance that the Stair Climber won’t effect the fabric of their buildings.  It was just the solution they were looking for, easy to operate, with no permanent fixtures and a cost-effective, immediate access and evacuation solution.   

On delivery the Stair Climbing Company trained the staff and volunteers how to use the Stair Climber.  They also gave a train the trainer programme designed to equip staff to deliver the training.  This gave Wimpole Estate more autonomy and flexibility to use the Stair Climber.   

See The Stair Climber in operation at Wimpole Estate  

A Seamless Customer Journey  

 The Stair Climber means that Wimpole Estate is now an accessible building for wheelchair users and people with disabilities.  Where once, wheelchair users were offered a virtual tour on an iPad they can now experience the historic splendour of the library and drawing rooms for themselves.  Importantly, it gives someone with mobility issues the exact same customer journey as the rest of the visitors.   

Reassuring accessibility expectations  

It’s key when making a building accessible that visitors with mobility challenges are confident with the access before they even arrive.  The Stair Climbing Company commissioned a short video for Wimpole Estate to communicate to the wheelchair user how they will ascend the stone steps into the house in the Stair Climber.  This reassurance piece can be viewed on Wimpole Estate’s website, on a screen at the car park on approach to the property or once the visitor gets to the entrance of the house.   The film is a beneficial resource for people with disabilities planning their visit, it helps manage expectations and gives reassurance that there’s safe, comfortable access to Wimpole.  

 Surge in visitors  

An unexpected perk to making Wimpole Estate accessible is an increase in visitors.  The Stair Climber is used almost every day.  In 2024, Wimpole Estate received around 800 more visitors who perhaps wouldn’t have visited if the Stair Climber wasn’t available.  This number is set to increase as more people know about the access. 

Ongoing support and after care  

Since making Wimpole Estate accessible, the Stair Climbing Company has evolved a great working relationship with the National Trust across multiple properties.  Customer care is paramount to the Stair Climbing Company and there are regular service and training plans in place with all their Climbers.  The company has also improved accessibility in multiple other National Trust Properties with plans to roll out into many more over the coming year, across the UK.