Events

“Find What You Find” Poetry Trail

July 19, 2025 – September 18, 2025
10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Last entry is at 4pm, the landscape and car park will close at 6pm.

Included with general admission/free for members.

Book in advance online and save! You do not need to book in advance if you are a Painshill Member or have a Historic Houses card.

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for any general enquiries please call us on

01932 868113


Discover Our New Poetry Trail

This summer, visitors to Painshill can enjoy a unique walk through words and nature thanks to a new poetry trail created by our first Poet-in-Residence, Nia Broomhall, in collaboration with the local community.

Find what you find is a trail of 25 enchanting poems displayed at 25 locations across our beautiful landscape, giving visitors an opportunity to experience Painshill in new and inspiring ways.

With echoes of our founder, Charles Hamilton, who designed Painshill to evoke the emotions of 18th century visitors, our new Poetry Trail has been developed to foster feelings of wellbeing today.

Starting with Beginning – displayed outside of Mr Hamilton’s Tea Room, where your journey through the landscape begins, and which in its final line invites you to “find what you find” – the Poetry Trail is an opportunity to see Painshill through a new lens, and it marks the latest chapter in our long creative history.

 

About Nia Broomhall and The Poetry Trail

Nia Broomhall is an award-winning poet and teacher, originally from Somerset and now based in Farnham. Her debut collection, Backalong, won the Poetry Society’s Hamish Canham Prize last year and the Mslexia Poetry Pamphlet Prize in 2023.

The Poetry Trail marks the culmination of Nia’s 18-month residency at Painshill, supported by Arts Council England. During this time, Nia explored Painshill’s Grade I listed landscape and spent time talking to visitors about why Painshill is special to them. The poems she has written reflect her own love for Painshill as well as the thoughts and feelings of our visitors.

Also included in the new Poetry Trail are poems by members of our local community who took part in Poetry Writing Workshops led by Nia as part of her residency.

“The thing I kept coming back to, that fascinated me, was the idea of the trail as an emotional experience – how back in the 18th century, Hamilton designed the space to evoke particular emotions, even sad ones, in his visitors at specific points around the route. When I came to write the poems for the trail, it was this idea that made the most sense: that this place is no longer lost, that it can still make us feel things, things that we need. In 2025, though, our needs are different. I’ve talked to so many people throughout my time at Painshill who come here to feel better, even as a form of therapy. So with the poetry trail, I wanted to take the 18th century idea of an emotional trail and turn it into something affirmative, that could support people’s wellbeing.”

Nia Broomhall, Poet-in-Residence

Nia’s next Poetry Writing Workshop runs on October 14th at 10.30am

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