Skip over main navigation
  • Log in
  • Basket: (0 items)
  • Commercial use of the Estate
The Bradgate Park & Swithland Wood Charity
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • instagram
Contact us Donate
Menu
  • About us
    • The Charity
      • Our Funding
      • Sustainability
      • Our Trustees
      • Our vision and goals
      • Management Plans
    • Commercial use of the Estate
      • Commercial activities & events
      • Filming on the Bradgate Park Estate
    • Bradgate Estate Byelaws
    • Join our Team
    • Contact us
  • Visiting
    • Bradgate Park
      • Visit Bradgate Park
      • Visitor Centre
      • Food & Drink
      • Hire our Meeting Room
      • Book a Group Tour, Talk or Coach Visit
    • Swithland Wood
    • Visitor Guidance
      • Visitor Guidelines
      • Keeping You Safe
      • Advice for Dog Owners
      • Accessibility
    • Getting Here
    • Opening Times
    • Parking Charges
  • What's on
    • What's on
    • Visiting Old John & the Ruins
    • Wellbeing Walks
    • Oral History
  • Support us
    • Support Our Work
    • Sponsorship
    • Leaving a Gift in A Will
    • Opportunities for Businesses
      • Corporate Experiences
      • Licensed Businesses
    • Current Appeals
      • List of Appeals
      • List of Fundraisers
      • Become a Fundraiser for us
  • Volunteer
    • Volunteer
    • Volunteer Photographers
  • Learning & schools
    • Educational Visits
    • Young Rangers
    • Learning Resources
  • Shop
    • Our shop
    • Car Park Season Tickets
    • Firewood & Charcoal
    • Bradgate Park Venison
    • Memorial Wood
  • Admin
    • Log in
    • Commercial use of the Estate
  • Basket: (0 items)
  • Advice for Dog Owners
  1. Visiting
  2. Visitor Guidance
  3. Advice for Dog Owners

Advice for Dog Owners

The Bradgate Park Trust welcomes dogs and their owners. Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood are wonderful places to visit to exercise your pets and we welcome all dogs and responsible dog owners. We have produced some simple guidelines to help to ensure that the Estate is a safe and enjoyable place for all visitors, their pets and for local wildlife. Please follow these guidelines and we would like to remind you that you are legally responsible for your dog and its actions for the entirety of your visit. 

Safety Advice for Dog Walkers


Please follow the National Dog Walking code and observe the 4 Cs of responsible dog ownership:

CONTROL – keep your dog on a lead or under effective control. A  “dogs on leads” rule is in force in parts of Bradgate Park. Please observe the signs. On all of the Estate (Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood) staff may direct that a dog be put on a lead if in their judgement it is likely to cause a nuisance. 

CHASING – deer die from being chased and the stress it causes. Most deaths are not caused by the dog catching and mauling the deer. ANY deer chase is potentially fatal and can lead to prosecution. The law permits landowners, in extreme circumstances, to shoot dogs that are worrying the deer.

CONSIDER other people – they might not like dogs and your dog running up to them can be terrifying.

CLEAN UP after your dog – if it fouls in a public area bag the mess and bin it in ANY litter bin. Plastic bags kill deer, so do not leave bags of dog mess lying around or tied to bushes.

The Bradgate Park Estate is covered by a Public Space Protection Order that relates to visiting with dogs. This sets out restrictions about clearing up after your pet, keeping your dog under effective control and where dogs must be kept on a lead. Non-compliance can result in a £100 fine. The full text of the Public Space Protection Order can be found here, by clicking this link and the requirements are summarised below.

Map of Bradgate Park showing access

Bradgate Park

We require dogs to be kept on a lead in the lower section of the Park (between the River Lin, across the carriageway up to the Middle Wall). It has clear markers to identify where pets can be let off the lead, provided they are kept under effective control. 

Water bowls can be found at the Cafe and Visitor Centre.  Alternatively, the water from the River Lin is fresh and cool and can be paddled in and drank from, whilst pets remain on the lead.

Swithland Wood

In hotter months we highly recommend a visit to Swithland Wood which is just across the road from the Hallgates entrance of Bradgate Park.  Here pets can be off the lead, if under control.  There is a stream that runs through the Wood and the trees offer shade. 

You will often see horses and cyclists passing through the Woods on dedicated paths, so please be vigilant.

Further information

Effective Control: Please keep your dog under effective control at all times in the Upper Park at Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood when visiting and in car parks too. “Effective control” means your dog should remain in your sight at all times and come back when called. A dog out of sight may be a dog out of control. If you can not rely on your dog's obedience, please walk them on a lead.

Effective Dog Control

Most dogs are generally loveable and playful. Don't assume that everyone likes dogs though. Other visitors and wildlife may not feel this way - they may feel frightened, ambushed or uncomfortable. Please be considerate to everybody's needs, and keep your dog under control. This is particularly important at busy holiday times when many families visit.

Please put your dog on a lead when approaching school groups and families picnicking in areas, where dogs are allowed off leads. Do not allow your dog to interfere with other visitors (or their dogs) and spoil their visit. You may know your dog is friendly but the person it runs up to may not - this seemingly innocent action could be deemed “dangerous” . If in doubt please keep your dog on a lead. It is a criminal offence to allow your dog to be out of control on private or public land. If prosecuted you may receive a custodial sentence, a fine, a ban from keeping a dog or any combination of the three. If your dog's behaviour is sufficient to make someone reasonably apprehensive it is classed as being out of control.

Car Parks: We have had incidents of dogs being struck by cars in the car park, so please keep them on a lead in these areas, especially in busy periods. We do not want to see dogs harmed.

Please do not leave pets in locked cars. Dogs die in hot cars.

A Clean and Pleasant Countryside: Help us to keep Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood clean places for all visitors to enjoy by clearing up after your dog, no matter where it may have fouled.  One of the main concerns our visitors have relate to dog owners who do not clear up after their dogs, or owners who do clear up but leave their bags by the path side, throw bags into the grassland, or even worse left hanging in the trees! Please clear up immediately if your dog fouls. Waste can be disposed of in any general waste bin.

A Haven for Wildlife: Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood provide a valuable home for local wildlife - not just the deer at Bradgate Park. Please help us to protect in our conservation aims by ensuring that your dog does not disturb or chase wildlife, or enter animal holes. During spring and early summer ground nesting birds and other wildlife may be disturbed by dogs allowed to run through the meadows and woodland undergrowth. Please put your dog on a lead if it has a tendency to chase wildlife. Please note the Trust actively prosecutes owners where dogs have been involved in deer chases. 

Published: 15th November, 2017

Updated: 21st February, 2023

Author: Peter Tyldesley

Share this page
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Latest

  • Easter Holidays: Fairy Trail

    Easter Holidays: Fairy Trail

    A merry band of fairies help our Rangers to care for Bradgate Park! Can you find where they live? Look out for fairy doors on this magical Easter adventure.

  • Sustainability

    Sustainability

    As managers of 1,200 acres of land, much of which is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the Trust recognises its responsibility to protect and improve the environment.  We will manage our activities, buildings and estate to reduce our carbon footprint, to conserve natural resources, and to work in a sustainable way.

  • Winter Bradgate Park Photo Walk

    Winter Bradgate Park Photo Walk

    This route takes in the splendid panoramic views of winter from Old John and the War Memorial. The walk will move on to the Sliding Stones area and then return to the Hunts Hill car park.

  • Feeding the Deer Photography Workshop with Danny Green

    Feeding the Deer Photography Workshop with Danny Green

    Join award winning photographer Danny Green for a unique experience to photograph the magnificent herds of Red and Fallow Deer as they gather at the morning feed by the Rangers in the PRIVATE Sanctuary area of Bradgate Park.

Most read

  • Visit Bradgate Park

    Visit Bradgate Park

    Bradgate Park is Leicestershire's only Medieval Deer Park to the north of Leicester City. Over 830 acres, steeped in history, teeming with wonderful wildlife, the UK's oldest fossils, 550 red and fallow deer and the childhood home of Lady Jane Grey. Rich in heritage, wildlife and amazing landscapes, Bradgate Park is Leicestershire's favourite day out with two tearoom and free-to-visit Visitor Centre.

  • Parking Charges

    Parking Charges

    Parking charges apply at all car parks.

  • Getting Here

    Getting Here

    Details of how to reach Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood, including postcodes, parking details and a map of visitor access areas

  • Opening Times

    Opening Times

    Visiting Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood: Opening times and parking details

  • Visit Swithland Wood

    Visit Swithland Wood

    Swithland Wood is an attractive and atmospheric area of Ancient Woodland, covering 170 acres. Rich in history and wildlife, it is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Wood is an important habitat for a wide range of plant and animal species, with rocky outcrops and old quarries.

  • Food & Drink

    Food & Drink

    Details of the Deer Barn Café, the Visitor Centre shop, and the Deer Hut.

  • Visitor Guidelines

    Visitor Guidelines

    When visiting Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood, it is important that certain rules are followed to ensure areas remain safe and clean for everyone to enjoy and protect the heritage in our care. Help us care for these spaces by following these guidelines.

  • Join our Team

    Join our Team

    Find out about vacancies at the Bradgate Park Trust.

  • Car Park Season Tickets

    Car Park Season Tickets

    For regular visitors a Car Park 6 month or year-long Season Ticket offers a low-cost option to pay and display parking when Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood.

  • Visitor Centre & Shop

    Visitor Centre & Shop

    Our free to visit Visitor Centre and shop is set in the heart of Bradgate Park. It tells the story of the rich geological, archaeological, social, built and natural heritage of Bradgate Park.

Donate To The Bradgate Park Trust

Donate To The Bradgate Park Trust

Help support the work of the Bradgate Park Trust and our caring for the historic and wildlife rich landscapes of Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood. Your help will allow us to develop more projects to conserve and share these rich landscapes and the educational activities we provide. Read more

Donate Fundraise

Published: 19th March, 2014

Updated: 28th July, 2020

Author:

Comments: 2

Sign up for our newsletter

Please enter your first name
Please enter your last name
Please enter your email address Please enter a valid email address (e.g. [email protected])
  • Sitemap
  • Accessibility
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Lost Property
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
Registered office: Estate Office, Bradgate Park, Newtown Linford, Leicester LE6 0HE Tel:+44 (0)116 236 2713
To report any incidents on the Estate contact: 07740 406 661
The Bradgate Park & Swithland Wood Charity (known as the Bradgate Park Trust) is a charity registered in England (number 521476)

Visit England quality marque TripAdvisor