Severndroog Castle opens its viewing platform to the general public on Sundays only, from 10am to 3pm, and admission is £5 for an adult (September 2026). The tea room on the ground floor keeps longer hours, Thursday to Sunday, and the ancient woodland all around it is free and open every day.
Severndroog is a Georgian folly: a small, triangular Gothic tower with a turret at each corner, built on top of Shooter's Hill in south-east London. It was put up in 1784 by Lady Anne James in memory of her husband, Commodore Sir William James, and it takes its odd name from Suvarnadurg, the Indian island fortress he captured at sea.
The tower sits in Castle Wood, part of a large block of old woodland that also takes in Jack Wood, Oxleas Wood and the open grass of Oxleas Meadows. Most people who come here spend twenty minutes inside the castle and two hours in the trees, which is the right proportion.
Severndroog Castle: what you need before you set out
- Address
- Castle Wood, Shooters Hill, London SE18 3RT
- Viewing platform and galleries
- Sundays only, 10am to 3pm, last entry 2.45pm
- Tea room
- Thursday to Sunday, 9am to 3.30pm
- Adult admission
- £5; child 5-15 £3.50; under-5s free; concession £4; family (up to 5, max 2 adults) £12.50
- Climb
- 86 steps up an original spiral staircase; no lift
- Height
- 132 metres above sea level
- Nearest bus stop
- Memorial Hospital (routes 89, 244, 486), about five minutes' walk
- Woodland
- Free, open all year, no ticket
Sunday is the only day you can simply turn up and climb
This is the single fact that catches people out. The Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust runs the tower with volunteers, and general public access to the upper rooms and the roof is limited to Sundays during opening hours, 10am to 3pm, with the last entry at 2.45pm. Group bookings can be arranged on Thursdays and Fridays by request, but those are for organised parties, not passing visitors.
The tea room follows a different pattern and opens Thursday to Sunday, 9am to 3.30pm. So on a Thursday you can have coffee in an eighteenth-century room and walk in the woods, but you cannot go up. On a Monday you will find the building shut and the woods open.
Two further warnings. The platform holds ten people at a time, so at a busy midday there can be a short wait on the stairs. And it closes in bad weather: a wet, windy Sunday may mean the climb is off even though the building is open. The Trust posts the current status at the top of every page on its website.
The Trust is still monitoring movement in the building. Cracks have been under observation by structural engineers for about eighteen months and the cause has not yet been identified. The engineers have advised that the castle is safe to open while investigations continue, and it remains open as usual, but remedial works have not been specified. Check the Trust's public statement before travelling a long way for the view.
Photo: Doyle of London · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized
What you actually see from 132 metres up
Shooter's Hill is one of the highest points in London, and the tower adds another 20 metres or so on top of it. The platform is small, open to the sky and gives a full circle of view. On a clear day the Trust lists the London Eye, Canary Wharf, Wembley Stadium and, at the outer edge, Windsor Castle.
The old local claim is that you can see seven counties from the roof, and the Trust still uses the phrase. Treat it as a nice piece of folklore rather than a measurement: county boundaries have moved several times since 1784, and on an average English afternoon you will be lucky to pick out anything beyond the M25. What is genuinely striking is how much woodland is in the foreground. Almost every other high viewpoint in London looks out over roofs.
If you want a guaranteed skyline rather than a lottery with the weather, our comparison of London's viewing platforms covers the tall ones in the centre, and there is a free option at the Sky Garden. Severndroog is not competing with those. It is competing with a walk in a wood, and it wins that.
The 86 steps, and who should not attempt them
Access to the upper floors and the roof is by the castle's original spiral staircase: 86 steps, narrow, with no alternative route. The Trust is clear that it is not suitable for wheelchair users and may be hard for anyone with limited mobility or a fear of heights. Children must be with an adult, and sensible shoes are worth having because the treads are worn stone.
The ground floor is a different matter. The tea room and the toilet are reached up four steps with a handrail on each side, so a visit that involves cake and no climbing is perfectly possible. For the wider picture of what is and is not manageable in the city, try our guide for wheelchair users.
Prices, and the annual pass that almost nobody needs
Admission is genuinely cheap, and every penny goes to the Trust. These are the September 2026 prices; the Trust's visit page carries the current list.
| Ticket | Single entry | Annual pass |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | £5.00 | £25.00 |
| Child (5-15) | £3.50 | £17.50 |
| Concession | £4.00 | £20.00 |
| Family (up to 5, max 2 adults) | £12.50 | £50.00 |
| Under 5, and carers or companions | Free | - |
A family of two adults and two children pays £12.50, which is less than two cinema tickets. The annual passes are priced at five single visits and exist mainly as a way for local people to support the charity; a visitor from abroad has no use for one. No ticket is needed for the tea room, and general admission tickets can be bought at the desk on Sunday rather than online.
Getting there without a car, in plain steps
There is no station at the castle and no station within easy reach of it, so the last stage is always a bus or a long uphill walk. The Trust names the Memorial Hospital stop, served by the 89, 244 and 486, as the closest, roughly five minutes away on the level. These are the routes that work from central London:
- By Elizabeth line. Take it to Woolwich, then the 244 bus to Memorial Hospital. This is usually the fastest option from the West End or the City; the Elizabeth line explained sets out what that leg costs.
- By Jubilee line. To North Greenwich, then the 486 to the same stop.
- By DLR. To Woolwich Arsenal, then the 244.
- By Southeastern train. To Welling, then an 89 or 486 from stop D towards Shooters Hill.
There is also a walking route that suits anyone who wants the woods first. Take a Southeastern train from London Bridge to Falconwood, which takes about 21 minutes on a direct service, and walk north through the woods and across Oxleas Meadows, then up through Jack Wood to the castle. It is around 25 minutes and climbs steadily the whole way. Coming down afterwards is much more pleasant than going up.
Drivers should use the local authority car park off the A207 Shooters Hill, postcode SE18 3RU, about 200 metres away and connected to the castle by a tarmac path on a gentle slope. The gates have seasonal closing times, so read the sign when you arrive. Everything in this corner of London is inside the ULEZ; our page on the Congestion Charge and ULEZ sets out the rules.
The bus stop called Oxleas Wood is not the one for the castle. The Oxleas Wood / Woodlands Farm stop on the 89 and 486 sits further east along the ridge, by the farm. It is the right stop for the meadows and the cafe there, but from the castle's point of view you want Memorial Hospital.
Oxleas Wood, and why the trees matter more than the tower
The woodland around Severndroog is the real reason to make the journey. Oxleas Wood, Jack Wood and Castle Wood form one continuous block of old deciduous woodland on the south side of Shooter's Hill, with oak, hornbeam, silver birch and coppiced hazel. It is public open space owned and looked after by the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and the footpaths carry a section of the Green Chain Walk, the signed route that strings together the open spaces of south-east London.
Two things make it different from the better-known London woods. The first is the topography: you are walking up and down a real hill, which is rare in the capital and which is why the view exists at all. The second is Oxleas Meadows, a broad grassy shelf on the northern edge where the trees stop and the Thames valley opens out. There is a café beside the meadow with tables outside, and it is the local meeting point rather than a visitor attraction.
Woodlands Farm, a community farm, sits further along the ridge to the east, by the bus stop of the same name. If that appeals, the city farms round-up lists the others. For woodland on a much bigger scale, Epping Forest is the obvious comparison, and it is easier to reach; Severndroog's advantage is that you can climb a tower in the middle of it.
The best months, and the worst
Late October and early November are the pick of the year here. The hornbeams and beeches turn, the leaves thin out enough to improve the view from the platform, and the paths are not yet churned to mud. Our page on autumn colour in London has the other places worth the trip in the same fortnight.
Midwinter is the clearest time for the long view but also the likeliest to lose you the platform to wind or rain, and the days are short against a 3pm closing time. High summer is the weakest: full leaf cover blocks much of the outlook and the woods are at their busiest with local families. Spring is good for bluebells on the lower slopes and for the noise, which in April is considerable.
Whatever the month, take proper shoes. The tarmac paths are fine, but the desire lines between them are clay, and clay on a hillside after rain behaves exactly as you would expect.
Half a day that uses the whole hill
The castle alone does not fill a day, and the trip out is long enough that you will want more. The most satisfying plan runs east to west and ends near a station.
- Train to Falconwood, then walk north into Oxleas Meadows for the view over the valley and a coffee at the cafe.
- Climb west through Jack Wood and Castle Wood to Severndroog, about 25 minutes.
- Tower, tea room, and back down the north side of the hill towards Woolwich.
- Finish at Eltham Palace if it is open, or carry on to Woolwich for the Elizabeth line.
If you would rather build the day around the river, Greenwich is three miles west and you can get between them on the 486. The Woolwich Ferry and the foot tunnels are free and make a neat ending. Readers who like this sort of small, unexpected building may also want the Monument in the City, which is another climb up a spiral staircase for a view, or Bunhill Fields, which is free, flat and full of history. For a day out that is all birds and water rather than trees, Walthamstow Wetlands works on the same principle: an industrial site the public was let into.
Anyone deciding whether a castle nearer the countryside would be a better use of the day should compare it with Hever Castle or Warwick Castle, both of which are proper days out with proper prices. Severndroog costs £5 and two hours. It is a different kind of outing, and it belongs on a list of free and very cheap things to do in London rather than in that company.
Frequently asked questions
Is Severndroog Castle open every day?
No. The viewing platform and the castle rooms are open to general visitors on Sundays only, from 10am to 3pm, with last entry at 2.45pm. The ground-floor tea room opens Thursday to Sunday, 9am to 3.30pm. The surrounding woodland is open every day of the year and costs nothing.
How much does it cost to go up Severndroog Castle?
Admission was £5 for an adult and £3.50 for a child aged 5 to 15 in September 2026, with under-5s and carers free and a family ticket for up to five people at £12.50. Tickets can be bought at the admissions desk on the day. Check the Trust's visit page for the current prices.
How many steps are there inside Severndroog Castle?
There are 86 steps up the original spiral staircase to the viewing platform, and no lift. The stairs are narrow and the treads are worn, so the climb is not suitable for wheelchair users and may be difficult for anyone with limited mobility or a fear of heights.
Which bus goes to Severndroog Castle?
The 89, 244 and 486 all stop at Memorial Hospital on Shooters Hill, about five minutes' walk from the castle. From central London, the usual routes are the Elizabeth line to Woolwich then the 244, or the Jubilee line to North Greenwich then the 486.
Can you walk to Severndroog Castle from Falconwood station?
Yes. It is roughly 25 minutes on foot from Falconwood, north across Oxleas Meadows and then uphill through Jack Wood and Castle Wood. The climb is steady rather than steep, but it is the whole way, so allow more time than the distance suggests and wear shoes that cope with mud.
Are dogs allowed at Severndroog Castle?
Well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome in the tea room and the courtyard during tea room hours. Inside the castle itself, only assistance dogs are permitted. The surrounding woodland is public open space where dogs may be walked.
Sources
- Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust - Plan your visit (checked September 2026)
- Severndroog Castle - The Viewing Platform (checked September 2026)
- Severndroog Castle - The Tea Room (checked September 2026)
- Severndroog Castle - About the castle and its restoration (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Journey Planner (checked September 2026)