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Orleans House Gallery is open Tuesday – Sunday 10am-5pm. The public can drop-in for free anytime during our opening hours, last entry 4:20pm. 

You can find our full access statement on the access page of our website here: Access  

If you have any questions or would like to chat about your visit before coming, please email us at artsinfo@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk  

or you can phone us on: 020 8831 6000 

Play Works is an interactive exhibition in Orleans House Gallery’s Main Gallery, taking place from 18 November 2023 – 23 June 2024. 

Contents Page  

Arriving at Orleans House Gallery – by foot via Orleans Road 

Arriving at Orleans House Gallery – by vehicle via Orleans Road 

Arriving at Orleans House Gallery – by foot via the Riverside 

On Arrival 

Self-Guided Visit 

Arriving at Orleans House Gallery – by foot via Orleans Road 

There are 3 ways to enter Orleans House Gallery grounds. 

You might walk down Orleans Road and come to this gate:

Walk through and you will be in the Orleans House Gallery woodland. Walk up the path straight ahead. 

It is a short walk through the woods – 2 to 5 minutes. 

At the end of the path you will come to the gallery’s driveway. 

Cross over the driveway – remember to look both ways for passing cars. 

Here is the front of Orleans House Gallery: 

Go up the steps, or the ramp on the righthand side, to enter the Orleans House Gallery. 

Arriving at Orleans House Gallery – by vehicle via Orleans Road 

You might come by car, bus, or coach and drive down Orleans Road and come to this entrance: 

You will follow the driveway up until you come to the gallery’s carpark. 

You will walk on the path up to the front of Orleans House Gallery, here is a picture of the gallery from outside: 

Go up the steps, or the ramp on the righthand side, to enter the Orleans House Gallery. 

Arriving at Orleans House Gallery – by foot via the Riverside 

You might walk by the Riverside and come to this entrance: 

It is quite steep to walk up! Follow the path on the lawn up to the gallery entrance. Or there is a stone path to the left, but there are steps on this path. 

Follow this path. 

Go up the steps, or the ramp on the righthand side, to enter.

On Arrival

Your adult will press the round button to open the front door. They will go inside to let the person at the front desk know you have arrived. You might go in with them too. 

The person at the front desk will let your teacher know were you can leave your bags and coats while you visit. 

This is the Coach House where you will leave your coats and bags. The door is heavy so let your adults open it for you. You might have your lunch here, your adults will let you know. 

You might need to visit the toilet before you go into the exhibition. Turn left out of the Coach House, toilets are through the last door. 

The accessible toilet:

The female toilets: 

The male toilets: 

There is also a toilet cubicle in the male toilets. 

Self-Guided Visit 

When your class is ready to start, your adults will take you back to the front desk. 

Play Works can be busy and might be noisy. We have ear defenders that you can borrow for your visit if you want them. 

Remember to stay in the same room as your adults – they must know where you are and know you are safe.

There is sign with information about Play Works for you to read with an adult if you want to. 

You will see information on the walls around the gallery, you can read these if you like. 

If it is open, you will go into the Octagon Room. The Octagon Room has lots of decoration and lots to look at. For Play Works there are large mirrors to look at. You can sit and walk on the round one in the middle if you want to. 

Sometimes the Octagon room is closed for events, so it might not be open, which is ok. 

Outside the Octagon room there is a film playing called The Voice of Children. You can watch this if you like. It is 37 minutes long. 

Down the steps is the Main Gallery. In here there are seats, hanging fabric and lots of objects. You can sit on the seats. You can play with any of the objects in the Main Gallery.

Upstairs is called the mezzanine. There are posters on the walls and more writing you can read if you want. 

There are pictures by school children on the wall at the end of the mezzanine. There are pictures from our collection of artwork. 

This is the end of the exhibition. Thank you for coming!