Leave your own mark at Hardwick Hall

For centuries craftsmen, builders, gardeners, staff and volunteers have been leaving their mark on Hardwick Hall, this year at Hardwick, the National Trust are inviting our visitors to leave their mark too, through our sponsor a flagstone initiative. Vital conservation work is being undertaken to restore the flagstone path between the Gatehouse and the entrance of the Hall. This work is being carried out by the Hardwick stonemasons. There have been stonemasons working at Hardwick since Bess began building Hardwick in 1590, since that time many craftsmen have worked on the building and this generation of stonemasons are now working to look after this special place for future generations. The National Trust is inviting everyone to get involved in sponsoring a flagstone and leading the way is Hardwick’s General Manager, Denise Edwards. “This is an opportunity to leave something for our children and grandchildren whilst helping to conserve the wonderful place that is Hardwick” says Denise, “it is nice to leave a bit of ourselves here for the future”. There are two options for sponsoring a flagstone; firstly, for £25 you can write your personal message on the underside of the stone and secondly, for donations of £100 a member of the stonemason team will hand carve your initials or a special date into your very own stone. All the money raised through flagstone sponsorships will go towards supporting the building conservation work at Hardwick.