Haddon Hall, in Derbyshire, wins the 2024 Historic Houses Sustainability Award.

Grade I listed medieval manor house and garden, Haddon Hall, in Derbyshire, becomes the fourth winner of the Historic Houses Sustainability Award.

The award, sponsored by Savills, recognises and celebrates the work done by privately and independently owned historic houses in the field of sustainability. The award is a benchmark for excellence and recognition of environmental best practice within the heritage sector. Judges take several factors into account, including reducing carbon footprints, eco-tourism and sustainable development, biodiversity, and habitat management. The announcement was made at the Historic Houses National AGM on Tuesday 12 November 2024.

Haddon Hall is home to Lord and Lady Edward Manners, and is set in the natural beauty of the Peak District. Open seven days a week to the public from April to October each year, Haddon welcomes 66,000 visitors annually. Sustainability and environmental best practice is at the heart of everything the team do, not only as a necessity to tread lightly on such an ancient building and estate, but also in order to protect the landscape to include enhancing its biodiversity, and the local community.

Log fires are used for heating, a wood chip boiler for water, and shutters to conserve heat, all using wood from the estate. Water is sourced from their springs and two ram pumps are being restored to sustainably pump water around the supply pipes. For maintenance and restoration, they employ local craftsmen working in traditional materials obtained from the estate. This includes using silt from rivers to make lime plaster in the kiln and using a fallen oak from the park to make desks and other furniture. All the gardens, parkland, rivers, and land on the estate are treated with the same gentle touch that they employ within the Hall. The team have followed organic practices since 2009 and are pursuing a policy of food self-sufficiency, with a biodynamic household vegetable garden and the supply of parkland venison and beef to the estate owned hotel.

Lady Edward Manners, Chatelaine of Haddon Hall, said: “It is a great honour to win this award. It recognises the dedication of our family and our teams in making sustainability the keystone of our lives at Haddon, and we hope it shines a light on the work we have done and continue to do here, playing our part to contribute to a healthy future for all. Haddon Medieval Park is now the area’s oldest, largest rewilding project in Derbyshire, a place that provides not just a haven for wildlife but also inspiration for people. We are delighted to welcome hundreds of visitors every year to enjoy this beautiful landscape and to learn more about ecology, the environment and heritage crafts.”

Ben Cowell, Director General of Historic Houses, said: “The judges of our Sustainability Award were so impressed by the passion and commitment they saw at Haddon Hall. It is a perfect example of showing how the important heritage of a grade I-listed medieval manor house can be married with its wider estate. Sustainability informs every part of how the estate is managed, from a focus on organic food production to a commitment to working with local schools.”

Rupert Clark, Head of Estate Management at Savills, said: “Haddon Hall encapsulates the broad spectrum of sustainable practices both within the building and in its surrounding landscape, and is a fine example of what can be done in the interests of sustainability. Lord and Lady Manners are passionate about their sustainable approach to the management of the Hall and estate, and as a result they have achieved an impressive amount and are worthy winners of this award.”