Hardwick Park - Sedgefield

Hardwick Park

Attraction (General)
in/near Sedgefield, Durham,
England North East



Review added: 17/03/2011 18:10
By: durhamgirl (£67.00 earned from reviews) Earn £££'s

"Hardwick Park is a country park located near Sedgefield in County Durham. The park was created in the 1750s by John Burdon, whos dream was to create a sprawling ornamental park. Some of the original buildings remain today.

Burdon bought the Hardwick estate which includes Hardwick House in the 1740s and over the next 10 years spent his time renovating the house and gardens to suit his somewhat eclectic tastes. The intention was to have a garden that looked completely natural even though it was very heavily engineered. The finished article had lots of trees which had been planed, 'ruins' and more than one lake.

After Burdon's death the park began to fall into ruin and became very overgrown. In 1999 Durham County Council began the Hardwick restoration programme with money from The Lottery Council.

The garden has been featured on Channel 4's Time Team where it was found to have once been a Roman Settlement.

There are 3 main routes around the park; one for walkers which is 1 mile long, a 1.4 mile cycle route and a 0.5 mile horseriding route. We started at he main Visitors Centre and took the walking route which we found to be very pleasant with lots to look at on the way including the Gothic Ruins, several original buildings and crossed The Serpentine Bridge. The walk is accessible to visitors of all abilities. The path is wide and flat with no steps. There are two slopes on the walk but there are easier alternatives which are shown on the map you are given.

As part of the revamp, Durham Council also commissioned a series of sculptures that have been placed around the Park which are very nice.

The Visitor Centre's facilities include an interactive exhibition space, education room, cafe and public toilets. It is open from 10am to 4pm every day.

There are disabled parking spaces for blue badge holders and it is very easy to find and well signposted. Admission is free and I thoroughly recommend it as a lovely place to visit."

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