Haddon Hall's new residents say house is so big they will need GPS to find their children

It has been over 300 years since someone lived in Haddon Hall. Photo / Getty Images

A family moving into a stately home nearly 300 years after the last residents left said their new house is so big they will have to put GPS on their children to keep track of them.

Lord and Lady Edward Manners and their two-year-old twin sons will be the first family to live in Haddon Hall, which has not been inhabited since the reign of Queen Anne.

The property in Bakewell, Derbyshire, has been owned by the Manners Dukes of Rutland for centuries.

It is described as one of the most romantic sites in the UK and has featured in several films including Jane Eyre, Elizabeth and the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice.

Lady Edward, founder of lingerie company Beau Bra, said: "We've worked out where we want to go in the house, how we want to use it and live in it. We would hope to be in it by next year.

"There's an awful lot to do to bring it up to 20th century comfortable living."

She said hide and seek with her sons, Alfred and Vesey, would now be "out of control" in the enormous house.

Lady Edward said: "I'm worried that I might lose them behind a tapestry or down a tunnel - I'm going to put GPS on them."

She added: "I spent three years hoovering and a year of that tidying up. The windows have been cleaned for the first time in 28 years."

The family are currently living in a house on the Haddon estate and are gradually moving their possessions into the hall.

Lady Edward said: "Breathing new life into Haddon comes from us living at Haddon permanently. There is a new energy - for years it's been quietly resting.

"The family left in Queen Anne's reign and we're the first family back in it."

The couple are keen to attract visitors to the historic house and Lady Edwards said: "We want more families to come to Haddon as it is living history."

The big attractions at Haddon this year will include the unveiling of tapestries which haven't been seen for nearly 100 years.