What is Stewardship?
Historically, the modern day word ‘stewardship’ is derived from the Anglo Saxon word ‘Stigweard’ – ‘Stig’ meaning house or hall, and ‘weard’ meaning to keep, and was adopted as a title for those who looked after a house, estate or kingdom while the king was away.
A ‘Stigweard’ in Anglo Saxon times provided a vital function within early societies by maintaining the heart of the community. The Stewarts – the spelling Stuart was adopted later – were an Anglo-Norman family who came to Scotland in the 11th century and took their name from their position as Hereditary Stewards to successive Scottish Kings.
Today the word stewardship means nurturing or sustaining of an asset - such as an organisation, tradition, building, or the environment for the benefit of future generations. Falkland Centre for Stewardship aims to inspire future generations to see the concept of stewardship as one that should be taken very seriously as an ancient term with contemporary and global relevance.
As stewards our work here on Falkland Estate involves using our hands to continue some of the threatened skills and traditions of the past, our heads to work out the most effective way to revive the estate with limited resources and our hearts and instincts to anticipate and envisage the next 100 years.
