Hardwick Old Hall
| Hardwick Old Hall | |
| Derbyshire | |
|---|---|
 Hardwick Old Hall | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SK46166367 |
| Location: | 53.168161, -1.310948 |
| History | |
| Built 1587 – 1596 | |
| For: | Bess of Hardwick |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | ruined |
| Owned by: | English Heritage |
| Website: | Hardwick Old Hall |
Hardwick Old Hall stands as a magnificent ruin on a hilltop between Chesterfield and Mansfield, overlooking the Derbyshire countryside
A mediæval manor house on this site was the birthplace, in 1527, of Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury and ancestress of the Dukes of Devonshire, and who was in the days of Queen Elizabeth I, the richest woman in England after the Queen. Bess was married four times but fled her last marriage back to her family estates, and in 1589 she built Hardwick Hall on the site of the earlier house.
In 1590 though, before the house was completed, Bess began a new one: Hardwick New Hall: her intention was that the two would be enjoyed together.[1]
William Cavendish, Bess's son from her second marriage, inherited the estate on her death in 1608 (his elder brother having been disinherited for various notoroious sins). He later became the 1st Duke of Devonshire. The Dukes of Devonshire came to favour Chatsworth House over Hardwick, and in the 1750s the Old Hall was partially demolished.
In 1793 the interior of the house was planted with specimen trees.[1]
In 1959 the hardwick Estate was sold to the National Trust but the Ministry of Works becae guardian of the Old Hall. It is now in the care of the Ministry's successor, English Heritage.
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Hardwick Hall) |
- Hardwick Old Hall – English Heritage