Hardwick Hall, England

In the late 1500s Bess of Hardwick had amassed quite a fortune after four husbands died and left her their estates. She built a new Hardwick Hall to replace the medieval hall (which is still standing (though in ruins) on the estate). Being fabulously wealthy and having great social status, she hired Robert Smythson to build the new house. The hall is quite impressive from the outside with its pleasant symmetry and the (at the time) unheard of number and size of windows.

Hardwick Hall

We had come to the estate previously and only seen the mill and the old hall. (We did have an abortive attempt to see the inside of the hall). Now we finally had a chance to tour the inside of this Elizabethan masterpiece.

The entrance hall is tall and well stocked with protective items used decoratively and with the first among many sets of huge tapestries.

Entrance hall

Armor at the back

Even the staircases have tapestries! Not only were they a sign of wealth, they also helped to insulate the stone building.

A staircase landing

Must be where the servants stayed

An interesting decoration in the stairways

A large hall upstairs was clearly used for entertaining. In addition to tapestries, the wall's top borders have some relief showing a hunting party.

Great hall for entertaining

The family crest?

Or is this the family crest?

A table with built-in games!

Another (kinda shocking) relief

Running the length of the building behind the great hall is the long gallery, which is full of paintings and tapestries and the occasional fireplace.

A good spot to observe guests from

An ornate cabinet

A nice fireplace

Marriage relief

The house also has several bedrooms kept in the same sumptuous style as the rest of the building.

The blue bedroom (supposedly the most haunted room in the house)

A more cheerful bedroom

Goddess Cybele frieze from the 1590s--better than a flat-panel TV on the wall!

The house also has a simple chapel, as most stately homes did back in the day.

A humble chapel

Back downstairs, we saw the kitchen on our way out. It was also comparatively large and well stocked. The oven in particular looked like it could prepare a dozen dishes at a time if there was an especially big gathering going on at the hall.

Kitchen workspace

The oven

The hall is quite impressive and is definitely worth a visit. The estate also has a mill which we have visited several times, even if I only blogged about it once. The flour from the mill is quite good. We bought another bag and have made some nice loaves from it.

More of the grounds in the next blog!

Hardwick Hall

After seeing Stainsby Mill and Old Hardwick Hall, we moved on to the most opulent Hardwick Hall.

I wouldn't want to be the window washer!

As I said previously, the hall did not open till noon. Even after visiting the mill and the old hall's ruins, we still had some time to kill before we could go inside. The front porch offered some protection from the weather. At 11:40, a docent began a short lecture on the life of Bess of Hardwick, who built the new hall in the 1590s. While we listened along, Jacob did some investigating. He discovered where the drain pipes from the roof lead to!

Or maybe he just wanted to wash his hands

Lucy lost her focus to and wandered around the corner to look at some of the flowers in the gardens.

We had a hard time convincing her not to pick any

Finally, the front doors were open and we were able to go inside and admire the Elizabethan opulence.

Plaster and tapestries!

We had to convince Lucy to stay off the chairs too

Unfortunately, Jacob had a bit of a meltdown at this point and we did not get to see any more of the house. We went back outside and walked across the lawn and out the front gate. We waited for a shuttle to take us back to the parking lot. As we waited, we discovered a random set of stairs out front. Can you guess what they are for?

Jacob fights his way to the top

The docent at the front gate let us know that these steps were used to mount horses when going for rides or on hunts! Soon the little bus came by and we were happily riding back to our car for a little lunch before continuing our journey.

Last view of the big house

Riding might have been the most fun the kids had

Someday we will go back and do more of a tour of the house and the gardens, hopefully with warmer weather, more flowers, and less tired children!

Old Hardwick Hall

After visiting Stainsby Mill, we went up to the main part of the Hardwick Estate, where Hardwick Hall and Old Hardwick Hall are found right next to each other. It was easy to decide which one to look at first, since the old hall opened at 10 a.m. and the new hall opened at noon. But before going to the halls, we decided to have a snack at the stables, which were converted into a rather large cafe.

Lucy decided to opt out of the outdoor seating, even if it was green

Fortified for the next leg of our journey, we went over to the ruins of the old hall to explore. As members of the National Trust, we were able to get in for free and even get the audio tour for free. We didn't have much of a chance to listen as the children pulled us from spot to spot.

The old hall was the birthplace of Bess of Hardwick circa 1521. After being married four times, she had amassed quite a bit of wealth and power. She had the New Hall built, moving from a massive medieval manor to a more massive Elizabethan manor.

Approaching the ruins of Old Hardwick Hall

Approaching the splendor of Hardwick Hall

The old hall ruins look remarkable similar from the other side:

Another view of the ruins

With a little help from the audio guide, we were able to see the various parts of the house, like the kitchens and tennis court and various rooms inside the house.

Listening to the audio while the kids took us away from the tennis court

Jacob plans our visit

Being able to walk up four flights in the ruins was quite an amazing experience, though Lucy tired out early. Only Jacob and I made it to the top of the house for a look around.

The ruins from inside

The Cavendish Room

Jacob at the top

The Great Chamber with great plaster

View from the top

View to the New Hall

The other remarkable thing about the ruins is how much of the decorative plaster has survived for hundreds of years with little or no preservation work. In addition to what you can see in the photos above, many other spots still had fine decorations easily visible.

Part of a family crest

Good thing that ledge is there!

Green Man motif

Coming back down the stairs, Jacob and I looked in at the kitchen and saw the old ovens and such built into the walls. All the utensils and appliances were long gone, but you could still get a sense of how large and busy the kitchen would be to support such a palatial manor.

They had several bread ovens!

We soon returned to the shop/entrance building, where we found Mommy and Lucy waiting. The building also had an exhibit on Bess of Hardwick's architectural adventures, which we didn't see much of since it was not very engaging for the children. So we were off to see the New Hall. More on that in the next post!

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