Posted on by Peter

Hardwick Hall, Chesterfield, Derbyshire

Sat 22nd July 2023

We were staying at Cromford Meadows, with the Camping and Caravanning Club Photographic Group. As a very rainy day was expected, we chose to visit Hardwick Hall.

Hardwick Hall; note the ‘ES’ motif’s on the top, denoting Elizabeth of Shrewsbury

Hardwick Hall is a relatively unchanged Elizabethan house, built around 1590-1597 by Elizabeth Cavendish, later Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, otherwise known as Bess of Hardwick.

Bess of Hardwick

Hardwick Old Hall, which sits adjacent to Hardwick Hall is Bess of Hardwick’s former home, and is semi-derelict. It is in the care of English Heritage, but was closed for restoration work at the time of our visit.

Hardwick Old Hall

The entrance to Hardwick Hall is impressive. You enter an enclosed front garden through a gateway:

Harwick Hall gateway

On entering the house, visitors walk into an impressive double-height hall with an equally impressive fireplace:

The Great Hall
Great Hall fireplace

Bess certainly looked after her money:

Strongbox with a very ornate locking mechanism
The strongroom, used for important papers and accounts

The house is known for its many tapestries paintings and three-dimensional plasterwork:

The Newly-restored Gideon Tapestry
The Long Gallery, one of the largest of any English house
Chimney Piece in the High Great Chamber

There is also a link to Mary, Queen of Scots who was in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess, though Mary never visited Hardwick:

Coat of Arms over one of the bedroom doors
Statue of Mary Queen of Scots
Tapestry, which bears Mary Queen of Scot’s monogram and is reputed to have been worked on by her.

There is a huge kitchen which is well equipped:

Outside, there are formal gardens:

Rear of the house with Queen Mary’s statue centre

4 Replies to “Hardwick Hall, Chesterfield, Derbyshire”

  1. Great pictures
    Would be good to see pictures of the car park and maybe some feedback on how easy it was to get to and how motorhome friendly it is
    Thanks

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    1. Hi Dawn
      Thank you for your comment regarding the pictures.

      Not sure that pictures of the car park would be that useful or interesting, but I will think about how to include some information as requested in future. The problem is that the difficulty or otherwise, depends on how big your outfit is. Ours is a small motorhome by many standards. We tend to look at the venue on Google satellite view before going.

      As it happens, Hardwick has a large car park and plenty of room for motorhomes. In fact there were several of them there are the time of our visit.

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      1. Hi Peter
        Thanks for your reply, I thought if you had a picture of your motorhome in the car park it would help others to judge your size and compare to their own. Look forward to reading your posts
        We were at Cromford and that is where I saw your van and joined your blog, always keen to hear other peoples stories for inspiration on places to stay and local attractions whilst on sites
        Have fun and if we meet again I will come over and say hi

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      2. Hi Dawn
        Yes, please do. If you are a member of the CCC Photographic Group, we may see you at Hose, later this month.

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