England Guide
The East Midlands
Hardwick Hall
Opening time: Mid-March to Oct: house Wed, Thurs, Sat & Sun noon–4.30pm; gardens Wed– Sun 11am–5.30pm
Price: House and gardens £9, gardens only £4.50
Address: 3 miles from Junction #29 on the M1
Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Born the daughter of a minor Derbyshire squire, Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury (1527–1608) – aka Bess of Hardwick – became one of the leading figures of Elizabethan England, renowned for her political and business acumen. She also had a penchant for building and her major achievement, Hardwick Hall, begun when she was 62, has survived in amazingly good condition. The house was the epitome of fashionable taste, a balance of symmetry and ingenious detail in which the rectangular lines of the building are offset by line upon line of window – there's actually more glass than stone – whilst up above her giant-sized initials (E.S.) hog every roof line. Inside, on the top floor, the High Great Chamber, where Bess received her most distinguished guests, boasts an extraordinary plaster frieze, a brightly painted, finely worked affair celebrating the goddess Diana, the virgin huntress – it was, of course, designed to please the virgin queen herself. Next door, the Long Gallery is simply breathtaking, like an indoor cricket pitch only with exquisite furnishings and fittings from the splendid chimneypieces and tapestries through to a fine set of portraits.
The garden makes for a pleasant wander and, beyond the ha-ha (the animal-excluding ditch and low wall), rare breeds of cattle and sheep graze the surrounding parkland.
The easiest way to reach Hardwick is along the; come off at and follow the signs from the roundabout at the top of the slip road – a three-mile trip. Note, however, that Hardwick is not signed from the motorway itself.