Hardwich Hall

Hardwick Hall - Chesterfield visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Hardwick Hall' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Derbyshire.

This panorama shows the outside of Hardwick Hall, one of the most important Elizabethan country houses in England. Hardwick Hall is situated on a hill top in Doe Lea, between Chesterfield and Mansfield, with stunning views of the surrounding countryside in Derbyshire.

Hardwick House was built for Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury and ancestress of the Dukes of Devonshire in the 16C whose seat is Chatsworth House in Chatsworth. It remained in family hands until it was given to the Treasury in lieu of inheritance tax in 1956. Harwick Hall then passed into the hand of the National Trust in 1959. The house is open to the public.

Among the highlights of Hardwick Hall are the Great Hall, the first in England to be built along the axis of the building. Great stone staircases lead up to the State Rooms on the second floor, one of the largest Long Galleries in England, and a vast Great Chamber with a huge plaster frieze of a hunting scene.

Also unusual in the house are the size and number of windows, which were very expensive to install in the 16C. Harwick Hall was commonly referred to as 'Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall' as a result of their number and size. Much of the furniture within the hall can be dated back to an inventory taken in 1601.

Hardwick Hall stands in stunning grounds, which include various gardens, herbaceous borders, a vegetable and herb garden and an orchard. Also within the grounds is Hardwick Old Hall, now a ruin, managed by the National Trust and also open to the public.

Hardwick Hall
Doe Lea,
Chesterfield,
Derbyshire S44 5QJ

Hardwick Hall is about 6 miles east of Chesterfield and 3 miles south of Doe Lea