Recently I visited a magnificent old country manor; Hardwick Hall. Location address: Doe Lea, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S44 5QJ
Hardwick Hall is set in the English countryside in Derbyshire and was built during the Elizabethan period. It is surrounded by acres upon acres of land and some of the views are stunning, even on cloudy days like these.
The house itself boasts a number of farm animals, which roam freely on the land. As you drive towards the stately home, you are sometimes greeted by the odd sheep who stands in the middle of the road and takes a good look at you before decided if you are worthy of passing into their beautiful grounds.
This 16th century mansion is beautifully maintained by the National Trust. You can access the grounds, gardens and the house for free if you are a National Trust member. If not, you can still visit, but you do have to pay to gain entry.
Fun Fact: Hardwick Hall has more glass than stone in its structure!
The inside of the Mansion has not been changed since the lady of the manor was in residence, so you get a real feel for how they lived. Huge fireplaces dominate every room and you can imagine just how cold it would get as the rooms are enormous! It would have been so hard to keep the building warm during the winter. The fireplace below was probably the smallest one in the house and was placed in the entry way to the building to welcome visitors no doubt.
(The photos inside the house may be a little grainy as we were not allowed to use camera flash)
The furniture in the building has a luxurious feel to it. You can tell they were proud of their wealth and liked to show it off with the pieces they had custom made for the hall.
The walls are laden with tapestries in every room, from floor to ceiling. I can only assume this was to help keep the rooms heated. The intricate detail on each tapestry is amazing. I cannot even imagine the hours it must have taken to produce these works of art!
The bedrooms are just as lavish as the main rooms, with no expense spared on furniture. In fact, they are pieces of art in themselves! I do worry for these items as the ceilings don’t look all that good to me…
The Grand Piano is something of a marvel. Beethoven himself saw this piano and demanded that a replica was made for his own private collection. The one he used is almost identical to this, except for a tiny name stamp inside the instrument.
The original here has an oval stamp used by the designers, but they would not allow Beethoven to have the oval stamp. He had to have the more common rectangular name stamp instead! I am pretty sure he would have been a little annoyed by this. If only they had known how famous he would become…
Once again, apologies for some of the images being rather grainy, but the use of a camera flash is not permitted inside the house, for the protection of the historical pieces.
As I wave goodbye to this glorious mansion and the grounds, I am certain I shall return again soon. But for now, farewell Hardwick Hall!
Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed the tour!
Much love, Cheryl :heart:
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Wow! That is just spectacular. An amazing place with almost unbelievable artifacts.
That (couch?) and it's setting is just stunning and the piano is over the moon. Amazing place. Thanks for sharing it!
Thank you Tom! :D So pleased you enjoyed it! The photos truly don't do the artefacts justice as we couldn't use flash for damaging the pieces. The details are so intricate! And the tapestries... just WOW!
Thanks again Big T :)
My goodness, this is simply magnificient. The tapestries and furniture a are amazing. Such royalty and beauty, I am so glad it has been maintained. Love the wandering sheep, that is fun.
Yes, the sheep are fun as long as they let you past lol
That is really awesome! I can only imagine what it would have been like to have lived in such opulence back then. Although modern plumbing is a really awesome thing too! Great photos of such an amazing place. The tapestries alone are so cool.
Can you believe I actually took a picture of the ancient toilet there haha do you want to see it? xD
Haha
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Love the placement. First two are the best one.
Thank you :)
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thanks guys! :D
Was this the haunted house photo (the black and white one) that you posted yesterday?
Anyway, we were recently over in the UK, and I'm pretty impressed by the work that the National Trust does in keeping these monuments alive... it must be a huge effort, and it is really great work that they do!
Yes, this is the very same building! :)
The National Trust do amazing work and have so many sites under their care. The annual memberships are worth investing in if you visit the sites a lot as they can cost quite a bit to get into otherwise
Thanks @beautifulbullies. This is extraordinary. Beautiful piece of architecture and great opulence. And of course, splendid pictures.
Thank you :)
Lavish place! Still can't believe there is more glass than the stone in the structure although it does look as if each room is very bright. I don't mind to visit it at all! Love such places!
It was amazing! The rooms would have been bright however all the curtains were closed in every room to protect the artifacts, so it was actually very dark inside, which is why I struggled with the grainy pictures as my ISO was so high and I had to do long exposures handheld which was awkward. But hopefully you can still get a sense of the items from the pictures I took even with the grain :)
First thing I thought, when I saw the first picture was: wish I had these windows for my studio!
Thank you for giving a look inside this spectacular building and sharing some of the interesting facts. Love that sofa by the window!
omg yes! The lighting would be perfect for a studio! I would have loved to have seen inside the building as it was intended to be seen, with all the curtains open, however I understand the need for the heavy curtains to be closed at all times to protect the furniture and tapestries. It does seem a real waste of all that natural light though doesn't it! :D
It just amazes me how much this looks like the building used for the show Downton Abbey. I wonder if the plans for both were created by the same person/company. I know we have a lot of that here in the US for the old downtowns that were built in the same time period.
This is such a beautiful building. Thank you so much for showing it to us.
Ren
You are right, Highclere Castle (where Downton Abbey was filmed) Does have a very similar structure and feel to it, although I believe the castle was built during the Victorian era. They are amazing buildings and I don't think buildings built nowadays will last as well or as long as these!
Thank you for stopping by Ren! :)
I had no clue if the time period! I guess they has those who loved their ancestor's art as much as we do.
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Thank you guys!
You can Almost feel history
The pictures don't do it justice. The rooms were huge! You can imagine the grand parties that must have been held there back in the day
Sorry for this late reply i missed this one,
I wish i could time travel and live there just to feel the vibe of Those days
WOW what an amazing place and that fun fact was so interesting
Thank you Jay! :D
MOst welcome :)
te felicito, algun dia quisiera visitar esos lugares, gracias por mostrarlos, un saludo desde venezuela.
Muchas gracias. Saludos desde Inglaterra
What a lovely place to visit!
Nice to be rich in those bygone days. Wall tapestries made by hand maidens, cleaning this home must have had a huge staff.
Farming right outside your window, nice for those who could afford it.
Broadswords would be of interest something you don't see often, real collectors items.
Thanks for sharing your day out @beautifulbullies #powerhousecreatives bringing hidden places into your home.
You are most welcome! I am glad you enjoyed it :)
Love the old, love the history attached to the big old mansions, my mind always takes me to the staff who had to run those homes like clock-work.
Oh wow, the place looks very majestic and amazing, gorgeous!
It is beautiful! I wouldn't like to do the housework though haha
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