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Hardwick Hall |
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Hardwick Hall tel: 01246-850430 Area: Derbyshire |
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| Visitor Information | www.nationaltrust.org.uk | ||||||||||||
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| Hardwick Hall Derbyshire All details updated* as of: 08/02/2008 |
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| Opening Days and Hours | |||||||||||||
1 Mar - 2 Nov 08, 11 - 5:30, Wed - Sun |
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| Parties
/ Coaches: Yes Please call main office for group visit pack |
Groups
/ Coaches need Appointment: Yes |
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House
Open for Viewing: Yes |
National
Garden Scheme days: No |
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| Best
Times of Year to Visit: |
To
see: |
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| Admission Prices | |||||||||||||
| £8.63, child £4.31, family £21.59. Groups £8.10. Garden only: £4.31, child £2.09, family £10.72. Joint ticket prices, Old and New Halls: £11.37, child £5.67, family £28.43) Fishing day tickets: £5. Season fishing ticket: £50 (inc. NT members) | |||||||||||||
| Onsite Facilities | |||||||||||||
| Parking:
Yes Lavatories: Yes Disabled Access: Yes |
Shop:
Yes Plants for Sale: No Lunches: Yes |
Teas:
Yes Light Refreshment: Yes Picnics: Yes |
Dogs
Allowed: No On Lead only: No Special Events: Yes |
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| Other
Facilities: Refreshments in Great Hall restaurant on days house is open. Picnics must not be taken in gardens. |
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| Garden Features | |||||||||||||
| One of Britain's greatest and most complete Elizabethan houses; Spectacular Tudor treasure house; Built for 'Bess of Hardwick', Elizabethan England's second most powerful and wealthy woman; Outstanding 16th- and 17th-century tapestries and embroideries; Fine historic parklands, orchard and herb garden to explore; Rare breeds of cattle and sheep; Stunning herb garden | English Heritage Garden Grade: I | ||||||||||||
| National Collection: | |||||||||||||
| Description of Garden | Designer:
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| The garden is still divided into the original two main areas, the South Court and the East Court, after one has left the entrance or West Court, which contains lawns, herbaceous borders, and a magnificent cedar of Lebanon. The overall plan of the garden can best be appreciated from the upper landings and galleries of the house but the South Court must be visited not least for its superb herb garden, containing many varieties familiar to the original denizens of the house, and which is believed to be the largest in the country. This Court, which extends to over 7 acres in all, is divided into four quarters and of the other three, one is given over to a long border full of tree paeonies, old shrub roses and philadelphus with perennials and a form of Lily of the Valley discovered here and called 'Hardwick Hall'. The other two echo the original purpose of the Court which was to provide fruit and vegetables, in vast quantities, for the house by being planted as orchard. One of the features of the planting scheme devised by the Trust is the subtle harmonisation of colours reminiscent of Gertrude Jekyll's gardens, with bright vibrant hues gradually giving way to quieter, plainer tones as the visitor progresses along the borders. | |||||||||||||
| History of Garden | |||||||||||||
| Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury built this immense hall in the 1590s with her initials ES carved in the balustrades above the towers dominating the landscape rather as, in her time, she did. She was one of the richest people in the country and had already re-built the Old Hall in 1585 which is now a ruin, but after acquiring further enormous wealth following the death of her fourth husband, Lord Shrewsbury, she started on the construction of the New Hall to a design by Robert Smythson. there is no doubt that she was a compulsive builder, and it is rumoured that she declared that if building halted at Hardwick she would die and was in due course proved correct when, for reasons outside her control it did indeed halt for a brief period, and she died shortly afterwards. The Devonshires at Chatsworth are direct descendants of hers and the preservation of Hardwick in its relatively unchanged Elizabethan state is probably due the removal of the family to that estate nearby. | |||||||||||||
| Nearby Derbyshire Hotels, Facilities & Amenities | |||||||||||||
| Hotels
& Accommodation: Hodgkinsons Hotel, Matlock IBIS Hotel, Chesterfield Renaissance Hotel, M1 J28 |
Restaurants: Riber Hall, Tansley, Matlock |
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| Inns & Pubs: White Horse Inn, Woolley Moor, E.of Ogston Resr. The Young Vanish, Clapwell Hardwick Inn, Hardwick |
Villages / Towns
/ Sightseeing: Bolsover Hardstoft Garden Centre |
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  - Derbyshire |
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*Information
Updates
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0268_HardwickHall.jpg - Hardwick Hall (Derbyshire)
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