Dronfield Eye Issue 213 September 2023

dronfield EYE
Left: My guide
to Hardwick
Hall, Dave
Manton
Right:
A comfortable
corner of the
stately home
Right:
Gleaming
copperware in
the kitchens
Stuart periods. The National Trust has recently finished the
painstaking restoration of Hardwick’s set of 13 tapestries depicting
the biblical story of Gideon.
Bess’ life was closely linked with that of her friend, Elizabeth I,
having served as the monarch’s first Lady of the Bedchamber
between her second and third marriages.
Bess eventually became the second richest woman after the
Queen, although she reportedly once loaned the asset-rich
monarch some cash.
While the womens’ long relationship doesn’t always seem to
have been quite plain sailing, Bess paid homage to Elizabeth I in
elements of the house. Unfortunately, the Queen never visited
and died in 1603.
The presence of another famous female figure from Tudor
history is felt within Hardwick’s walls, although she too never
stayed there. The Earl of Shrewsbury was custodian of Mary
Queen of Scots during 15 years of his marriage and Mary has a
room in her name that contains some of her belongings.
The house and surrounding buildings was also home to a large
number of Bess’ employees, of varying ranks, and had a
schoolroom for children and a small chapel. Roles included a
watercarrier, apothecary, music master and the necessary woman,
who was charged with emptying chamber pots!
You can explore the hall’s kitchens with their scrubbed counters
and gleaming copper pancheons. The legacy of those who built
the house is also in evidence in the marks of the 133 master stone
masons etched into its walls.
Bess was known to have been very generous to her workers,
assisting a stonebreaker after a mugging and a scullery maid who
was taken ill.
Bess, who died in
1608, and is buried in
a tomb in Derby
Cathedral, has been
the subject of much
discussion by
historians. No end of
adjectives have been
used to describe her,
including ‘scheming’,
‘cunning’,
Grand tapestries adorn the walls
‘entrepreneurial’ and ‘intelligent’.
Dave Manton, who is a volunteer
room guide at the hall, said the
thousands of visitors who come from
all over the world to see Hardwick
tend to fall into two camps in their
perception of her.
There are those who see her as an
astute businesswoman and those who
think she was a gold digger who
married for money.
People usually have a uniform
reaction to the house – a sense of
awe of it and its contents. Bess built
the property to impress and it
continues to do so.
Some have seen the exterior of the
hall featured as Malfoy Manor in the
film Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows.
The Muniment Room
where documents
relating to the Hardwick
estates were kept
Local volunteers are involved at Hardwick in a number of ways,
from working in the garden to sharing stories with visitors.
Dave joined the team of volunteers five years ago after five
years in a similar role at Eyam Hall, and can be found at Hardwick
on two days a week.
Dave said: “It gives me an interest outside of my normal sphere
of activities, and you get to meet some tremendous people. Not
just other guides, but the public who come to the hall are nearly
always lovely people who want to chat, and as anybody that
knows me will affirm, I can talk for Britain!”
The park and gardens are open all year round, seven days a
week; the Hall is
open five days a
week and for ten
months of the year.
English Heritage is
set to open the
stately ruins of the
Old Hall to visitors
after restoring its
plaster friezes.
The Old Hall
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