Hardwick Hall and Gardens National Trust

I’d planned to stop off at Nostell on my return journey home from Harrogate, but thanks to a lack of mains water there, they’d had to close the house for the day. So a quick flick through my old handy National Trust booklet to find an alternative and Hardwick House in Derbyshire was my detour.

History of Hardwick Hall

I hadn’t really heard of Hardwick Hall, but it’s huge and quite opulent for what was more of a weekend or hunting lodge spot than a main residence. Bess of Hardwick, Elizabeth the Countess of Shrewsbury, was evidently a leading figure in Elizabethan society. She was also a Lady of the Privy Council to Elizabeth I.

Having had 4 marriages, each to men more wealthy than before, after being thrown out of Chatsworth by her last husband, on his death her inheritance meant she could afford to start a new building project. This is now Hardwick Hall, with Old Hall (under English Heritage) extended within the estate.

The hall and estate moved through Bess’ family, the Cavendishes, right through to 1940 when the hall was given over to the military. The estate was used for a training camp and army village, then housing refugees. National Trust took over in 1958 to keep the hall going.

Visiting and arrival

I arrived post lunch and with a huge car park there was no issue finding somewhere to park. I walked up to the entrance via the wood walkway, which was nice and cool in the heat. 

If you’re going with family, definitely take a picnic because there’s plenty of grass lawn to sit on as well as picnic benches. There were lots of people sitting out enjoying it.

They were also running the National Trust summer of play, so lots of people were diverting off towards that area as I arrived at the visitor centre.

There’s some gorgeous old stone buildings (and holiday cottages) surrounding the lawns, which include the Great Barn restaurant and toilets..

If you want to walk the estate, there’s plenty of trails and walks on offer. The shorter Miller’s Walk is accessible and suitable for children’s bikes, which is quite rare at National Trust places I’ve been to.

The Gardens

The gardens are in front of the hall, so I decided to walk through each on my way there and back. With everything looking so dry this summer, some areas weren’t as spectacular as they might have been in better weather. But the curving waves of hedges made a great sight as you walked along the paths, and there was still plenty of colour from flowers and bushes.

The yew hedges bordered the 4 gardens along the paths to Hardwick Hall, and the statues made for some nice posing photos if you wanted.

The other side of gardens are the orchards and ornamental garden, which were less colourful but still so peaceful to walk through.

Considering how many people seemed to be visiting, noone else seemed to be taking in the gardens, preferring to walk up the paths.

Hardwick Hall

Surrounding the Hall itself there’s plenty of walking and views to be had. Whether over the rest of the estate through the archways at the end of the lawns, or over towards the Old Hall ruins (not currently open, but still can be seen from outside).

Hardwick Hall is particularly known for its tapestries and textiles. There were plenty on display from the moment you walk into the great hall area. There’s no timed tickets and you could walk around as you wanted.

Summer 2026 through to November, you can see the exhibition Bess: Unframing the Family. Not only seeing the paintings, but finding out more about the conservation and different techniques used in conservation and scanning the detail behind them. There was plenty to find out about. I only skimmed the surface of the exhibition due to the limited time I had available for my visit.

Throughout the different floors of the hall you can see so many of the huge tapestries and textiles on seating and wall hangings. I’m not sure I’d want to live somewhere with so much of this type of decoration. It felt quite oppressive. 

One of the things I like about visiting old houses and castles is how the history and families link up to other places I’ve visited. Having never really had the chance to study anything other than the World Wars in school history, it’s interesting to get a better understanding of how British history ties together. There were plenty of recognisable faces in the portraits in the long gallery room.

There were also a couple of rooms set up in a slightly more modern decor. But huge rooms to keep heated and looked after.

One rare item you can see one of Bess of Hardwick’s robes, recorded in her inventory from 1601. It’s on show until October.

While the ground floor would be accessible for wheelchairs, there are a lot of stairs, and no lifts to upper floors.

With limited time to drop in, I didn’t walk further around the estate or over to Old Hall. So there’s plenty more to see if you’re looking to visit for longer. For anyone interested in Elizabethan history or textiles then Hardwick Hall should definitely be on your visit list. And you could mix it with a visit to Chatsworth over a couple of days.