Harwick Old Hall

About Harwick Old Hall

The remodelled family home of Bess of Hardwick, one of the richest and most remarkable women of Elizabethan England, stands beside the New Hall she raised later in the 1590s. Though the Old Hall is now roofless, visitors can still ascend four floors to view surviving decorative plasterwork, as well as the kitchen and service rooms. An audio tour tells Bess's story.

A new exhibition in the West Lodge describes Bess's adventures in architecture, telling how she transformed her birthplace from a medieval manor house into a luxurious Elizabethan mansion: it operated alongside the New Hall as household accommodation for two centuries. New graphic panels focus on the rich interiors Bess created.