Hardwick Hall - National Trust - Derbyshire

Hardwick Hall - National Trust / English Heritage

Doe Lea, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S44 5QJ

Visited on 30 March 2025.

Prices

Free Entry for National Trust & English Heritage Members

Hardwick Hall, Hardwick Old Hall, Gardens & Parkland:

£21.00 Adult
Free Child (under 5)
£10.50 Child (age 5-17)
£52.50 Family (2 adults + up to 3 children)
£31.50 Family (1 adult, 2 children)

Facilities

Large car park situated close to the stableyard
Restaurant
Outdoor trailer for takeaway food and drink (weekends)
Shops: gift shop, second-hand bookshop, plant sale
Toilets & Baby Changing
Kiosk with toilets located near the duck ponds

Kids

Seasonal activities during holidays.
Baby changing facilities near to the café.

Dogs

Dogs on leads are welcome to explore many areas across the Hardwick Estate, including the parkland, Stableyard and the formal gardens, which are the main visitor areas. Well behaved dogs are welcome with their owners in the dog friendly seating area of the restaurant.

Dogs are not allowed in Hardwick Hall (except for assistance dogs) but they are allowed in Hardwick Old Hall.

Pawprint Rating: 🐾 🐾 🐾

Review of Hardwick

Hardwick Hall, is truly 'an Elizabethan masterpiece'. Built in the late 1500s by the formidable and extremely wealthy Bess of Hardwick, who's initials ES still adorn the roof to this day.

Located in between Chesterfield and Mansfield, it is just a stone's throw from the M1, so for us, it is an ideal meeting point for family who live further North and we have visited a few times.

My overriding view of the Hardwick Estate is that it is quite a grown up place to visit. There is no playground, or usually much to keep kids occupied other than the great outdoors. So, in truth I wasn't sure about re-visiting while Poppy is still very young, but when I saw that they had just started their Easter Trail for kids, as well as offering a couple of Mother's Day crafts I thought there would be plenty going on to keep everyone happy.

For dog owners, Hardwick has increased the access for dogs, so they are now allowed in the formal gardens as well as the newly restored and opened Old Hall. There's plenty of picnic benches outside too so lots of space for all the family and their furry friends.

The Easter Trail

These seem to happen at many National Trust estates and are well worth checking out if you have children with you. It cost £3.50 for a paper plan showing where each of the 10 activities is located and a chocolate egg (dairy free options available) when you return to base at the end of the day. There was an egg and spoon race and maypole dancing but Poppy particularly loved the outdoor kitchen and it allowed us to enjoy the sunshine while she sat happily in the dirt making mud cakes.

The Gardens

Walled gardens with neatly trimmed formal hedges, herbs, orchards and Spring flowers are a delight to weave through. When speaking to one of the volunteers, I learned that where possible, Bess enjoyed being self sufficient from what was grown on the estate. They also using plants grown there to use as natural dyes for textiles.

Hardwick Hall

According to the National Trust, it is the first architect designed house in the country. Bess of Hardwick, commissioned Robert Smythson with the design.

Bess had been living at Chatsworth House with her then husband the Earl of Shrewsbury, when their relationship became strained and she moved back to her family home Hardwick. Soon after returning home, she decided to build a new house, Hardwick Hall, next to what became known as Hardwick Old Hall.

Over her lifetime, Bess had outlived four husbands, and through these marriages, as well as some shrewd business decisions, became the second richest woman in the country (with Queen Elizabeth I being the wealthiest). She could afford the copious amount of glass used in the design.

Internally, the walls of most rooms, including the long gallery, are adorned with magnificent textiles that have and are still being painstakingly restored and cared for by the National Trust. If only we were allowed to throw open the curtains to see them in all their light-filled glory.