Wednesday - 2nd September 2009 (Time TBA)
Hardwick Hall was built for 'Bess of Hardwick' between 1591 and 1597. Bess, born Elizabeth Hardwick, had been married four times and had outlived all her husbands.
Each husband had been richer and further up the social scale than the last.
With the considerable wealth bequeathed to her by her four husbands Bess built great houses, including Chatsworth. Hardwick Hall was the last house she had built and it was started after the death of her fourth husband, the Earl of Shrewsbury, when she was 70 years old.
It is not known who the architect was but it is probable that Bess herself worked with Robert Smythson. The magnificent house has vast windows and six great towers, surmounted by her elaborate monogram, 'ES'.
The interior has fine plasterwork and is richly decorated and splendidly furnished. The High Great Chamber was especially designed to display the Brussels tapestries Bess had bought a few years before the building began. The Long Gallery, occupying the entire length of the east front, has a collection of family portraits.
There is a permanent needlework exhibition on display which contains some
pieces that were identified in the inventory Bess had made when she moved into
her new house in 1601. Some of the work is by Bess herself and Mary, Queen of
Scots, who was held at Hardwick Hall for a time.
Wednesday - 23rd September 2009 - Community Centre - Frodsham - 7.30pm
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