Ault Hucknall

Known locally as the ‘smallest village in England’, a claim which can’t be proved, Ault Hucknall was much larger in the Middle Ages than it is today. Its most significant building is the magnificent Tudor house, Hardwick Hall. ‘More glass than wall’, it is one of Derbyshire’s Big Three stately homes alongside Chatsworth and Haddon, all three glorious monuments to the great land-owning families who played so great a role in shaping the history of the county. Set in rolling parkland, the house, with its glittering tiers of windows and crowned turrets, offers quite a spellbinding sight. Inside, the silence of the chambers strewn with rush matting, combined with the simplicity of the white-washed walls, gives a feeling of almost overwhelming peace. The letters E S can be seen carved in stone on the outside of the house: E S, or Elizabeth of Shrewsbury, was perhaps better known as Bess of Hardwick. This larger-than-life figure had attachments with many places in Derbyshire, and the story of her life makes fascinating reading.

She was born in the manor house at Hardwick in 1520. The house stood only a little distance from the present-day hall and was then not much more than a farmhouse. The young Bess married her neighbour’s son, Robert Barlow, when she was only 12. When her young husband, himself only 14, died a few months later she naturally inherited a great deal of property. Some 15 years later she married Sir William Cavendish and, when he died in 1557, she was bequeathed his entire fortune. By this time she was the richest woman in England, save for one: Queen Elizabeth I.

The Gallery at Hardwick Hall, with its gorgeous lavender-hued tapestries, has, in pride of place, a portrait of this formidable woman. It depicts a personage who could be mistaken for Queen Elizabeth, and indeed they were both forceful, independently-minded women. Bess began the building of the house in 1590, towards the end of her life and after her fourth lucrative marriage to George Talbot, sixth Earl of Shrewsbury. It stands as a monument to her wealth and good taste, and is justly famous for its magnificent needlework and tapestries, carved fireplaces and friezes, which are considered among the finest in Britain. She died in 1608, and now lies within Derby Cathedral.

Though Bess is the first person that springs to mind with regard to Hardwick Hall, it was the 6th Duke of Devonshire who was responsible for the hall’s antiquarian atmosphere. He inherited the property in 1811 and, as well as promoting the legend that Mary, Queen of Scots stayed here, he filled the house with furniture, paintings and tapestries from his other houses and from Chatsworth in particular.

As well as viewing the hall, there are some wonderful grounds to explore. To the south are the formal gardens, laid out in the 19th century and separated by long walks lined with yew. One area has been planted as a Tudor herb garden and is stocked with both culinary and medicinal plants used at that time. Down in the southeast corner of the garden is the small Elizabethan banqueting hall, used as a smoking room by the 6th Duke’s orchestra, as they were not allowed to smoke in the hall itself. There is also, to the back of the house, a lake and lime avenue. Owned by the National Trust, Hardwick Hall is a must for any visitor to Derbyshire . The parkland, which overlooks the valley of the Doe Lea as well as the M1, is home to an impressive herd of Longhorn cattle among the stag-headed oaks. The ruins of Hardwick Old Hall (English Heritage) also stand in the grounds, and are the remains of Bess’s former Tudor mansion.

Another interesting building here is the Parish Church of St John the Baptist, which is Grade I listed and dates back to Saxon times. The yew tree in the churchyard is variously aged between 2,000 and 4,000 years old but, again, this can’t be proved. Overlooking Hardwick Hall’s beautiful parklands, with the square towers of Bess of Hardwick’s great house in the distance, the battlemented church exterior does not prepare visitors for its dark, mysterious interior, which reveals the church’s much earlier origins. Though dating originally from Saxon times, there are many Norman features, including the north arcade, nave and the narrow arches holding up the rare crossing tower. There is more Norman work in the plain capitals of the north arcade.

There are several interesting tombs in the church, such as the large and detailed wall monument just below the east window to the first Countess of Devonshire, dating from 1627. On the floor in front is a simple black slab commemorating the influential and renowned philosopher, Thomas Hobbes - author of The Leviathan and De Mirabilibus Pecci: Concerning the Wonders of the Peak  (the latter being one of the first accounts of the Seven Wonders of the Peak) - who died at Hardwick. A much simpler table in the north aisle commemorates Robert Hackett, a keeper of Hardwick Park who died n 1703. It reads: ‘Long has he chas’d/The red and fallow deer/But death’s cold dart/At last has fix’d him here.’