Hardwick Hall, East Midlands, England

Bess of Hardwick was born in Hardwick’s old Hall in 1527.  She left home at 12 to be raised in another aristocratic household. At 15 she was married to Robert Barlow, who died only a year later, the marriage was never consummated. She then served Lady Frances Brandon, wife of Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset and mother of Lady Jane Grey.  While in this household she met Sir William Cavendish, and they were married in 1547 when she was 19. Cavendish was 40 years of age and already a widower with three daughters.  He had achieved considerable wealth by this time, through his connections at Court.

In 1549, the couple purchased the Chatsworth estate.  They began to make this their principal country residence. They commissioned a new house to be built at Chatsworth and lived in the old one until it was completed. However William died while under charges of embezzlement of £6,000 in 1557. It seems to have been a happy marriage because in the 10 years they were married they had 8 children, 6 of whom survived infancy.  At the time of his death, Chatsworth house was still not completed and it was Bess that saw the project through.

At 29 years of age, Bess was now a widow with 6 young children, 3 stepchildren and a debt that far exceeded her income.  She managed to find a solution to her problem however, because by the time the case against her late husband came to be heard 3 years later, she had married Sir William Loe, who was Captain of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth. The Queen intervened in the hearing and Bess was asked to pay £1,000, which her new husband paid on her behalf. Leaving her children in the care of her mother at Chatsworth House, Bess was given the honour of becoming a Lady-In-Waiting to the Queen and was required to reside at Court. 

William Loe seemed to be quite taken with his new wife and transferred his wealth to her through a deed of gift, then drew up a new will that left her everything to her and her heirs forever.  Sadly Sir William died suddenly in 1565, however this left Bess one of the wealthiest women in England.

Bess remarried again 13 years later, for the fourth time and became Countess of Shrewsbury when she married George Talbot, the 6th Earl of Shrewsbury.  He had already had seven children in his first marriage and, keeping it in the family, two of his children were then married to two of hers in a double ceremony.  This marriage did not prove to be as happy as her others, as only one year later they become the custodians of Mary Queen of Scots, she was both their prisoner and house guest for the next 15 years.  Mary was younger than Bess and is said to have played the couple against each other. Bess was also friendly towards Mary and they spent time working on tapestries together.  During the time when Mary was in their custody the couple split up, at this time period that meant living in separate houses. 

The Earl died in 1590 and Bess became Countess of Shrewsbury.  She had previously returned to Hardwick in 1587, if she wasn’t wealthy enough before, she was now the wealthiest women in Britain. She rebuilt the Old Hall in a grand new style to suit her wealth and position.  Hardwick took its inspiration from the latest Italian style of house design.

Only three years later, in 1590, Bess began building another house immediately adjacent to the previous one, called the New Hall.  This time she used a professional architect named Robert Smythson.  The old and new halls were intended to complement each other.

The New Hall has a very strong geometric plan and the four corner towers emphasize its height.  The towers bear the initials ES for Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, Bess moved into the New Hall in 1597. She had risen from minor gentry, to great wealth and having built Chatsworth House and learned from it, Hardwick would be her mark on the world. It is here that huge expanses of window glass would be used. Hardwick is where she poured a lifetime of experience into it, it was what she would leave behind, it is her architectural endeavours that survive for us. 

When Bess died in 1608, at the age of 81, Hardwick was inherited by her son, William Cavendish.  William was the founder of the Cavendish family, Dukes of Devonshire, who are still based at the Chatsworth estate. 

Hardwick Old Hall is now very much a ruin and is managed by English Heritage, right next to it is the New Hall, which is run by the National Trust and is an extremely well preserved building that was ahead of its time.