A ''HFF'' to everyone - from, Dj.. The 'Hardwick halls'

Glimpsed over the tree tops are the ruins of 'Old Hardwick hall' and ''Hardwick new hall''

After the violent collapse of her fourth marriage, Bess the 'Countess of Hardwick' fled from Chatsworth in 1584 to her family estate at Hardwick.

she began to build Hardwick Old Hall in 1587. seen to the right in picture. Although the Old Hall is open to the elements, many of the original plaster overmantels are still in place.

In 1590, before the Old Hall was complete, Bess started to build another house immediately beside it – the New Hall. Contrary to what might be expected, the Old Hall was not abandoned in favour of the new one: instead, the two were intended to complement each other, like two wings of one building.