Historic Houses in Derbyshire England > Derbyshire > Gazetteer of Historic Houses Historic Houses in Derbyshire A plain, almost stark exterior belies an interior full of unusual objects ammassed by a succession of eccentric owners. Here you will find fossils, stuffed birds, mammals, and other peculiar artefacts. Ticknall, Derby, Derbyshire, England, DE73 7LE Heritage Rating: A Grade-II listed Georgian manor house in a lovely setting within the Peak District National Park. The site has been occupied for almost 2000 years, and sections of Roman buildings are incorporated into the foundations of the current house. Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, DE6 2BA Heritage Rating: Catton Hall An attractive Georgian manor house of red brick, set in parkland beside the River Trent. Catton has been the home of the Nelson family since 1405, but the current house was designed by James Wyatt and built by Smith of Warwick in 1742. The house remains almost unchanged from that time, and is beautifully furnished with fine art and period furniture.

Catton, Walton-on-Trent, Derbyshire, England, DE12 8LN Heritage Rating: Chatsworth One of the great country houses of England, set in superb parklands, Chatsworth is the home of the Dukes of Devonshire. The house was begun as an Elizabethan mansion by Bess of Hardwick, then rebuilt starting in 1686 to create an opulent 'statement' of the family's wealth and status. Everything at Chatwsorth is on a massive scale, extravagant and designed to impress (it does). The interior are full of fineart and furniture. You can't run out of superlatives about Chatsworth. Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, DE45 1PP Heritage Rating: Haddon Hall A superb historic house, begun by Peveril, the illegitimate son of William the Conqueror. That early Hall was heavily altered in the Tudor and Jacobean periods, but the State rooms have remained essentially unaltered since the 18th century. At the centre of the house is the marvellous 14th century Great Hall.

Bakewell, Derbyshire, England, DE45 1LA Heritage Rating: Hardwick Hall Hardwick Hall is an Elizabethan mansion built in 1590 by Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury. One of the most remarkable women of the Elizabethan age, Bess built an extraordinary house that amazed her contemporaries with its huge expanse of windows. At a time when window glass was extremely expensive, such a show of wealth and extravagance earned Hardwick fame as a popular rhyme suggests: "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall". Hardwick is exceptional in that so much of the interior furnishings have remained unchanged since the house was built over 400 years ago. Look for Whiteface Woodland sheep and Longhorn cattle in the country park that surrouds the house, or enjoy a walk through the walled courtyards which enclose formal gardens, an orchard, and a herb garden.

Doe Lea, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, S44 5QJ Heritage Rating: Henley on Thames - New A6 was ideal for M1 road trip New A6 was ideal for M1 road trip Published 27/06/16 Tweet FROM its towering vantage point the Elizabethan mansion stares disdainfully down upon traffic scurrying along the M1. If you are quick, as a motorist travelling north, you get a splendid first view of this incredible stately home, Hardwick Hall, from the motorway. Described as a building “more glass than wall” Hardwick has graced this Derbyshire valley for more than 400 years. This is no shrinking violet of a building. Drivers today look pleased as punch when they stick often convoluted personalised number plates on their cars. But Bess of Hardwick, the immensely rich woman who completed Hardwick Hall in 1597, went one better. She placed her initials, ES — officially she was Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury — plus coronets for good measure, in 14 places atop her magnificent home.

Inside, Bess busied herself hatching an ambitious plan to get her granddaughter Arbella to succeed Queen Elizabeth I on the English throne. But it all went horribly wrong. Arbella ended up in the Tower of London after marrying in defiance of the royal court and died there in September 1615. Such were the fascinating intrigues associated with this hall and Elizabethan English history. And all this is just waiting to be lapped up after a not-so-distant drive from Henley (or in my case the Cotswolds). This summer I have embarked on an occasional series of road trips that take in interesting places — Britain’s elegant Jurassic Coast in Dorset, Mary Arden’s Farm in Shakespeare country and a superb spring flower show set in the Malvern Hills. My aim has been to show that these trips can make the most of your car, even if getting there can be a tad fraught because of congested roads. No matter: the rewards are often great during welcome weekend or mid-week breaks with an overnight stay. This is certainly the case with Hardwick Hall, which has been owned by the National Trust since 1959.

And it gave me a chance to put this week’s drive, the new Audi A6, through its paces. The A6 is a consummate performer on this kind of road trip: 137 miles from my home in Gloucestershire and 151 miles from Henley. We stayed in Nottingham, where we were also visiting relatives. The Audi A6 lapped up the miles with ease. It is not an easy trip mainly on motorways. At a certain times of day these roads are packed to capacity. The A6’s measured ease of passage helped enormously. Its satnav system never failed us — especially when it came to getting us around Nottingham. The two-litre turbocharged diesel engine proved economical (I was getting a computer reading of more than 51mpg overall), and was driving the car hard at times, and keeping up a constant speed. No surprise, really, as this car — the A6 2.0 TDI ultra — is the “efficiency flagship of the executive class A6 range”. The A6 is understated in looks and interior but I like this: as a motorist first and foremost I appreciated what it was like simply to drive.

That is not to say that Audi does not consider passenger comfort, too — there were no complaints from mine. The advantage of travelling distances in a car like this is that its cabin ergonomics are intelligently worked out. You feel safe and secure. It might be argued that you pay for the privilege. The test car came in at £45,645 (basic price £33,140). If you have the wherewithal to buy such a car then my advice is to go ahead: I don’t think you would ever be disappointed with a car such as the A6. This is of course saloon car territory, and as I have said before this mode of transport has been around for a very long time (four doors and a boot, basically). Yet your sport utility vehicles, compact crossovers and the rest are only going to please you if you get driver satisfaction. With the A6, that ingredient is in abundance. Onlookers who look in the cab, especially when the satnav is engaged, might be flummoxed by the sight of the dials and graphics on the dashboard.

But if you bought this car, my advice — again — would be: spend time with it and get to know everything about it. After all, most people are patient when it comes to learning all about what their smartphones can do (and they do everything these days, don’t they, short of boiling an egg?). The last word goes to Hardwick Hall. In typical British holiday weather our visit was cut short by a deluge. Staff were wonderful in helping visitors cope with this unexpected torrent (they were also very child-friendly). We had visited the house but not the gardens, which are apparently splendid. But a return trip is a must. This year Hardwick takes a closer look at the life of Duchess Evelyn, “the last lady of Hardwick”. But that’s a story for another visit. And like all true Brits, we live in hope of blue skies and sunshine on that occasion.

For more on Hardwick Hall, visit the website Audi A6 saloon facts: Audi A6 Saloon 2.0 TDI ultra SE 190 PS S tronic Total cost of test car: £45,645 Colour: Floret silver, metallic Black Leather/Alcantara front sport seats Options fitted: Illusions of grandeur - Telegraph Illusions of grandeur Sofa so good: the Duresta Wessex Grand Sofa Stately home comforts: fabrics in the bedroom at Knole, in Kent Tim Hitchcock Comments National Trust properties have inspired new ranges of furniture and fittings. But be careful, says Tim Hitchcock, a Jacobean ceiling may devalue your 1930s semi Anyone who yearns to turn their house into a miniature stately home is about to find that dream easier to accomplish. From this month, they will be able to decorate their home with sumptuous architectural features copied from grand properties owned by the National Trust. Until recently, the home products licensed by the Trust were mainly for decoration, such as Farrow & Ball paints and Zoffany fabrics. These have provided many householders with distinctive materials for creating that decor perennial: the country-house look.

Zoffany (0870 830 0350; ) has a range of wallpaper and fabrics inspired by visits to National Trust houses, such as Oxburgh Hall, in Norfolk. They are stocked in interior design shops and John Lewis, and prices are between £48 and £100 per metre for fabrics, ranging from linen to silks. Wallpaper is from £33 to £56 per roll. Martin Waller, of the design company Andrew Martin, explains why the country-house look is such a popular style: "Traditional English country-house decor is very comfortable and casual, even in the grandest houses, where there's usually a Labrador lolling on the sofa," he says. "It can also encompass all sorts of personal preferences, such as a bit of chinoiserie." However, with four out of five of its properties running at a loss and an annual £200 million repair bill, the Trust has given its sanction to a wider range of items. Now you can avoid stark contemporary kitchens that resemble fittings from a space station and install a traditional National Trust one.

In addition, you can buy reproduction wooden furniture, sofas, armchairs and beds, all inspired by property owned by the Trust, whether a bookcase or a Lakeland hillside. The Trust has signed up the traditional bed-maker Hypnos ( ; 01844 348200). Its beds, named after areas in the Lake District, combine opulent damasks and luxurious mattresses filled with lamb's wool, and prices range from £999 (Grasmere premier) to £1,399 (Buttermere premier). Sofas are from Duresta ( ; 0115 973 7040) - a Wessex Grand Sofa in bold red, cream and grey stripes costs about £2,500. Classic, understated kitchens by Mark Wilkinson Furniture ( ; 01380 850004), use simple designs and details inspired by National Trust houses, such as beading running through frames and panels; prices start from about £25,000, including appliances and worktops. Reproducing architectural features takes the idea a step further.

Leading the way will be plaster ceiling roses and cornices by Stevensons of Norwich (01603 400824; ). "We visit National Trust properties and select details that have modern relevance to inspire our designs," says Graeme Gates, the managing director. "We're looking for ideas at Felbrigg Hall, in Norwich, and Wimpole Hall, in Cambridgeshire, and will include features in our collection suitable for Victorian houses. "We are working on ceilings for three country houses. One house in Hastings wanted an authentic Jacobean ceiling." Prices jump from £20 for a single ceiling rose to £70,000 for a whole ceiling. In one London house, the bill was £250,000 - the amount spent on five ceilings "starting from scratch" - but the company says it can cater for any budget. "A lot of younger people think ornate plaster is fuddy-duddy and we want to show that it needn't be," says Isabel Saiz, who is charged with expanding the National Trust brand. More architectural features will follow.

"We're finalising licensing agreements for wood-moulding, including architraves and dado rails, conservatories and garden paving," says Saiz. The Trust may select its commercial partners well but homeowners should not get too carried away in adopting their designs. You may love the idea of transforming your home into Chatsworth, but, if it is a two-up, two-down, the result will look unbalanced, peculiar and, above all, cramped. Buyers hate that. Nor is this problem limited to small properties with delusions of grandeur. One Trust property in Derbyshire was once derided as "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall", therefore it does not mean fitting your modern all-windows-and-steel penthouse with Jacobean panelling and a minstrel's gallery will go down well when the time comes to sell. "I don't want to be proscriptive, but people should be careful about taking the country-house look too far," warns Martin Waller. "It's malleable but must still be done within the rules about appropriate location and scale." Fellow designer Joanna Wood agrees. "You must remember the scale and period of the place where you live," she says.

"You don't want to have an Adam or ornate Tudor ceiling if you live in a semi or a London Docklands flat. They haven't the height, so it's just going to make people feel cramped." As anyone who has shuddered while viewing a house that has been ruined by its owners will appreciate, estate agents commonly find that inappropriate or overdone decoration is a stumbling block for sellers. "We're forever encountering buyers who say, 'It's a wonderful house but we'd have to completely redecorate, so we're not interested,' " says Crispin Holborow, of FPDSavills. "It's about the commonest reason for houses not selling as quickly as they should." Remember, when a property is hard to sell, the price tends to be forced down. Furthermore, if you are committed to a purchase, you may have to take out an expensive bridging loan. According to Holborow, small houses suffer the effects of over-decoration most. That said, high-standard, appropriate decoration brings positive benefits for sellers. "There is a 10 per cent premium on price for a place that is done very well à la mode," says Holborow.

"In fact, 10 per cent can probably be called the minimum." This is because, although everyone changes something about their new property, a home in which the decor is already both elegant and homely becomes sought-after. "On some large properties, it can lead to two keen buyers bidding against each other," explains Holborow. "Then the decor premium can be up to 50 per cent." These rules apply to all schools of decoration. The worst example that Holborow saw was a drawing-room turned into an African kraal, complete with central, open campfire. Done well in the right property, the country-house look will bring substantial rewards. The trouble is that, given those familiar English afflictions, nostalgia and a desire to appear aristocratic, the temptation to make their home resemble a ducal palace may be too strong for some. Places to Visit in Derbyshire Read more about Ashover .... Alton Riding School Can you ride or would you like to learn? This ABRS and BHS approved riding school is only a few hundred metres from our cottages and has instructors qualified to teach show-jumping, dressage, eventing and cross-country. There is also an indoor riding school and an outdoor arena.

For more details please call 01246 590267 Distance from Alton: less than half a mile. Chatsworth House Probably the best-known stately home in England, no stay is complete without a visit to Chatsworth, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Devonshire. There really is something for everyone: the magnificent house, the formal gardens and parkland designed by Capability Brown, the farmyard and adventure playground, not forgetting the celebrated farm shop. Book tickets online for discounted rates. Open from mid March to just before Christmas Distance from Alton: 7.3 miles - 14 mins by car across beautiful moorland Read More about Chatsworth .... Heights of Abraham Try a cable car ride in Matlock Bath which takes you soaring high above the Derwent Valley and check out the views. This is a unique hilltop Park set on top of a dramatic limestone gorge, amid great natural beauty. Explore 60 acreas of woodland trail or join a guided tour of the underground caverns created by lead mining and learn about the rocks and minerals of the Peak District. Distance from Alton: 5.8 miles - 14 mins by car Read More about Heights of Abraham ....

Chesterfield The town's most famous landmark is the Crooked Spire, the local name for St Mary and All Saints Church - the largest in Derbyshire and built in the late 13th century. The Spire stands 228 feet from the ground and leans 9 feet 5 inches from its true centre. Find out how it developed its remarkable twist. The town is also renowned for its 800 year old open market with general markets on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays and a Flea Market on Thursdays. Farmers markets are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month. See Chesterfield Market on Youtube . If shopping isn't your thing, try exploring The Shambles or visiting the museum to find out the story of Chesterfield from its origins as a Roman fort on Rykneld Street. Or what about taking in a show at the Pomegranate Theatre? Distance from Alton: 4.4 miles - 11 mins by car Download the Chesterfield Mini Guide 2013 Hardwick Hall The sight of this impressive Elizabethan hall across the valley from the cottages shouldn't be missed.

As the sun sets and catches the glass windows there is a blaze of light from this great house, once described as having "more glass than wall". It was built in the 1590s by Bess of Hardwick, a stubborn strong-minded woman who survived 4 husbands and amassed a great fortune. Her son eventually inherited Chatsworth. This National Trust property is one of the finest and most unchanged examples of Elizabethan architecture in England, also boasting an impressive collection of tapestries. It has a fascinating history and a visit is highly recommended. In 2015 the Trust will be celebrating the life of Lady Arbella Stuart, Hardwick's princess who almost became queen. Other attractions on the Hardwick Estate include Stainsby Mill, a fully-functioning water powered mill with a 17 foot waterwheel and the Stone Centre where visitors can learn about the traditional craft of stonemasonry. Visitors can also enjoy the walled courtyards and over 300 acres of historic parkland. Distance from Alton: 6.3 miles - 15 mins by car Read more about Hardwick Hall .... Haddon Hall This Medieval and Tudor manor house is an absolute gem.

Inside, there is a fine example of a medieval kitchen; and an Elizabethan long gallery - the most modern room in the house! The exterior walls are adorned with climbing roses whilst the garden brims with roses, delphiniums and clematis. Haddon Hall is a popular choice as a film and TV location. The 2006 TV adaptation of Jane Eyre was filmed at Haddon. Distance from Alton: 8.0 miles - 14 mins by car Read More about Haddon Hall .... Lea Gardens The gardens are sited on the remains of a medieval millstone quarry and cover an area of approximately 4 acres on a wooded hillside. The excellent rock garden contain a huge variety of alpines with acers, dwarf conifers, heathers and spring bulbs. Discover a unique collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, kalmias and other plants of interest, introduced from the far corners of the world. Distance from Alton: 4.9 miles - 13 mins by car Gullivers Kingdom This family theme park in Matlock Bath is particularly suitable for younger children. It is situated on a hillside with amazing scenery and views over the Derwent Valley.

Good value for a family fun day out. Distance from Alton: 5.8 miles - 14 mins by car Read More about Gullivers Kingdom .... Crich Tramway Village A lovingly restored period village that is also home to the National Tramway Museum and its world renowned archives. Have as many rides as you like on different vintage trams. Visit the fascinating exhibition halls or explore three acres of woodland park. The sculpture trail is enchanting and fun for all ages. Open daily until 2nd November. Distance from Alton: 6.0 miles - 14 mins by car Read More about Crich Tramway Village .... Caudwell's Mill This is a unique, grade II listed historic roller flour mill in Rowsley at the confluence of the Derwent and Wye rivers. Powered by water from the river Wye, a mill has stood on this site for at least 400 years. There are numerous displays, descriptions and exhibitions throughout the mill and an excellent craft centre and gift shop. There is fresh home-cooked food in the cafe which has lovely river views.

Distance from Alton: 7 miles - 11 mins by car 50 things to see, do, eat and experience in Derbyshire, UK Innovative Community Engagement. #IAP2 practitioner, #engage2act advocate, #gatehashing instigator. Personal account, so these are personal views. Jan 16, 2016 50 things to see, do, eat and experience in Derbyshire, UK Having lived in Australia for 4 years now as a temporary resident and having only been ‘home’ once in those 4 years I am starting to get pangs of homesickness for the things I miss. To overcome the mourning for things like watching live Saturday afternoon 1–1 draws at the football in driving rain or the ability to buy a proper portion of freshly made fish and chips, where the chips are hand cut and you don’t get a strange look when you ask for extra ‘bits’ and salt and vinegar on top, I have taken to adopting local customs. For example I support the Adelaide Crows who play the fast paced and action packed Aussie Rules Football or go out to brunch at weekends where quinoa and rocket leaves are more prominent than bacon and eggs.

Though enjoyable it’s not the same and you realise that there are some things that just cannot be replaced. It’s strange, but true, that when you do live abroad, become an expat, you realise how much you didn’t see or experience of your own town or country whilst you lived there. You look back and think I never did that, went there or wish I’d done more of that when I lived just round the corner and with increasing use of social media this #FOMO is growing. Many Australians at some point in their life will do the big ‘Europe’ trip and this will often include a few days in the UK. When asked you dutifully tell them all the great places they should visit, places you long for, places you missed out on. However when they say they are visiting the UK what they actually mean is they have a 3–4 day layover in London where they stay and never see what else this great country has to offer but it gets you thinking, what am I missing. Now I was not born in Derbyshire but I spent most of my childhood, teenage years and subsequently a few of my ‘professional’ years living, working and playing is this wonderful and very historic county so do call it ‘home’.

When people ask where do you come from I will often reply Chesterfield, Derbyshire… the one with the Crooked Spire. But I look back and realise even though I enjoyed Derbyshire in my ‘growing up’ years there is still a lot more to do and go back and do as an adult. Amazing things to see, do, eat and experience in a county only a few hours north of London yet often missed by the regular traveler. So I compiled a list of my top 50 (in no particular order) things to get you excited about Derbyshire, the true heart of England (no seriously look at its shape on a map) so that hopefully it will inspire you to visit whether your reading this as an international traveler going beyond London or you’re British and getting out and about in your own backyard before you miss it. 1. Visit Chesterfield on market day, specifically a Thursday when its flea market day and experience the thrill of finding an old Panini Sticker from 1988 for 50p. A market town since 1204 the fruit and veg stalls still shout out ‘How much for my Plums?!’ 2. Staying in Chesterfield you cannot miss the Crooked Spire.

An iconic church and its steeple that due to the ‘Devil’… is twisted and can be seen so for miles around. 3. Chesterfield has a pretty cool footballing history. Up until a few years ago the ‘Spireites’ -Chesterfield FC played at one of the oldest grounds in England known as Saltergate. The Recreation Ground has now been replaced by the B2Net Stadium just out of the town. Staying with football did you know Chesterfield seems to spawn goalkeeping greats? Both John Lukic and Bob Wilson were born in Chesterfield and the great World Cup winning keeper of 66, Gordon Banks, started as an apprentice with Chesterfield. 4. Continuing with famous people you could try and spot in Chesterfield (well they were born there but may not live there anymore) — John Lowe (Darts), Jason Statham (Actor), Jo Guest (P3 stunner from the 90s), Phil Taylor (Motorhead drummer), Paul Burrell (Princess Diana’s Butler) and John Hurt (actor) the War Doctor from Doctor Who. 5.

George Stephenson renowned as being the “Father of Railways” spent the winter years of his life in Chesterfield and Derbyshire finishing off the North Midland railway. He now rests in peace in Chesterfield and a number of buildings and streets in the town bear his name. Legend has it that “The Rocket” is buried beneath the altar of Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield. 6. Florence Nightingales family home was at Lea Hurst, near Matlock and even though not born in the county is celebrated with numerous statues and buildings in Derby dedicated to her. 7. Olave Baden-Powell was born in Chesterfield and lived on a local estate called Stubbing Court. Olave’s husband was Robert, founder of the Scouts, and herself was Chief Guide for most of her later years. 8. Derbyshire and politics almost go hand in hand though often not quietly. One of Labours longest serving female politicians Barbara Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn was born in Chesterfield.

Labour MP for 50 Years and Anti War Campaigner, Tony Benn was MP for Chesterfield for 17 years and who can forget ‘the Beast of Bolsover’, ex-miner, ex-NUM leader and all round Royal heckler Dennis Skinner was born in Clay Cross and has been MP for Bolsover since 1970. Other political connections include Edwina Currie (still resident) and Margaret Beckett (MP Derby South) 9. Want to see where firebrand Dennis Skinner and I were educated, visit Tupton Hall School… (Though current School was built around 2001). Others schooled there include TV actor Ben Miles and stage actress Savannah Stevenson. 10. Matlock — Former Victorian spa town, county town and home of Derbyshire County Council this town has some amazing Victorian buildings, many used by the council as County Hall. Home of designer label John Smedley and YHA UK. 11. Bakewell — Pudding not tart… tart is a touristy southern concoction that Mr Kipling has forced in our mouth. Visit the beautiful town of Bakewell and try some traditional stuff at the Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop.

12. Chatsworth House — Probably the best kept privately run stately home in the UK with amazing gardens, fountains, parklands and of course the big pile the Cavendish family call home. It’s quite probably you will bump in to the Duke or Duchess of Devonshire on a visit as they are always about. Recently seen as the horsey ladies home in the BBCs Peaky Blinders. Visit in September for the popular annual Country Fair. Just don’t forget your Hunter wellies. 13. Hardwick Estate — National Trust maintain this grand estate once home to the 2nd most powerful woman in Elizabethan England, Bess of Hardwick. Visit the new and old halls and if you have money even stay in East Lodge of the old hall which was once my actual teenage home. The new hall known locally as ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’ was also home to the Malfoy’s in the Harry Potter films, though dressed with trickery. 14. Whilst at Hardwick you have to visit the Hardwick Inn one of Derbyshire’s best kept Elizabethan Inns and probably the best Sausage and chips you will ever eat. 15.

1 mile out from Hardwick is Ault Hucknell. At Ault Hucknell Church you will find the grave of 16th century Political Philosopher, Thomas Hobbes. Author of Leviathan and teacher to Bess’s children, I believe Mr Hobbes still haunts the long gallery in the new hall… trust me I felt his presence whilst working there! 16. Castleton and Peveril Castle — Castleton is home to Speedwell Cavern a show cave with some of the best Stalactites and Stalagmites you will see but also Peveril Castle a Norman Conquest castle overlooking the Peak District. 17. Bolsover — Famous for the ‘Beast’, Dennis Skinner who I mentioned above, Bolsover is very much a mining town of old. It has a model village, referring to the fact that the lower part of the town was a planned village by the mining company. Originally it was another Cavendish family strong hold and this is shown by the most magnificent castle with large riding school built by the Duke of Newcastle now open to the public by English Heritage. 18.

Cromford — home of the start of the Industrial Revolution, Richard Arkwright used fast flowing streams to power his factories and built Cromford as a workers village. Homes with workrooms in the attic so his workers could literally take their work home with them. Visit some of his early factories which still stand. 19. Blue John — Derbyshire’s very own gem stone, a form of fluorite mined only in the county. Buy some of the stone from the Blue John Cavern or in jewelry from local shops. 20. Heights of Abraham — A cable car and cave attraction in Matlock Bath, even the Olympic torch rode the cable cars in recent years. 21. The Derwent Reservoir — The Derwent reservoir was used by the RAF’s Dambusters 617 Squadron to practice its low flying and use of Barnes Wallis’s famous bouncing bomb. Visit and pretend to be a Lancaster bomber… The Ladybower Reservoir which is fed by the Derwent and not as famous as its sister is still worth a visit for its strange L shape but also if the summer is hot and the water low, the eerie appearance of the villages, including ringing church bell, that were flooded to make way for the dam. 22.

Stainsby Folk Festival — who needs Glastonbury when you have Stainsby?? Almost a rite of passage for teenage North Derbyshire folk the festival takes place normally on the final weekend of the School summer term in July and marks the start of summer holidays for many. Great British folk music, real ale and well other things that happen at festivals all in 3 small fields near the M1, Jct29. 23. Little John — reputedly a Derbyshire boy, John was Robin Hood’s right hand man and is buried in St Michael’s Church graveyard, Hathersage . 24. Plague stones at Eyam — Eyam was hit by the Plague in 1665 and chose to isolate itself from the world. Some say only a ¼ of the village survived. Setting up boundary stones around the village, at least one stone still remains, the stones are where coins soaked in vinegar to kill infection would be left in exchange for food and medicine. 25. Kinder Scout — Derbyshire’s highest peak. Hike up and reach the large plateau on top and on a good day you can see as far as Manchester and Bolton.

Watch you don’t trip over the plane wreckage's of a number of crashed planes that miss judged the peak, often in fog. 26. Thorpe Cloud an isolated limestone hill which dominates the skyline of Dovedale and worth a trek for the amazing 360 views. 27. Ilam Hall — Probably one of the best YHAs in the UK, the old hall is also a National Trust site and once a Tudor house and site of a Benedictine Abby. 28. Haddon Hall — a seat of the Duke of Rutland this place has been in more Hollywood films and TV shows than you’ve had hot dinners… 29. The Pennine Way — The Pennine way, one of the UKs great walking trials starts in Edale and heads North. 30. Buxton — originally a Roman and then Victorian spa town. It has a Crescent of houses similar to Bath and you can still bottle your water from a free Buxton water spring. 31. Of course whilst there you can also buy a bottle of the famously branded Buxton Spring Water. 32.

Royston Vasey — Fans of the ‘League of Gentleman’ will know all about the ‘locals’ that inhabit Royston Vasey but did you know that Royston Vasey is actually Hadfield in the High Peak. Just be careful if you buy your sausages from J W Mettrick and Son’s Butcher shop, it was the shop portrayed in the TV series of alternative butcher, Hilary Briss! 33. Mary Queen of Scots jailer was the 4th husband to Bess of Hardwick (mentioned in no. 13) and when under house arrest is rumored to have spent time in many of Derbyshire’s famous spots including Hardwick Hall, Chatsworth, Buxton and Wingfield Manor. Wingfield is now a ruin and was used in the 90s film Jane Eyre. 34. Stilton Cheese — even though Stilton is in Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire is one of on 3 counties (Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire) under European law, made according to a strict code that may call its blue vein cheese “Stilton”. Visit the town of Hartington for a try. 35.

So sticking with food who loves ‘Love Hearts’ and Drumstick lollies from their childhood… that’s right they are made by Swizzles Matlow of Derbyshire. 36. Sweets again and this time Chocolate. Derbyshire is now home of Thornton’s, which until recently, was the largest independent chocolate and confectionery company in the United Kingdom. Now owned by Ferrero, it has great fudge, make sure you buy some. 37. Denby Pottery — If you want a nice dinner set then this is where to get proper English pottery. A factory shop and museum can be found just outside Derby. 38. Royal Crown Derby — on the same theme but feeling a bit more flush buy some Crown Derby. The oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer in England they recently designed a dinner service for the newest Royal couple. 39. Derby is a city with a cathedral but not originally a cathedral city. Burial place of Bess of Hardwick, home of Derby County FC (the Rams) and was very much at the heart of the industrial revolution with many original mills still visible today.

Home of Bonnie Prince Charlies retreat after an attempt to seize the crown in 1745, Derby oozes with history. 40. Rolls Royce (engines) — Famously based in Derby. Originally home of the Cars, the factory now specialises in large jet engines for military and commercial planes. Controversially the factory also builds nuclear reactor cores for military submarines. I played hockey for them. 41. Derby is home to Lara Croft… well the company that made the Tomb Raider game. A new section of the inner ring road is named after her. 42. Derby Arboretum — the first public park in the country and is thought to have been one of the inspirations for Central Park in New York. It is still quite a nice park but now seems to draw some salubrious characters from its surrounding poor suburbs. 43. Love this one — Derby’s Bold Lane Car Park has been listed as one of the most secure places in the world…(source Wikipedia so you know pinch of salt and all that) not being funny but how many National Bank vaults in the world are now quaking in their boots! 44.

The drive from Derby to Matlock is well worth the 45 minutes as it will take you past Victorian mills, beautiful canals and probably the most the landlocked village in England, Whatstandwell, which is home of Ellen Macarthur the fastest woman to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe non-stop in a yacht. 45. Ashbourne — each Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday Ashbourne is the scene of a very famous football game. The tough, kind of a free for all match with goals three miles apart can last for days between two halves of the town. Its origins are believed by some to be medieval and the rules state murder and manslaughter is prohibited. 46. Derbyshire’s Stonehenge — Arbor Low is a Neolithic henge monument atmospherically set amid high moorland. Made up of 50 limestone slabs, all now fallen, would this have been the Stonehenge of the North? 47. Alcopop Vodka Kick or VK is from Chesterfield… quaff one at the local Wetherspoons 48.

Derbyshire is famous for its Well Dressings a custom dating back to the 14th Century and probably the Black Death when the purity of water was celebrated as a saviour in Derbyshire villages. Each year villages around Derbyshire will dress their local well with bright pictures made of fresh flowers. Visit around May/June to see them. 49. As your travelling, whilst in Derbyshire, you could visit a Thomas Cook travel agents and book your next visit after all the Thomas Cook in the shops name was born in Melbourne, Derbyshire and is seen as the father of modern paid travel excursions. 50. And finally no visit to Derbyshire is complete without a visit to the Peak District. Either the lower lying White Peak or the limestone hills of the Dark Peak. Highlights include Dovedale and its stepping stones, Mam Tor home of 4 show caves, trails such as Tissington and one of the UKs most dangerous roads, Snake Pass. Just go for a walk, you won’t regret it.

Which ever season you choose to visit Derbyshire you’ll never fail to find something to see or do whether it be food festivals, music, country shows or sport and what’s more if you live in the UK its right on your doorstep. Think of any more add them in the comments. So when you going?? Author: Andrew Coulson, Adelaide Innovative Community Engagement. #IAP2 practitioner, #engage2act advocate, #gatehashing instigator. Personal account, so these are personal views. 1 Top 11 Stately Homes in England - Best English Manor Houses - Anglotopia.net Issue #4 Now Shipping! We received Issue #4 from the printer last week and have begun the process of shipping out. There’s almost 900 to send, so it will take a about 7-10 days to ship them all out. It will be with you soon! Related Issue #4 is Almost Done! We’re almost done with Issue #4 which is taking a bit longer than we planned to get ready. It’s with our copy editor now and we’ll be sending it to the printer this week. We expect to begin shipping out in 2-3 weeks. Related The London Annual Has Gone to Press!

We have approved the final proofs for the London Annual and it’s going to press. We expect them in the office in a couple weeks at which point we’ll mail them out to all that pre-ordered. It has sold very well for us and we ordered extras but as with all our other magazine, quantities […] Now Taking Pre-Orders for the London Annual and Issue #4 We’re now taking pre-orders for a special one off magazine called the London Annual which will be a great guide to London in 2017 (this is not included in the subscription). We’re also now open to pre-orders for the fourth issue of the Anglotopia Magazine. Place your orders here now. Related Third Issue Update: All Subscriptions Have Been Mailed We have finished mailing out all subscriptions and single issue orders of the third issue of the Anglotopia Magazine. Took a bit longer than we thought but they’re all on the way. We have a limited number left in stock of the third issue – so if you haven’t already – pick it up soon! […] Digital Subscribers – Your Issue is Ready to Download! We have sent out the emails to digital subscribers letting them know they can now download the Issue #3 of the Anglotopia Magazine.

You will received an email from us, be sure to check your SPAM folder if you haven’t received it today. Email us right away and we’ll send you a different link to […] Issue #3 Has Been Printed and We’ll Begin Shipping Them We have just picked up Issue #3 of the Anglotopia Magazine from the printer. It looks beautiful! We’ll begin shipping them out tomorrow. It’s going to take us about a week to get them all out. We have about 600 subscribers and pre-orders to get through. Last time we used a third party shipping company […] Pre-order Issue #3 Now To make sure that you can get a copy of the next issue of the Anglotopia magazine, we recommend pre-ordering. We’re only getting 900 copies and 600 or so have already been reserved. We will likely sell out again. Click here to preorder. Related By Jonathan One thing England is known for are its many fine stately homes and manor houses. They’ve had a troubled history in the last century as families have been forced to sell them off or donate them to the National Trust. Many have even been demolished.

That being said there are still many beautiful stately homes left to visit in England – the types of buildings you think of when you imagine England. From homes that were featured in films and TV shows to houses that played major parts in history – here is our list of the Top 11 best Stately Homes in England. We’ve pulled the most amazing pictures from Flickr that we can find and have also put in Trivia bout each home from Wikipedia, along with the location and website link for each Stately Home. Please keep in mind this post if focused solely on the top Stately Homes and Manor Houses in England, we plan to do posts for Scotland and Wales in the future. Castle Howard This palace is best known as the shooting location of the classic British TV series Brideshead Revisited as well as the recent film adaptation. Wikipedia Trivia: Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, 15 miles (24 km) north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh.

It is not a true castle: The word is often used for English country houses constructed after the castle-building era (c.1500) and not intended for a military function. Castle Howard has been the home of part of the Howard family for more than 300 years. It is familiar to television and movie audiences as the fictional â€œBridesheadâ€, both in Granada Television’s 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited and a two-hour 2008 remake for theatres. Today, it is part of the Treasure Houses of England heritage group. Location: North Yorkshire Website: Castle Howard Website Blenheim Palace Built by the victorious 1st Duke of Marlborough – Blenheim Palace is best known now as the birthplace of Winston Churchill, who was born there in 1874. Wikipedia Trivia: Blenheim Palace is a large and monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the only non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England’s largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1724.

UNESCO recognised the palace as a World Heritage Site in 1987. Its construction was originally intended to be a gift to John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough from a grateful nation in return for military triumph against the French and Bavarians at the Battle of Blenheim. However, it soon became the subject of political infighting, which led to Marlborough’s exile, the fall from power of his Duchess, and irreparable damage to the reputation of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh. Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style, architectural appreciation of the palace is as divided today as it was in the 1720s.[2] It is unique in its combined usage as a family home, mausoleum and national monument. The palace is also notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill. The building of the palace was a minefield of political intrigue by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. Following the palace’s completion, it became the home of the Churchill family for the following 300 years, and various members of the family have in that period wrought various changes, in the interiors, park and gardens.

At the end of the 19th century, the palace and the Churchills were saved from ruin by an American marriage. Thus, the exterior of the palace remains in good repair and exactly as completed. Location: Oxfordshire Longleat Longleat is mostly now known for it’s safari park – touted as the first outside of Africa. Wikipedia Trivia: Longleat is an English country house, currently the seat of the Marquesses of Bath, adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster in Wiltshire and Frome in Somerset. It is noted for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park. The house is set in over 900 acres (364 ha) of parkland, landscaped by Capability Brown, with 8,000 acres (32.37 km2) of woods and farmland. It was the first stately home to open to the public, and also claims the first safari park outside Africa. The house was built by Sir John Thynne, and designed mainly by Robert Smythson, after the original priory was destroyed by fire in 1567.

It took 12 years to complete and is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Elizabethan architecture in Britain. Longleat is currently occupied by Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath, a direct descendant of the builder. Location: Wiltshire/Somerset Photo from Wikipedia It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire , and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549. You’ll recognize it at Darcy’s house in the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Wikipedia Trivia: In the early 20th century social change and taxes began to affect the Devonshires’ lifestyle. When the 8th Duke died in 1908 over £500,000 of death duties became due.

This was a small charge compared to what was to follow forty-two years later, but the estate was already burdened with debt accumulated from the 6th Duke’s extravagances, the failure of the 7th Duke’s business ventures at Barrow-in-Furness, and the depression in British agriculture which had been apparent since the 1870s. In 1912 the family sold twenty-five books printed by William Caxton and a collection of 1,347 volumes of plays which had been acquired by the 6th Duke, including four Shakespeare folios and thirty-nine Shakespeare quartos, to the Huntington Library in California. Tens of thousands of acres of land in Somerset, Sussex and Derbyshire were also sold during, and immediately after, World War I. In 1920 the family’s London mansion, Devonshire House, which occupied a 3 acres (12,000 m2) site on Piccadilly, was sold to developers and demolished. Much of the contents of Devonshire House was moved to Chatsworth and a much smaller house at 2 Carlton Gardens near The Mall was acquired.

The Great Conservatory in the garden at Chatsworth was demolished as it needed ten men to run it, huge quantities of coal to heat it, and all the plants had died during the war when no coal had been available for non-essential purposes. To further reduce running costs, there was also talk of pulling down the 6th Duke’s north wing, which was then regarded as having no aesthetic or historical value, however, nothing came of it. Chiswick House, the celebrated Palladian villa in the suburbs of West London which the Devonshires had inherited when the 4th Duke had married Lord Burlington’s daughter was sold to Brentford Council in 1929. Nonetheless, life at Chatsworth continued much as before. The household was run by a comptroller and domestic staff were still available, although more so in the country than in the cities.

The staff at Chatsworth at this time consisted of a butler, under butler, groom of the chambers, valet, three footmen, a housekeeper, the Duchess’s maid, eleven housemaids, two sewing women, a cook, two kitchen maids, a vegetable maid, two or three scullery maids, two stillroom maids, a dairy maid, six laundry maids and the Duchess’s secretary. All of these thirty-eight or thirty-nine people lived in the house. Daily staff included the odd man, upholsterer, scullery-maid, two scrubbing women, laundry porter, steam boiler man, coal man, two porter’s lodge attendants, two night firemen, night porter, two window cleaners, and a team of joiners, plumbers and electricians. The Clerk of Works supervised the maintenance of the house and other properties on the estate. There were also grooms, chauffeurs and gamekeepers. The number of garden staff was somewhere between the eighty of the 6th Duke’s time and the twenty or so of the early 21st century.

There was also a librarian, Francis Thompson, who wrote the first book-length account of Chatsworth since the 6th Duke’s handbook. Most of the UK’s country houses were put to institutional use during World War II. Some of those which were used as barracks were badly damaged, but the 10th Duke, anticipating that schoolgirls would make better tenants than soldiers, arranged for Chatsworth to be occupied by Penrhos College, a girls’ public school in Colwyn Bay, Wales. The school later merged with Rydal School to become Rydal Penrhos a co-educational private school. The contents of the house were packed away in eleven days and 300 girls and their teachers moved in for a six-year stay. The whole of the house was used, including the state rooms which were turned into dormitories. Condensation from the breath of the sleeping girls caused fungus to grow behind some of the pictures. The house was not very comfortable for so many people, with a shortage of hot water, but there were compensations, such as skating on the Canal Pond. The girls grew vegetables in the garden as a contribution to the war effort. In 1944 Kathleen Kennedy, sister of John F.

Kennedy, married William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, the elder son of the 10th Duke of Devonshire. However, he was killed in action in Belgium later in 1944, and Kathleen died in a plane crash in 1948. His younger brother Andrew became the 11th Duke in 1950. He was married to Deborah Mitford, one of the Mitford girls and sister to Nancy Mitford, Diana Mitford, Pamela Mitford, Unity Mitford and Jessica Mitford Location: Derbyshire Also played Darcy’s home in the 1995 BBC Adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Wikipedia Trivia: Lyme Park is a large estate located south of Disley, Cheshire, England (grid reference SJ964823). It consists of a mansion house surrounded by formal gardens, in a deer park in the Peak District National Park. The house is the largest in Cheshire, and a Grade I listed building. The estate was granted to Sir Thomas Danyers in 1346 and passed to the Leghs of Lyme by marriage in 1388.

It remained in the possession of the Legh family until 1946 when it was given to the National Trust. The house dates from the latter part of the 16th century. Modifications were made to it in the 1720s by Giacomo Leoni, who retained some of the Elizabethan features and added others, particularly the courtyard and the south range. It is difficult to classify Leoni’s work at Lyme, as it contains elements of both Palladian and Baroque styles. Further modifications were made by Lewis Wyatt in the 19th century, especially to the interior. Formal gardens were created and developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The house, gardens and park have been used as locations for filming and they are open to the public. The Lyme Caxton Missal is on display in the library. Location: Cheshire Website: Official Lyme Park Website Hardwick Hall One of Britain’s best loved Stately Homes, Hardwick Hall was the second home for the Duchess of Devonshire. Wikipedia Trivia: Hardwick Hall, in Derbyshire, is one of the most significant Elizabethan country houses in England.

In common with its architect Robert Smythson’s other works at both Longleat House and Wollaton Hall, Hardwick Hall is one of the earliest examples of the English interpretation of the Renaissance style of architecture, which came into fashion when it was no longer thought necessary to fortify one’s home. Hardwick Hall is situated on a hilltop between Chesterfield and Mansfield, overlooking the Derbyshire countryside. The house was designed for Bess of Hardwick, Countess of Shrewsbury and ancestress of the Dukes of Devonshire, by Robert Smythson in the late 16th century and remained in that family until it was handed over to HM Treasury in lieu of Estate Duty in 1956. The Treasury transferred the house to the National Trust in 1959. As it was a secondary residence of the Dukes of Devonshire, whose main country house was nearby Chatsworth, it was little altered over the centuries and indeed, from the early 19th century, its antique atmosphere was consciously preserved. Hardwick is a conspicuous statement of the wealth and power of Bess of Hardwick, who was the richest woman in England after Queen Elizabeth I herself.

It was one of the first English houses where the great hall was built on an axis through the center of the house rather than at right angles to the entrance. Each of the three main storeys is higher than the one below, and a grand, winding, stone staircase leads up to a suite of state rooms on the second floor, which includes one of the largest long galleries in any English house and a little-altered, tapestry-hung great chamber with a spectacular plaster frieze of hunting scenes. The windows are exceptionally large and numerous for the 16th century and were a powerful statement of wealth at a time when glass was a luxury, leading to the saying, “Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall” (or, in another version, “more window than wall’)[1]. There is a large amount of fine tapestry and furniture from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A remarkable feature of the house is that much of the present furniture and other contents are listed in an inventory dating from 1601. Hardwick Hall contains a large collection of embroideries, mostly dating from the late 16th century, many of which are listed in the 1601 inventory.

Some of the needlework on display in the house incorporates Bess’s monogram “ES”, and may have been worked on by Bess herself. Hardwick is open to the public. It has a fine garden, including herbaceous borders, a vegetable and herb garden, and an orchard. The extensive grounds also contain Hardwick Old Hall, a slightly earlier house which was used as guest and service accommodation after the new hall was built. The Old Hall is now a ruin. It is administered by English Heritage on behalf of the National Trust and is also open to the public. Location: Devonshire Website: Official Hardwick Hall Website Alnwick Castle Alnwick Castle is best known as the filming location for the interiors of the Harry Potter films. It’s also famous for it’s poison garden – a garden specially cultivated with dangerous plants. Wikipedia Trivia: Yves de Vescy, Baron of Alnwick, erected the first parts of the castle in 1096. It was built to defend England’s northern border against the Scottish invasions and border reivers.

It was besieged in 1172 and again in 1174 by William the Lion, King of Scotland and William was captured outside the walls during the Battle of Alnwick. In 1309 it was bought from Antony Bek the Bishop of Durham by Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy and it has been owned by the Percy family, the Earls and later Dukes of Northumberland since then. The first Percy lord of Alnwick restored the castle and the Abbot’s Tower, the Middle Gateway and the Constable’s Tower survive from this period. In 1404-5 the Percys rebelled against Henry IV, who besieged and then took the castle. During the Wars of the Roses it was held against King Edward until its surrender in mid-September 1461 after the Battle of Towton. Re-captured by Sir William Tailboys during the winter he surrendered to Hastings, Sir John Howard and Sir Ralph Grey of Heton in late July 1462. Grey was appointed captain but surrendered after a sharp siege in the early autumn.

King Edward responded with vigour and when the Earl of Warwick arrived in November Queen Margaret and her French advisor, Pierre de BrÃ©zÃ© were forced to sail to Scotland for help. They organised a mainly Scots relief force which, under George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus and de BrÃ©zÃ©, set out on 22 November. Warwick’s army, commanded by the experienced Earl of Kent and the recently pardoned Lord Scales, prevented news getting through to the starving garrisons. As a result the nearby Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles soon agreed terms and surrendered. But Hungerford and Whittingham held Alnwick until Warwick was forced to withdraw when de Breze and Angus arrived on 5 January 1463. The Lancastrians missed a great chance to bring Warwick to battle instead being content to retire, leaving behind only a token force which surrendered next day. By May 1463 Alnwick was in Lancastrian hands for the third time since Towton, betrayed by Grey of Heton who tricked the commander, Sir John Astley. Astley was imprisoned and Hungerford resumed command.

After Montagu’s triumphs at Hedgeley Moor and Hexham in 1464 Warwick arrived before Alnwick on 23 June and received its surrender next day. The 6th Earl of Northumberland carried out renovations in the 16th century. In the second half of the 18th century Robert Adam carried out many alterations. The interiors were largely in a Strawberry Hill[disambiguation needed] gothic style not at all typical of his work, which was usually neoclassical. However in the 19th century Algernon, 4th Duke of Northumberland replaced much of this with less ostentatious architecture designed by Anthony Salvin. According to the official website a large amount of Adam’s work survives, but little or none of it remains in the principal rooms shown to the public, which were redecorated in an opulent Italianate style in the Victorian era by Luigi Canina. Location: Northumbria Most famous for it’s beautiful gardens. Wikipedia Trivia: In 1240, a manor house was built on the site of Somerleyton Hall by Sir Peter Fitzosbert whose daughter married into the Jernegan family.

The male line of the Fitzosberts ended, and the Jernegans held the estate until 1604 when John Wentworth bought it. He transformed Somerleyton Hall into a typical East Anglian Tudor-Jacobean mansion. It then passed to the Garney family. The next owner was Admiral Sir Thomas Allin, a native of Lowestoft. He took part in the Battle of Lowestoft (1665) and the Battle of Solebay at Southwold in 1672. Eventually the male line of that family also died out. Somerleyton Hall and Park were bought in 1843 by Sir Samuel Morton Peto who, for the next seven years, carried out extensive rebuilding. Paintings were specially commissioned for the house, and the gardens and grounds were completely redesigned. Peto employed Prince Albert’s favourite architect John Thomas. In 1863 the Somerleyton estate was sold to Sir Francis Crossley of Halifax, West Yorkshire who, like Peto, was a philanthropist, a manufacturer, and a Member of Parliament. Sir Francis’ son Savile was created Baron Somerleyton in 1916.

The House is now held by the present Lord Somerleyton and inhabited by the family. The family motto is ‘Everything that is good comes from above’. The formal gardens cover 12 acres (49,000 m²). They feature a yew hedge maze created by William Andrews Nesfield in 1846, and a ridge and furrow greenhouse designed by Joseph Paxton, the architect of The Crystal Palace. There is also a walled garden, an aviary, a loggia and a 90 metre long pergola covered with roses and wisteria. The more informal areas of the garden feature rhododendrons and azaleas and a fine collection of specimen trees. Location: Suffolk The famous London home of the Duke of Wellington (of Wellington Boot fame). Wikipedia Trivia: Apsley House, also known as Number One, London, was the London residence of the Dukes of Wellington and stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy traffic circulation system. It is a grade I listed building.

The house is now run by English Heritage and is open to the public as a museum and art gallery, although the 8th Duke of Wellington still uses part of the building as a part-time residence. It is sometimes referred to as the Wellington Museum. It is perhaps the only preserved example of an English aristocratic town house from its period. The practice has been to maintain the rooms as far as possible in the original style and decor. It contains the 1st Duke’s collection of paintings, porcelain, the silver centrepiece made for the Duke in Portugal, c 1815, sculpture and furniture. Antonio Canova’s heroic marble nude of Napoleon as Mars the Peacemaker made 1802-10, holding a gilded Nike in the palm of his right hand, and standing 3.45 metres to the raised left hand holding a staff. It was set up for a time in the Louvre and was bought by the Government for Wellington in 1816 (Pevsner) and stands in Adam’s Stairwell. Location: Central London Famous for it’s beautilful gardens – it’s also home to a safari park.

Wikipedia Trivia: Woburn Abbey, comprising Woburn Park and its buildings, was originally founded as a Cistercian abbey in 1145. Taken from its monastic residents by Henry VIII and given to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford in 1547, it became the seat of the Russell Family and the Dukes of Bedford. The Abbey was largely rebuilt starting in 1744[1] by the architects Henry Flitcroft and Henry Holland for the 4th Duke. Anna Maria, the wife of the 7th Duke, originated the afternoon tea ritual in 19th-century England. Following World War II, dry rot had been discovered and half the Abbey was subsequently demolished. When the 12th Duke died in 1953, his son the 13th Duke was exposed to heavy death duties and the Abbey was a half-demolished, half-derelict house. Instead of handing the family estates over to the National Trust, he kept ownership and opened the Abbey to the public for the first time in 1955.

It soon gained in popularity as other amusements were added, including Woburn Safari Park on the grounds of the Abbey in 1970. Asked about the unfavourable comments by other aristocrats when he turned the family home into a safari park, the 13th Duke said, “I do not relish the scorn of the peerage, but it is better to be looked down on than overlooked.” Location: Bedfordshire Website: Official Woburn Abbey Website Highclere Castle This iconic home has recently been featured as the shooting location for the hit ITV series Downtown Abbey. Wikipedia Trivia: The present castle stands on the site of an earlier house, in turn built on the foundations of the medieval palace of the Bishops of Winchester, who owned this estate from the 8th century. In 1692, Robert Sawyer, a lawyer and college friend of Samuel Pepys, bequeathed a mansion at Highclere to his only daughter, Margaret. Her second son, Robert Sawyer Herbert, inherited Highclere, began its picture collection, and created the garden temples. His nephew and heir Henry Herbert was made Baron Porchester and 1st Earl of Carnarvon by King George III.

In those years, the house was a square, classical mansion, but it was remodelled and all but rebuilt for the third earl by Sir Charles Barry in 1839 to 1842 after he had finished building the Houses of Parliament. It is in the “High Elizabethan” style and faced in Bath stone. The term “High Elizabethan” with which the house is often tagged refers to the English architecture of the late 16th century and early 17th century when traditional Tudor architecture was being challenged by the newly arrived Italian Renaissance influences. During the 19th century there was a huge Renaissance revival movement of which Sir Charles Barry was a great exponent. Barry had been inspired to become an architect by the Renaissance architecture of Italy and was very proficient at working in the Renaissance based style which in the 19th century became known as Italianate architecture. His work at Cliveden is considered amongst his finest. At Highclere, however he worked in the English renaissance revival style, but added to it many of the motifs of the Italianate style.

This is particularly noticeable in the towers which are slimmer and more refined than those of the other great English Renaissance revival house Mentmore Towers built in the same era. This strong Italianate influence has led to the castle being quite fairly described as in the Italianate style. The external walls are decorated with strapwork designs and cornicing typical of Renaissance architecture. The Renaissance theme is evident within the castle. Curiously so in the great hall, which like that at Mentmore is modeled on an Italian Renaissance central courtyard, complete with arcades and loggias. However, in an attempt to resemble a medieval English great hall, Barry has mixed styles introducing to the Italianate effect a Gothic influence evident in the points rather than curves of the arches. This mixing of styles was particularly common in this period and would not have been found in a genuine Elizabethan house. Although the exterior of the north, east and south sides were completed by the time the 3rd Earl died in 1849 and Sir Charles Barry died in 1852, the interior and the west wing (designated as servants’ quarters) were still far from complete.

The 4th Earl turned to the architect Thomas Allom, who had worked with Barry, to supervise work on the interior of the Castle, which was completed on 1878. The 1st Earl rebuilt his park according to a design by Capability Brown during 1774 to 1777, relocating the village in the process (the remains of the church of 1689 are at the south west corner of the castle). The famous 18th century seed collector Bishop Stephen Pococke was a friend and brought Lebanon Cedar seeds from a trip to Lebanon. These beautiful trees can be seen in the garden today. Various follies and eye-catchers exist on the estate. To the east of the house is the Temple, a strange structure erected before 1743 with Corinthian columns from Devonshire House in Piccadilly. “Heaven’s Gate” is an eye-catcher about 18 m high on Sidown Hill, built in 1731 from a design, it is thought, by the 9th Earl of Pembroke. It fell shortly afterwards. The event was witnessed and recorded by a Rev.

J Milles, who recorded that “we had not been there above half an hour before we saw it cleave from ye foundations and it fell with such a noise yet was heard at three or four miles [5 or 6 km] distant”. Location: Hampshire (thought it has a Berkshire address) Do you have a favorite English stately home? Let us know all about it in the comments! Share this: BBC - Derby - People - Bess of Hardwick You are in: Derby > People > Profiles > Bess of Hardwick Bess of Hardwick Bess of Hardwick Bess of Hardwick was the proverbial legend in her own lifetime. From an unremarkable family, she became the second richest woman in England - only surpassed by Queen Elizabeth herself. Elizabeth Countess of Shrewsbury, or Bess of Hardwick, lived through the reigns of four monarchs and was responsible for the building and repair of may halls and houses. She married four times and had eight children, but Bess not only founded a family dynasty she built her way into the history books.

Hardwick Hall The old Hardwick Hall, where she was born, was added to and adapted, but couldn't contain her ambitions as the first lady of Tudor society. The new hall, with its famous acres of glass (Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall), was a constant work-in-progress during her lifetime. Bess built the original Chatsworth house, too... though grand and lavish, it barely resembled the Chatworth we know today. It was bought for and developed by her heirs, and, with the present Duke of Devonshire, remains in family hands! Throughout her life, Bess is known to have manipulated her family's wealth through marriage and astute business dealings - and was considered one of the great 'social climbers' of her day. She was once lady in waiting to Queen Elizabeth and the obvious fact about her four husbands is that each was substantially richer than the previous one. She would, no doubt, have been overjoyed to know that events after her death meant that she would become an ancestor of our Queen Elizabeth II. Bess of Hardwick's tomb True to form Bess even designed her own memorial, which sits impressively in the Cathedral above the vault which contains her coffin.

The funeral itself was a grand affair, with the Hall draped in black, a huge funeral cortege, and the mourners left in no doubt about Bess's significance. Her legacy, whether her lineage or her love of architecture, ensures we're in little danger of underestimating that lady's significance four centuries on. last updated: 25/09/2008 at 16:15 created: 13/02/2008

Question: Which stately home in Derbyshire was once described as "more glass than wall"?
Answer: HARDWICK HALL