The new hall as you can see is even more magnificent than the old Hall. It was built in the 1590s and has remained unchanged since. The silhouetted initials ES that adorn the top of the building are for Elizabeth Countess of Shrewsbury who was better know as Bess of Hardwick.
The National Trust guidebook describes the hall as perhaps the most perfect of all the Elizabethan ‘prodigy houses’.
To design it, Bess chose the greatly gifted Robert Smythson, a mason by training but one of the first Englishmen to be described as ‘architect’; and she poored a lifetime of her own experience of building into the project. The exterior is relatively plain; what makes Hardwick unforgettable is it’s height and symmetry, the everchanging silhouette of its six towers, and the huge expanses of window glass that glitter magically on a sunny evening and inspired the famous rhyme, ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’.
You might not the similarity of style to Burton Agnes Hall which was also designed by Robert Smythson.
That’s beautiful. Old buildings seem to have more grace than lots of modern ones, although many new ones are lovely in their own way.
This is a particular jewel and very interesting.