Another National Trust Adventure - Hardwick Hall

My latest mini-adventure took me out to yet another National Trust property - Hardwick Hall which sits on a hilltop over-looking the motorway in north Derbyshire.

There are actually two halls sitting next to each other on this site - an older ruinous one, now cared for by English Heritage, and the flasher one with which Bess of Hardwick decided to replace it in the 1590s. Neither buildings are open at the moment, just the new hall's gardens and parkland.

Hardwick isn't particularly further away than our other local National Trust places but for some reason it seems to be a place we only visit at Christmas, so I'd no idea how busy it would be.
















For once though, we'd hit on a sunny day for our trip out, and the grounds were full of visitors picnicking and relaxing on the appropriately-branded deckchairs

There are a variety of gardens at Hardwick, surrounding the hall on three sides, and divided from each other by hedging. The two gardens to front and rear are laid mainly to grass edged with flower border - herbaceous plants at the front, roses at the back.

And to the south sits a larger area, subdivided into four by hedging and 'walks'.












I assume these were once the more 'productive' garden areas; two of them are still orchards with fruit filling and ripening, one a lawned area with specimen trees, and the last, my favourite, a herb garden with yellow santolina fronting the beds filled with culinary and medicinal plants such as thymes, hyssop, opium poppies, and even hops growing rampantly up wigwams.

To one side was a bed given over to flowers arranged in formal rows - presumably a 'cutting' bed growing flowers for indoors. One of my great-uncles grew flowers this way, in among his vegetables, and as a child I always though it was strange; now I can see why you'd do it, if you have the space.

 Leaving the gardens, we followed Lady Spencer's Walk which leads from the car park between trees. It starts flat but when we reached steps leading down the hillside I decided it was time to turn round. Looking at the web site I've since discovered that the complete walk isn't long, looping back to the car park from the opposite direction after about a mile, so we could easily have carried on, but at the time I didn't have a map and didn't want to stray too far. Maybe something for another time. I imagine the trees will look lovely in autumn.