The M1 night sound like a slightly odd place to start looking for grand stately homes, but as Martin Wainwright of the Guardian found out, there are 3 Derbyshire treasures to be found within a mile of the hard shoulder.
he first of the houses is probably also the grandest. Hardwick Hall was built in the 1590s by the Countess of Shrewsbury who at the time was second only to Queen Elizabeth I in terms of wealth through marriages to four increasingly wealthy husbands, all of whom she outlived, although there’s no suggestion of any mysterious circumstances.
Bess of Hardwick as she was also known, built the house in an unmissable style with possibly more windows per square foot than any other house in Britain, with what has been described as a “Footballers’ wives stuff, in-your-face, look how well I’ve done.” style. Inside the house is just as magnificent with stunning collection of embroideries and tapestries, plaster friezes and alabaster fireplaces. Today the hall is mostly owned by the National Trust and open to the public.
Bolsover Castle: can be seen a little further north between Junctions 29 and 29a again on the righthand side. The site was originally used for the Norman Peverels family of Peveril (Peveril) Castle in the Derbyshire Peak District, and later converted by the son of Bess of Hardwick (see above) as a place to hold masques, picnics and heroic feasts. The house today is both a popular visitor attraction and holds many events throughout the year although possibly not on quite as grand-a-scale as when the Cavendish family owned it. The house is now owned and managed by English Heritage.
The third house is Sutton Scarsdale, now a ruin but still grand in design and viewable on the other side of the M1 from Bolsover Castle. The 4th Earl of Scarsdale built the house in the early 1700s was apparently jellous of both the Bolsover Castle and the nearby improved Chatsworth House, and thus decided to build his own grand residence. Sutton Scarsdale didn’t survive in quite the same way as the previous two and although it was once owned by Richard Arkwright of Spinning Jenny fame, the house was stripped in 1919 and left in the current state. One day perhaps it will be restored to it’s former glory and would make quite a remarkable house standing out on the Derbyshire landscape.
A forth much more famous house which doesn’t qualify for this list but is close by is Chatsworth House. Home of the Derbyshire family, the house has been made famous by numerous appearances on film and television including featuring in it’s own series. Unlike the other houses here, it is still privately owned although open to the public.
More resources:
Places to visit in Derbyshire
