Hardwick Hall

As her husband lay dying in November 1590, the old Countess of Shrewsbury decided to erect a new house at Hardwick, her ancestral home. This, in itself, might not be so surprising – she was, after all, one of the richest women in Eng- land and an experienced builder – were it not for the fact that another new house at Hardwick was already under construction and nearing completion. Yet the Old Hall, as it came to be known, was built around a medieval manor house which stood on the site and its form was encumbered by the irregular shape of the old building; though large and impressive, it was built in fits and starts as money and time allowed. The Old Hall seemed to have been assembled from disparate parts rather than designed as a single, magnificent, whole.