MY TOUR OF ENGLAND 

I have to apologize for the delay between this and my last installment, but my husband and I took a bicycle tour of the Dalmatian Coast and visited other places in Croatia. That is obviously not the subject of this series, but I have to say this. If you get a chance to visit Croatia, do not pass it up. The scenery is indescribably beautiful. It's a very modern country and easy to get around by rental car -- no tour needed, unless you're on a bike and want the support. If you go, do not miss the Island of Brac and the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Absolutely stunning, both!

Back to England now. Our next day was one of the longest driving days, our destination Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire. Hardwick Hall is Elizabethan, so not strictly in my period, but I have always wanted to see it. And I can justify seeing anything prior to my period by the fact that, obviously, the buildings were there in the early 18th century, would be known to my characters at least by reputation, and can give me a perspective on the history of architecture, decorative arts, furnishings, etc.

Why did I want to see Hardwick House? Because besides the fact that it is the most splendid Elizabethan house still in existence, there is perhaps no more fascinating woman in English history than its builder, Bess of Hardwick. Bess started life in an obscure gentry family, and through four well-considered marriages, rose to be an extremely wealthy countess. Her life was entwined with those of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. And her descendants from her marriage to Sir William Cavendish became first the Earls and later the Dukes of Devonshire, one of the wealthiest and most successful peerages in England.

There was nothing particularly memorable on the way from Oxfordshire to Derbyshire, but the countryside was as pleasant as I always hope England's will be. It's very easy to get to Hardwick Hall since it is just off the M5 north of Nottingham. Unfortunately, we did not devote enough time to the site, as we had to continue on to Yorkshire, and since we were staying on a farm, wanted to arrive before dark.

The house itself is well worth the trip, but I would advise anyone to plan to stay nearby overnight and not rush the visit. I hope to go back someday and do the area justice.

Many people have heard the old quip: "Harwick Hall, more glass than wall." This was coined because mullioned glass windows were only found in the houses of the rich and well-to-do until the 17th century. In Bess's day, the vast expanses of glittering window panes were a bold statement of her wealth and status. Bess was born in the Old Hall at Hardwick and she returned there at the age of sixty to build this triumphant emblem of her success.

The house was designed by Robert Smythson, one of the first Englishmen to be described as an architect. She supervised and was intimately involved with every phase of its construction.

According to the National Trust booklet, Hardwick is unique among Elizabethan houses in the retention of its original decoration, so all you Elizabethan period authors need to see this, if it's the only one you can see. (The second would be Knole, which comes later on my tour.)

The house is in the form of an E with two towers forming the upper and lower cross pieces and a broader, less projecting middle cross piece where the Great Hall is located. Like the other houses we saw, the grandest rooms are on the highest floor. Unlike most of the other houses we visited, Hardwick preserves its two-story Great Hall. In addition to it, however, is the Great High Chamber on the Second Floor (third for Americans), a room of startling size where Bess and her guests would dine. The room could hold a comfortable five-bedroom house. The lower half of its walls are covered in light-colored tapestries, which have hung here since 1601. The upper portion is a painted frieze, the only one of its kind I have ever seen, a portrayal of the Court of Diana, the huntress, with forest, exotic animals, and hunting scenes.

The purpose of this room was to act as a presence chamber for a queen. The speculation is that Bess prepared it for her granddaughter Arbella Stuart, who stood in line to the throne of England. Arbella's full-length portrait hangs in the Long Gallery along with masterpieces of the Elizabethan era -- Elizabeth herself in a magnificent dress, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, two of Bess herself as a young red-haired beauty, and Mary Queen of Scots. The gallery is the largest Elizabethan gallery in existence. Bess's heirs greatly enlarged her collection of portraits and hung the pictures over the original 16th century tapestries, which can hardly be seen for the number of pictures.

The gallery and the Great High Chamber were sparsely furnished, as were most rooms in Bess's day. Long tables would have been covered with "Turkey carpets" when not in use. Damask tablecloths would have been laid for dinner. A small number of chairs or stools would have lined the walls. Today there is a larger number, 19th century reproductions of the 17th century chairs. It's not clear to me what Bess's company would have sat on, but perhaps the chairs at Knole would be a clue. There is a canopy at the end of the High Great Chamber to cover the throne-like chairs for the Earl and Countess of Devonshire in the 17th century. This royal affectation was not a feature of Bess's time.

The staircases of Hardwick House are not grand, merely utilitarian. In Bess's day, they would not even have been furnished with tapestries. Beds, forms and tables for waiting or sleeping servants would have been the only furniture on the landings. The beds would have been folded up during the day.

The bedchambers are the most elaborately furnished rooms in the house with gorgeous bed hangings, most 19th century reproductions of 17th century furnishings. None of the beds from Bess's time remain, but their descriptions are amazing: "embroidered with silver, gold and pearls;" "gilt bed with a valance of cloth of gold and silver, and blue and red curtains enriched with gold and silver trimmings." I wouldn't be surprised if someone melted them all down! The tapestries and furniture have changed over the centuries, some original things moved from other rooms, others brought from Chatsworth when it was remodeled by the 1st Duke of Devonshire, again others moved by the 6th Duke.

One very memorable thing about Hardwick Hall is the beautiful collection of needlework in the withdrawing room, which was mounted and framed by Duchess Evelyn, wife of the 9th Duke. Among the pieces are many sewn by Bess herself and the work is remarkable.

The only original features of the bedchambers, the dining room, and the withdrawing room are the stone chimneypieces made from materials ranging from alabaster and blackstone to white marble and decorated with red, blue and gold, Bess's coat of arms and the Hardwick stags.

Indeed, it is Bess's initials and coat of arms that predominate here, not those of her fourth husband, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury. Theirs was a marriage of money and ambition, the union of two well-connected people with fortunes. Sir William Cavendish had left Bess a life interest in Chatsworth and a great deal of his property. Two years after his death, she married Sir William St. Loe, who came from a very old, established family, and held the post of Captain of the Guard and Butler of the Royal Household. (It's important to understand that he was not a butler -- his was an important, well-paid, ceremonial court position.) When he died five years later, he also left much of his property to Bess.

I would love to know how Bess then landed the Earl of Shrewsbury, head of one of the greatest families in England, but no doubt her wealth and ambition were as responsible for the union as her oft-mentioned beauty. He was a widower with six children, and to secure all of Bess's fortune for his children, he not only married her, he bound his second son to her daughter Mary, and his daughter to Bess's eldest son Henry, then only seventeen years old.

Bess immediately set to work remodeling Chatsworth with the earl's money, which became a bone of contention. Then, no doubt as a mark of her favor and trust, Queen Elizabeth saddled them with the custodial care of Mary Queen of Scots for nearly twenty years until her execution. Mary never stayed at Hardwick House, but instead moved between the Shrewsburys' other properties: Chatsworth, Tutbury Castle, Sheffield Castle, Sheffield Manor, Wingfield Manor, Worksop Manor, and the earl's lodge at Buxton.

Never one to let a great opportunity pass her by, Bess married her daughter Elizabeth to Charles Stuart, the brother of Lord Darnley, without Queen Elizabeth's permission. A child of the marriage, Arbella, therefore, had a legitimate claim to the throne, since Elizabeth was childless. When the Queen heard the news of the match, she became furious and put Charles Stuart's mother in the Tower. Arbella would die a tragic death.

The clandestine marriage, accomplished without the earl's knowledge, also enraged him. To have risked Queen Elizabeth's ire in the interest of acquiring even more power for Bess's family could have put him in great danger. The Shrewsburys' marriage collapsed, the earl claimed Chatsworth as his under the terms of the marriage settlement, and Bess returned to Hardwick, where she first remodeled the Old Hall.

Like all Bess's husbands, the earl predeceased her. She regained control of all her lands and a large widow's income. By this time she was one of the richest people in England, and she diverted that wealth into building Hardwick Hall, ignoring Chatsworth, which after all would go to her eldest son Henry upon her death. As it happened, Henry, who had taken her husband's side in their argument, died without issue, and Bess's favorite William inherited, becoming the first Baron Cavendish of Hardwick and later, first Earl of Devonshire.

There are a few biographies of Bess of Hardwick, if you want to learn more about this fascinating woman. Two are by Mary S. Lovell. Bess's life was too big to fit into one, I imagine. You can Google "Bess of Hardwick book" and will find links to them.

If the Devonshire and Cavendish names don't ring a bell with you, I should mention that the 5th Duke was the one who wed Georgiana Spencer, a true rock star of the late 18th century, recently portrayed by Keira Knightly in the movie Duchess That's another story, but it's always fun to trace these families back and see the links between the figures who stand out most over time.

Again, if you get a chance to visit Hardwick, be aware that the house is enormous and that you will want to spend hours there. Do give yourself time to enjoy the entire park with its kennels and ponds, the Old Hall, the Hardwick Inn, dating from Shakespeare's time, and much, much more.

You can read about Hardwick Hall on the National Trust website page for Hardwick House. (And Google it for much more information.)

My next epistle will take us into Yorkshire. Here are past installments:
London
Marlborough and Lacock
Dyrham Park Chastleton House

The summer is over, but you can still get Lyme disease if you travel to warmer climes. I just read an article that said the frozen prehistoric man, who was found in the Alps several years ago, has undergone the equivalent of an autopsy. Although he was murdered by other means, the DNA of the bacteria that cause Lyme (Borrelia burgdorferi) was found in his blood. We're finding that this disabling disease has been around for a very long time. Please, when walking in tall grass, unless there is snow around your ankles, remember to wear your insect repellant with DEET. You do not want to get a tick-borne disease -- trust me on this. You can read about Lyme Disease at LymeDiseaseAssociation.org or at the organization I founded Texas Lyme Disease Association.org.

And while I'm preaching, please check out my favorite causes, in case you want to join me. There's a link on the left of this page.