9th June 2022
PRICES £70 per person (excluding lunch - National Trust members receive an entry fee rebate)
This architecturally significant country house was ordered to be built by Bess of Hardwick in 1590. At the time she was the second richest woman in England after Elizabeth I.
Bess was born into a minor gentry family at Hardwick in 1527. She married for the first time as a 15 year old in 1542 but after 2 years her new husband died on Christmas Eve in 1544. She married for a second time in 1547 to Sir William Cavendish, a 40 year old widower and father of three. She persuaded her new husband to relocate to Hardwick and plans to build the new Hardwick Hall were put in motion. Sadly Sir William died in 1557 but the line into the Cavendish family and Dukes of Devonshire was established.
She married twice more but the house descended to the Devonshire family where it remained until it was passed to the nation in 1950. Your first view of the Grand Entrance Hall and the tapestries on display will create a lasting impression.
A very informative free flow tour awaits!
Barnoldswick 9.00 am - Ghyll Golf Club car park
Skipton 9.20 am - High street car park coach section - BD23 1ED
Ilkley 9.45 am - West street car park behind Piccolinos - LS29 8AF
Pool 10.15 am - Details to be arranged
Arrive 11.45 am - Light bite in the Great Barn restaurant or bring your own picnic and enjoy in the designated picnic area (optional).
1.30 pm – access to the house for free flow tour lasting 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2.30 pm – wander round the enchanting gardens, delightful in any season and visit the herb garden humming with bees viewing the four wall west court which frames the front of the Hall, a beauty to behold. Call in at the Stableyard shop and rummage amongst the second hand bookstall.
4.00 pm depart
6:00 pm – arrive Ilkley
6:30 pm – arrive Skipton
7:00 pm – arrive Barnoldswick
PRICE £70 per person
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