Hardwick Hall

Hardwick Hall is a manor house with a complex history, dating back to the late medieval period (14th or 15th century), with significant extensions in the 16th century and again in the late 18th century, and later alterations. The construction is primarily timber-framed with plastered and painted brick infill, with parts roughcast, and features slate roofs and brick stacks. The building’s plan is sprawling, representing at least three distinct phases of construction.

The oldest section is the low south-west range, which utilizes cruck construction. In the 16th century, a four-bay range was added at a right angle to this, with a further projection on the north-east side. A late 18th-century extension then transformed the north-west section, creating the impression of a double-depth plan for what had become the main body of the house.

The south-west range is largely of rubblestone, now roughcast. Originally, it comprised a two-bay open hall with a through-passage at the lower end, plus a service bay including a buttery and pantry. It has one storey and an attic, with irregular window placement. C19 casements and two gabled eaves dormers are visible on the east side (rear). The main entrance is also on the east side, under a cambered brick arch. A timber-framed porch was added to the west side around 1600, jettied with a moulded bressumer and concave lozenges in square panels to the gable. The original four-centred arch of the porch has been filled in to create a larder, now containing a C19 casement window. Inside, three surviving pairs of true crucks (Alcock apex types H and C) remain, along with evidence of a raised roof. The fireplace and first floor are likely early 17th-century additions, displaying stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops and heavy joists to the ground floor ceiling.

The main range is close-studded with cross rails and tension braces on the north-west gable. It has three storeys; the top storey was created by raising the eaves, likely in the late 18th century, and now has two C19 gabled eaves dormers. There are also two C19 casements, and vestiges of an earlier three-light window on the formerly jettied long side, marked by an angle bracket at the south-west corner. In the north-west gable end are 16-paned glazing bar sash windows on both the ground and first floors. Attached behind and parallel to this range is a 16th-century (or slightly later) close-studded north-east projection, extended to the north-west in the late 18th century to create a symmetrical west facade. The gable end has 16-paned glazing bar sash windows on both the ground and first floors, while the long (north) side features an early C19 reeded doorcase, now with a glazed double door. Two axial stacks are present in the valley between this range and the 16th-century main range. The interior contains some good 17th-century doors, one with carved upper panels. Hardwick Hall was the home of the Ambler family from the 1580s to the early 20th century.