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Hardwick Hall is situated on a hill top between [[Chesterfield]] and [[Mansfield]], overlooking the Derbyshire countryside. The house was designed for [[Bess of Hardwick]], Countess of Shrewsbury and ancestress of the [[Duke of Devonshire|Dukes of Devonshire]], by Robert Smythson in the late 16th century and remained in that family until it was handed over to [[HM Treasury]] in lieu of Estate Duty in 1956. The Treasury transferred the house to the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]] in 1959. As it was a secondary residence of the Dukes of Devonshire, whose main country house was nearby [[Chatsworth House|Chatsworth]], it was little altered over the centuries and indeed, from the early 19th century, its antique atmosphere was consciously preserved.

[[Image:Hardwick carving Giano.gif|thumb|right|220px|Hardwick's skyline features six rooftop pavilions with Bess of Hardwick's initials "ES" ('''E'''lizabeth '''S'''hrewsbury) carved into the balustrade.]] Hardwick is a conspicuous statement of the wealth and power of Bess of Hardwick, who was the richest woman in England after [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] herself. It was one of the first English houses where the [[great hall]] was built on an axis through the centrecenter of the house rather at right angles to the entrance. Each of the three main storeysstories is higher than the one below, and a grand, winding, stone staircase leads up to a suite of [[state room]]s on the second floor, which includes one of the largest [[long gallery|long galleries]] in any English house and a little-altered, tapestry-hung [[great chamber]] with a spectacular plaster frieze of hunting scenes. The windows are exceptionally large and numerous for the 16th century and were a powerful statement of wealth at a time when glass was a luxury: "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall" the saying went. There is a large amount of fine [[tapestry]] and [[furniture]] from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A remarkable feature of the house is that much of the present furniture and other contents are listed in an inventory dating from 1601.

Hardwick Hall contains a large collection of [[embroidery|embroideries]], mostly dating from the late 16th century, many of which are listed in the 1601 inventory. Some of the needlework on display in the house incorporates Bess's monogram "ES", and may have been worked on by Bess herself.