Hardwick Hall : July

Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire was the subject of our July session.  This remarkable Tudor House was owned by Bess of Hardwick, Elizabethan England’s second most powerful woman.  The Hall features many large windows, and the letters E S are carved in stone at the high points of the building.  Bess of Hardwick married men of note, inheriting after their deaths, making her a very rich woman.   Her coat-of-arms are featured in some of the rooms, many of which contain 16^th century embroidery, tapestries and portraits .

Castles : September

The two DVDs we watched in September featured castles, the first one featuring wooden castles (as evidenced by post holes), these being the forerunners of the stone casxtles we are familiar with.  The second DVD was about Dunratty Castle in Ireland, which has a history of warring factions fighting for possession of it, but is now open for anyone to visit.

Mansions & Palaces : May 2026

We first watched a DVD of a National Trust property, The Vyne.  The Vyne is a Tudor Mansion House, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, set in grounds with herbaceous borders, a wild garden, and lakes.  The house itself contains a Tudor chapel, with Renaissance glass, a wealth of old panelling and fine furniture.

Our second DVD was of London’s Palaces.  These included Westminster Abbey, Whitehall Palace, Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace and Hampton Court, all of which have much Royal history attached to them.  Their histories began with Edward the Confessor and the building of Westminster Abbey, which is still used for state funerals, Royal weddings, and the coronation itself.

Val Gosden