Countdown to Christmas begins

With 100 days to go to Christmas, Derbyshire’s historic Hardwick Hall has unveiled its plans for the festive season ahead.

The National Trust will be inviting visitors to step back in time and experience Wintertide; a season of Elizabethan magic. Between 17 November and 5 January, visitors will be able to explore the 16th century hall which will be brimming with twinkly lights and decked out with foliage displays and decorations handcrafted by the Hardwick team.

Visitors will be able to look out this year for the Lord of Misrule, an Elizabethan figure who was appointed to oversee revelries, mischief and mayhem! They will be able to follow them around the mansion and delight in his topsy-turvy ways by lantern light.

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Hardwick Hall, near Chesterfield, will also be extending Wintertide into the evenings on certain dates so that visitors can experience the hall in a different light. On 29th and 30th November, 6th and 7th December, 13th and 14th December, and 20th and 21st December, the hall will be open through to 7pm. There’s no need to book in advance as there will be free flow entry between 12pm - 7pm. The festivities will extend into the new year with the Feast of Fools taking place on the 1st of January 2025.

Dancing with lights and shadowsDancing with lights and shadows
Dancing with lights and shadows

Matt Dillon, Visitor Operations & Experience Manager of Hardwick Hall, said: ‘Hardwick Wintertide is going to be a truly magical experience with the opportunity to explore the hall by the light of lanterns. Our extended after-hours openings will also offer people the chance to see the mansion in a whole new light. It promises to be a spectacular experience.’

About Hardwick Hall

Hardwick Hall was built by ‘Bess of Hardwick’, Countess of Shrewsbury, between 1590 and 1597. Bess’s initials, ES, and her coat of arms, decorate the rooftop. The Hall houses a unique collection of rich sixteenth and early seventeenth century tapestries and needlework collected by Bess, and, even now, unsurpassed in Europe.  

Hardwick gardens are beautifully presented in a series of courtyards, where you can move from one garden ‘room’ to the next to explore the herb garden, orchards and colourful borders.  The Estate also has 900 acres of parkland, which is home to a variety of wildlife, circular walks and trails. 

Explore by lantern lightExplore by lantern light
Explore by lantern light

About the National Trust

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The National Trust is an independent conservation charity founded in 1895 by three people: Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley, who saw the importance of the nation's heritage and open spaces and wanted to preserve them for everyone to enjoy. Today, across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we continue to look after places so people and nature can thrive.

We care for more than 250,000 hectares of countryside, 780 miles of coastline, 1 million collection items and 500 historic properties, gardens and nature reserves. In 2023/24 we received 25.3 million visitors to our pay for entry sites. The National Trust is for everyone - we were founded for the benefit of the whole nation, and our 5.38 million members, funders and donors, and tens of thousands of volunteers support our work to care for nature, beauty, history for everyone, for ever.

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