Bess of Hardwick was a woman with guts and determination who would never stop in her quest to make her family the wealthiest in the land.
At just 14 years old, Elizabeth Hardwick embarked on the first of her four marriages – to a 12 year old who died soon after! Thus began the first of her many inheritances which were to ensure her personal legacy of wonderful houses and landscapes.
An ancestor of our own Queen Elizabeth, Bess was a clever and brilliant woman of ambition who built a fortune in excess of £60,000 during her lifetime – which in the mid 1500s was worth millions in today's terms!
Discover Bess's story and the secrets of her rise to power through our Bess of Hardwick map. Using the map visit the places she lived in, created and built, many of which were designed by the talented Smythson family architects. Bess was buried in Derby Cathedral and the 400th anniversary of her death was commemorated in 2008.
To order a Bess of Hardwick map please email us with your postal address and we will send one out to you. Alternatively, contact Chesterfield Tourist Information Centre for more information.
