Remarkable 400-year-old plaster friezes in one of the most innovative houses of the Elizabethan age have been protected for future generations, English Heritage announced today (18 October 2022) as the charity completes a seven-month conservation project at the home of Bess of Hardwick, Hardwick Old Hall in Derbyshire.

Once the finest of their age, and a display of Bess’ status and wealth, the Old Hall’s decorative plaster panels have long been exposed to the elements inside the splendid house, for two centuries a roofless ruin. Now, using a range of specialist skills, experts have managed to stabilise and preserve these original features, which depict beautiful plants and animals as well as allegorical scenes, and would have been vividly painted. One in particular features the giants ‘Gog’ and ‘Magog’ from the story of Brutus, the legendary founder of Britain who was said to have defeated the giants and chained them at the gates of his palace in London.

Innovative for their time, the panels provided prototypes for features later incorporated into Hardwick New Hall – a property Bess began building immediately next-door while the Old Hall was still unfinished. The two were intended to complement each other, like two wings of one building. Although the Old Hall is open to the elements, many of the original plaster overmantels are still in place. But centuries of exposure, combined with historic repairs now recognised as inappropriate, have caused considerable damage, and work has now been done to consolidate the remaining plaster panels along with their modern hoods that protect them from the rain.

In addition to the conservation of the decorative plaster, on the whole west wall – which faces out across the valley and is more exposed to weather damage – the team have completely reinstated the render on the building. The old render was analysed so that the new mix matches what was there historically and has been traditionally applied.

Jeremy Ashbee, English Heritage’s Head Properties Curator, said “Rising from a modest background to become one of the richest women of her time, and certainly the most famous woman after Queen Elizabeth I, Bess of Hardwick was also a tireless and ambitious builder, whose houses symbolised her rise to wealth and power.

The remaining plaster panels at Hardwick Old Hall provide the sole remaining interior décor of the property and are so are pivotal in understanding the grandeur of the interior and the tastes of Bess herself. Our experts, over the course of seven months, have painstakingly conserved these important historic interiors and exteriors, which are completely exposed to the elements, to save them for future generations.”

Famously known as Bess of Hardwick, Elizabeth of Shrewsbury was once one of the richest and most well-connected women of her era. Hardwick Old Hall which was built between 1587 and 1596, was one of the most innovative houses of the period and, drawing on the latest Italian house designs, was a reflection of Bess’s style and status.