Chesterfield Tourist Attractions

From Newstead it is 11mi/18km to Hardwick, where there is a fine Elizabethan mansion, Hardwick Hall - "Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall", the contemporary jingle went, for the house has 50 windows and relatively small areas of wall. It was built by Robert Smythson in 1591-17 for Bess of Hardwick (Elizabeth, daughter of John Hardwick), who married four times, her last husband being the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury. Inside the hall there is a rich collection of tapestries, furniture, embroidery and portraits. In the center of the house is a large two-story hall, with a magnificent staircase leading to the upper floor. From the house there are beautiful glimpses of the gardens. Close by are the remains of Hardwick Old Hall, with fine plasterwork. In the park, to the north, is Ault Hucknall Church, with the tomb of Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), the philosopher and author of "Leviathan".Many of the appliqué embroidered wall panels based on Classical themes were made by Bess's needle women from the recycled church vestments given to her husband by King Henry VIII at the time of the English Reformation.A thorough study of the textiles was undertaken by the Victoria and Albert Museum, department of textiles and dress, which included an extensive series of early household inventories.

Bolsover Castle, 12mi/19km southeast of the city of Sheffield and 5mi/8km from Hardwick, stands on a steep hill above the town of Bolsover (population 11,800). This partly ruined Jacobean mansion occupies the site of a manor house built by William Peveril. He was also responsible for the construction of Peveril's Castle at the end of the 11th century at Castleton, which Sir Walter Scott immortalized in his novel "Peveril of the Peak". Between 1613 and 1617 Charles Cavendish reconstructed Bolsover Castle's Norman keep and built his new house beside it. Notable features are the elaborate marble chimney pieces and allegorical paintings. The Cavendish family monument is in the church at Bolsover.The caves at Creswell Crags, near Bolsover, highlight life during the Ice Age.

The Herb Garden at hardstoft is one of the foremost herb gardens in Britain. It features four display gardens, the largest of which is the mixed herb garden which includes an established parterre of sixteen beds. Within the gardens many native wild flowers and spring bulbs can be enjoyed.

Stainsby Mill, on the Hardwick Estate in Chesterfield, is a water-powered flour mill constructed in 1849-50. Remarkably, 150 years later, the mill is still in working order.

Sutton Scarsdale Hall is the ruins of an 18th century mansion.