A visit to Haddon Hall was amongst the excursions on offer to
the Victorian tourist. If you began your tour at Matlock
or Rowsley station you would visit Haddon in the morning
and Chatsworth in the afternoon, apart from on Saturdays
when the visits were reversed as Chatsworth shut at 1p.m.
The Matlock tour at the end of the nineteenth century cost 3s.
for the 22 mile drive[1].
R. N. Worth described the visit he made. "In a very few
minutes we are in front of Haddon Hall, perhaps
the most picturesque group of mediæval buildings in England
- perfect in situation, perfect in surroundings; even to the
quaint garden at the foot of the ascent leading to the entrance,
with clipped yew boar's head and other formalities, and happily
showing no trace of modern hand. The one 'touch of nature'
with which we could dispense as 'out of keeping' is the charge
of 3d. for admission, though no one with a feeling for the
antique would begrudge twenty times that amount.
The Hall stands on an acclivity on the eastern bank of the
Wye; and the buildings consist of two quadrangles on different
levels"[1].
In 1866 George Bradshaw, the writer of railway guides, thought "the
great Hall (the Martindale Hall of Scott's "Peveril
of the Peak"), the Chapel, the Eagle Tower, the terraced gardens [see
below], are objects of interest"[2].
The terrace steps, about 1900
Black's Guide of 1864[3] provides
an interesting account of how the Vernon family had lived "in
regal state" and
the writer thought the Great Hall "one of the most interesting
specimens of the kind in existence".
"A gallery occupies two sides of the hall. The joists of the
roof are bare ; and the huge fire-places contrast strangely
with the more elegant comforts of modern times. The hall is
thirty five feet long by twenty-five feet wide.
Haddon Hall interior - the Great Hall, 1864 [3]
There are some curious relics of bygone days in this hall.
Fire-dogs are still retained, stags' antlers adorn the wainscotted
gallery, and against the entrance doorway in the screen is
a strong iron hook (see the image above), to which it was customary
to attach the hands, high above the head, of defaulters at
carousals who did not do their full duty to their liquor, and
while in this position, as further punishment, cold water was
poured down the sleeves of his doublet"[3].
The hook was still there in 1884 (see the image below).
Croston (1868) adds a little more detail about the hall,
which is separated from the vestibule by an oak screen. The
gallery was where the "musicyons" played
during dinner. He observed that the front of
both the gallery and the screen, are "ornamented
with oak panelling, enriched with Gothic tracery, and liberally
adorned with the trophies of the chase"[4].
There was/is also oak panelling above the fireplace.
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In 1884, when this photo was taken, a visitor wrote:
"Who, that has once seen Haddon Hall, can forget
it? What a fine old place it is,
and what vicissitudes of life it must have seen. ... Even
in its ruinous state, the old hall
looks charming"[5]. |
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1. and 2. The two postcards, from paintings by Henry Hadfield
Cubley, published by Raphael Tuck & Sons "Oilette" [Regd.]
Art Publishers to their Majesties the King and Queen. Postcard
1487
"Haddon Hall, Sunset". Unposted. (top image)
"Haddon Hall, The Terrace Steps". Posted 1904 (middle
image)
These postcards had the usual side bar for the card's title and
message that was part of all postcards produced in the first
decade of the twentieth century but has been omitted to present
a slightly larger image.
3. Engraving of the interior from Black's Guide[3].
4. "Haddon Hall, Banqueting Hall". Postcard by F. Frith & Co.
Ltd, Reigate, No.16611. Unused. Published 1884.
All images in the collection of, provided by and © Ann
Andrews.
Information researched, written by and © Ann Andrews.
Intended for personal use only.
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References:
[1] R. N. Worth, F.G.S., (1890) "Tourist's
Guide to Derbyshire", Edward Stanford, 26 & 27,
Cockspur Street, Charing Cross.
[2] "Bradshaw's Handbook for
Tourists in Great Britain and Ireland ... Section Four ...
Railways ... Midland", (1866) pub London
(Adams) & Manchester (Bradshaw and Blacklock). This guide
is now famous as the inspiration for the BBC TV series "Great
British Railway Journeys" presented by Michael Portillo.
[3] "Black's
Tourist Guide to Derbyshire" (1864) pub. Adam and
Charles Black Edinburgh.
[4] Croston, James (1868) (2nd Ed)
"On Foot Through the Peak; or a Summer Saunter Through
the Hills and Dales of Derbyshire", Manchester:
John Heywood, 141 & 143, Deansgate. London, Simpkin, Marshall & Co.
[5] "Buxton Advertiser",
2 February 1884. Rambles in Derbyshire, Rowsley and Haddon
by Gadfly.
Also see, elsewhere on this web site:
 Kelly's
Directory of Derbyshire, 1891
Derbyshire's
Parishes, 1811 includes a short piece about Haddon (under
Bakewell).
The
Wolley Manuscripts, Derbyshire
Two artists who painted pictures of Haddon Hall
Biography
of Henry Hadfield Cubley, whose paintings were turned into post cards.
Frank Clay |
