The year 1843 saw several distinguished visitors at Haddon. In September Sir Robert Peel, then Prime Minister, visited the Duke of Rutland^[2]. On 2nd December Queen Victoria and Prince Albert spent two hours looking round the house and gardens. They were staying a few miles away with the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth House and their party were driven to Haddon in three open carriages. Captain Underwood, the Duke of Rutland's Steward, met the Royal party and showed them round^[3]. It was Victoria's second visit as she had been to Haddon a few years earlier with her mother, the Duchess of Kent^[4].

Haddon's Gate House

A Royal visitor from overseas, the King of Saxony, viewed the property in the following June. He stayed at the Rutland Arms in Bakewell whilst he was in the area^[5]. Her Imperial Highness, the Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, came in 1853 and was a guest at Chatsworth^[6]. Another foreign Royal, the Emperor of Brazil, toured the fortified mediaeval manor in 1871^[7].

Haddon Hall from River Wye, from a painting by the locally based artist Henry Hadfield Cubley. Cubley has flattened the slope up to the gatehouse. There are cows in the foreground.

In 1872 the Prince and Princess of Wales, later Edward VII and his wife Queen Alexandra, were at Chatsworth. When they visited Haddon their carriage was met by the Duke of Rutland and he escorted the Princess; the Duke of Devonshire escorted the Prince. They visited the older parts of the building before ascending the staircase to examine the upper rooms. The Royal party lunched at Haddon, sitting on "some fine old chairs that are considered part of the gems of Haddon"^[8].

Their daughter-in-law, Queen Mary, followed in their footsteps just before the First World War^[9]. Queen Mary was to pay another visit to Haddon in 1933, this time accompanied by her husband George V^[10].

Some years before the mass trespass of Kinder Scout there were public protests over the closure of some of Haddon's footpaths. In February 1924 it was reported that people throughout the Peak district had, for several months, been extremely indignant about the closure of a number of woodland and other footpaths said to have "been public from time immemorial". Three hundred local residents and workmen with pickaxes broke down several stone walls that had been erected near Haddon during the previous September. They also opened wooden gates with spiked tops and uprooted warning notice boards but encountered no opposition^[11].

North entrance, January 2001.
This gateway was only ever intended for people arriving on foot.
There are several shields carved with the arms of the Vernons and their respective alliances over this entrance.

In March 1925 Mr. J. W. Black, M.P. for Harborough, gave notice that the Commons would ask the Minister of Agriculture whether he aware that public feeling has been aroused regarding the footpaths being barricaded^[12]. Lord Granby then took Bakewell UDC and the RDC to Court^[13]. When the case came up in the High Court, the Earl said he had no quarrel with the Council, nor any objection to local people. He explained that he wanted to use Haddon as his home in the future. His real issue was with non-locals, the tourist parties travelling by charabanc, who were straying from designated pathways. Settlement was reached, with certain paths being closed and others declared as highways and open to the public^[14].

Lower, or First, Courtyard. A series of the three steps traverse the space. The entrance can be seen on the far left, underneath the tower. There is a flight of steps down from the courtyard to this entrance. On the right is the porch to the Great Hall.

At the end of the same year (1925) Haddon was closed to the general public after being open for "innumerable years". The 9th Duke of Rutland wished to take up residence in 1927, so extensive alterations were needed to make the building habitable, including a water supply scheme^[15].

Haddon was occupied until the outbreak of war in 1939, but was then used by the Public Record Office as storage. In mid-1946 the property was derequisitioned. It had been closed the public for more than 20 years, but was to re-open from July 29 on all days except Sundays^[16]. These days it is also open on Sundays, though visitors days and times should be checked on Haddon Hall's web site as opening varies throughout the year.

The gardens descend in a series of great terraces (see map on the next page), with Dorothy Vernon's walk on the top level. The following two black and white images provide us with a glimpse of the Fountain Terrace, formerly the Upper Garden.

The three bay windows are those of the Long Gallery.

Haddon Hall, The Garden Front.
From a photograph by Mr. S. F. Wood of Duffield, before 1903.
Images from the end of the 19th and early years of the 20th century show the hall's south front covered in either ivy or Virginia creeper.

2019. The south front, including the windows of the Long Gallery, from the top terrace.
Topiary is used to great effect in Haddon's gardens.
Restoration of the Chapel was underway behind the green tarpaulin lower down the hillside.

In recent times the large central bay of the Long Gallery was found to be subsiding and in need or urgent restoration and repair. Thanks to a large grant from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage (Historic England), the work was carried out for Lord Edward Manners, the current custodian and owner, in the Spring and Summer of 2022 by Birchover based Mark Eaton and a team of skilled craftsmen. This included the use of the traditional lime mortar to help the stone breathe, which will conserve it.

William Potter's stunning CDV shows the view of Haddon from the Winter Garden Terrace (1880s). The bay window on the right, with its windows thrown wide open on a warm summer's day, is the largest of the three that light the Long Gallery and overlook the Fountain Terrace.

Simon Jenkins, in his book on "England's Thousand Best Houses", awards Haddon five stars, indicating that he believes it to be one of the top twenty properties in the country and one of three with five stars in Derbyshire*. It "is the most perfect English House to survive the Middle Ages"^[17].

*The other five star properties are, of course, Chatsworth House and Hardwick Hall.

References:

^[1] Pevsner, Nikolaus (1953), "The Buildings of England, Derbyshire", Penguin Books.

^[2] "The London Standard", 8 September 1843. Peel had arrived from Drayton Manor in Staffordshire.

^[3] "The Derby Mercury", 6 December, 1843. In the 1851 census Captain William Underwood, aged 75 and born in London, was living at Castle Hill, Bakewell with his family and servants. He was still the Duke's Agent.

^[4] "The Derby Mercury", 1 June 1836. Advertisement for Samuel Rayner's "An Historical Account of Haddon Hall". "Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, who very recently visited Haddon, in company with the Princess Victoria, in the most flattering manner has approved of the Specimen Drawings" ...

^[5] "The Derby Mercury", 26 June 1844.

^[6] "The Morning Post", 10 September 1853.

^[7] "The Derby Mercury", 16 August, 1871.

^[8] "The Times", Saturday, 21 Dec, 1872. The Prince of Wales at Haddon-Hall.

^[9] "The Times", Wednesday, 10 Dec, 1913. Their Majesties' Visit To Chatsworth. Also see: Haddon Hall (2): Visitors & Staff, the Terrace Steps and the Great Hall and Haddon Hall (4), Some of the Rooms.

^[10] "The Times", Wednesday, 5 Jul, 1933.

^[11] "The Times", Monday, 25 Feb, 1924.

^[12] "Derby Daily Telegraph", 19 March 1924.

^[13] "The Times", Saturday, 22 March, 1924. Chancery Division. The Amenities of Haddon Hall.

^[14] "The Times", 17 and 29 March, 1924. High Court of Justice.

^[15] "Derby Daily Telegraph", 30 December 1925. There is more about these alterations on Haddon Hall (2): Visitors & Staff, the Terrace Steps and the Great Hall

^[16] "Derby Daily Telegraph", 15 July 1946. Hall opens soon as a public showplace.

^[17] Jenkins, Simon (2003) "England's Thousand Best Houses", Allen Lane, Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London, WC28 0R:, England, ISBN 0-713-99596-3

Also see, elsewhere on this web site:
The Gentleman's Magazine Library, 1731-1868 (under Bakewell). MI of Sir George Vernon family and mentions the tomb of his daughter who is also commemorated in the church.
Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, 1891
Derbyshire's Parishes, 1811 includes a short piece about Haddon, under Bakewell.
The Wolley Manuscripts, Derbyshire