Hardwick Old Hall: Work on 400-year-old friezes completed

Traditional techniques were used to restore the friezes

Work to conserve 400-year-old plaster friezes at what was once the home of one of Elizabethan England's most colourful characters has concluded.

The work took place at Hardwick Old Hall, Derbyshire, the birthplace of Bess of Hardwick, who married four times to become one of the richest and most influential women of her day.

English Heritage completed the project on the weather-damaged friezes.

The organisation said the conservation work had taken seven months.

Hardwick Old Hall is open to the elements

The Old Hall is due to reopen to the public in the spring.

Hardwick Old Hall was built between 1587 and 1596 but for two centuries has remained a roofless ruin and is situated on the same site as the New Hall.

Hardwick Old Hall is in the care of English Heritage, while New Hardwick Hall is in the care of the National Trust.

The work took around seven months to complete

Using a range of specialist skills, experts stabilised and preserved its original friezes, which depict plants, animals and allegorical scenes that would have been originally painted.

One features the giants Gog and Magog from the story of Brutus, a legendary founder of Britain.

The panels provided prototypes for features which were later incorporated into the New Hall, a property Bess began building immediately next door.

English Heritage say the friezes provide evidence of Bess's tastes

The two were intended to complement each other.

Although the Old Hall has been open to the elements, many of the original plaster overmantels are still in place.

English Heritage said centuries of exposure, combined with historic repairs now recognised as inappropriate, caused "considerable damage".

English Heritage said the building had been preserved for future generations

The team has also completely reinstated the render on the west wall, which faces out across the valley and is more exposed to weather damage.

The old render was analysed so the new mix matches what was there historically and has been traditionally applied.

Restoration work has taken several months

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 decor of the property and 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."