NEW HARDWICK HALL DERBYSHIRE

ALEX LOCKWOOD · Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 238 Location: UNITED KINGDOM

This majestic house was built between 1590 and 1597 by the redoubtable Bess of Hardwick [1527-1608]. In April 1995 I was lucky enough to do a University placement there. So I saw the Hall at times when it was closed the the public.

I asked the guides whether Hardwick was haunted, and they told me that it was. I was shown the Nursery Corridor [just below the roof, and not viewable by the public]. It has a very oppressive atmosphere. And I couldn't wait to depart.

There were times when I went 'exploring' alone in parts of Hardwick. I noted 'cold spots' [or 'dead spots' as I call them] in the Long Gallery, in the Blue Bedroom, and on the Chapel Landing. A woman has been seen praying in the Chapel, and a man descending the stairs. Although I didn't witness anything in these rooms, I had a definite feeling of 'presences'. The Chapel Landing and Blue Bedroom really made me shudder.

Bess apparently haunts the Gallery and her private apartments, though I didn't encounter her. I did sense a peculiar atmosphere at the far end of it, though. The High Great Chamber, off the Gallery, is said to be another haunted area, though I felt nothing there.

The Blue Bedroom is the main area for hauntings. It has an 'icy air', especially round the bed. And you feel as though someone is watching you. Shocked

I heard a young woman crying. Though I didn't see her - some have - the unhappy lady is said to be Christian Bruce [1595-1675] wife of William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Devonshire, Bess's grandson. Christian is probably the 'Blue Lady' who has been witnessed wandering around Hardwick.

D B Sweeney · Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 2:34 am Post subject:

Thanks Alex. I'll have to get around to visiting these places sometime.

Most houses that are quite old tend to have cold spots and imperceptible drafts that lower the temperature in specific places. This is more to do with construction methods and building design rather than ghosts.
Feelings of being watched and sensations of 'atmospheres' are also a normal part of the human psyche - especially if one is aware of the reputation of a location but they are subjective feelings. The fact that others claim to feel them also just proves that our brains are all essentially wired in the same way and we're subject to the same emotions, feelings, responses and biases.

DB

ALEX LOCKWOOD · Joined: 20 Feb 2009 Posts: 238 Location: UNITED KINGDOM

There is cold. And then there's 'cold'. And it's nothing to do with the ages of buildings, because even more modern buildings can have such spots.

I hope they are not ''normal'', otherwise most of humanity would be either neurotic or paranoid! And I don't agree with your statement that

"The fact that others claim to feel them also just proves that our brains are all essentially wired in the same way and we're subject to the same emotions, feelings, responses and biases."

Human beings, although some traits are 'shared', don't always respond to things in the same way. And, thank goodness, science has not yet got to the 'cloning' of humans, or 'building' one from scratch... We should not play God. It is immoral.

D B Sweeney · Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2011 10:21 am Post subject:

There is cold. And then there's 'cold'.
There's only degrees of cold.

[b]And it's nothing to do with the ages of buildings, because even more modern buildings can have such spots. [/b]
But it is to do with buildings because you've admitted it in the quote above.

Human beings, although some traits are 'shared', don't always respond to things in the same way.
Which is why we have sceptics and believers.

[b]We should not play God. It is immoral.[/b] In whose eyes?
We should play god if it saves lives. How can you possibly think we shouldn't?.

DB