Legacy
Famously, the great architect, Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), was buried beneath an understated tombstone with the inscription: si monumentum requiris, circumspice (‘if you are searching for his monument, look around’). The grave is in St Paul’s Cathedral, Wren’s greatest architectural achievement, and so is in no way modest! A similar epitaph would fit Bess, the great house builder. For her most visible legacy, too, lies in stone. Anyone who has visited Hardwick Hall will not easily forget it, and we should remember her innovative use of an architect for the project, which paved the way for Wren and his disciples.
Although little remains of her building efforts at Chatsworth, the estate took its form under her ownership, and the house was only replaced and consumed by the current edifice in the 19th century. Bess is also remembered by her collection of furniture, art and, of course, tapestries in the UK. One feels that the mixture of charity, in letting commoners view the art, and ostentation, with the collections loudly-proclaiming their former owner in both their decoration and through information boards where they are housed, would appeal to these conflicting sides to her personality, could she see them today.
The vast sum of money she accumulated through marriage and smart business sense was instrumental in the creation of the Dukes of Devonshire, who still live at Chatsworth today. But for her greatest legacy, we have to look at gender politics. Bess was a woman of relatively humble origins who rose above, and bested, the most prominent men of her day. Her management of her wealth and estates showed that women were just as capable as men, and were it not for that other great feminist icon, Elizabeth I, the period would have been remembered as the Age of Bess.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
Girouard, Mark. Hardwick Hall. London: National Trust, 1989.
Hattersley, Roy. The Devonshires: The Story of a Family and a Nation. Penguin, 2014.
Hubbard, Kate. Material Girl: Bess of Hardwick, 1527-1608. London: Short, 2001.
Lovell, Mary S. Bess of Hardwick, First Lady of Chatsworth. London: Abacus, 2005.
West, Susie. Hardwick Old Hall. London: English Heritage, 2008.