Haddon Hall in Derbyshire is a popular filming location and has been used in the production of Jane Eyre, The Prince and the Pauper, Moll Flanders and the recent film Elizabeth.  Therefore many viewers of historical drama will find Haddon Hall a familiar building.

The car park for the Hall is in fact across the road from the entrance and the Hall is approached via a long walk which is on an uphill gradient.  So be warned and bring your walking shoes when visiting.

Nestled within the trees you are first of all only able to see the occasional glimpse of the Hall before you come out into the open and find yourself face to face with the main entrance after crossing the River Wye which runs through the grounds.

Haddon Hall has been in the same family for over four hundred years and has existed on the same site in Norman times

From the 18th century the building remained empty until the present owner's grandfather returned and began restoring the building in the early 20th century.  And whilst he was restoring the house his wife occupied her time in creating the beautiful gardens which are pictured on this page.

The first rooms which are open to the public when you visit Haddon Hall are the Duke's Bedroom and Inner Chamber.  They are unfortunately not easily accessible and can only be approached by a steep spiral staircase.  The guidebook warns that care should be taken on the well worn steps and I certainly appreciated that advice.

The rooms are named after the 9th Duke of Rutland who used the rooms during his residence at the Hall.

In the Inner Chamber you can clearly see what appears to be a blocked doorway.  Whatever the door led to has long since gone and you can see that Haddon Hall is one of the many properties which has been extensively altered over the centuries.

Both of the two rooms still contain the original wooden shutters which were used prior to the introduction of glass.

When you come back down from these two rooms you can then take in the rest of the courtyard which is one of the first places that I recognised from film.

You can then visit the Museum which is also accessed from the courtyard.  The Museum is in fact one room which contains displays of various items found and uncovered during the restoration of the Hall.  The items are varied and numerous and you can forget how small the museum is when you find yourself browsing around looking over the objects.

The Chapel is also open to the public and accessed from the courtyard.  The Chapel contains murals and also a copy of an effigy of the eldest son of the 8th Duke of Rutland.  The original of the effigy is in the Chapel at Belvoir Castle.

Once you have seen all of the above you can then proceed to the main tour of the building which begins in the Kitchen.

You then move onto the Banqueting Hall which dates from the 14th century. The roof that you see today is in fact of 20th century construction and the third roof of the Hall.  All the timbers were cut from either the Haddon or Belvoir estates and transported to the Hall by horse.

Next we see the Dining Room which has a very low ceiling and apparently used to be one room with the Great Chamber above.  The Dining Room is still used as a private dining room today.

The Great Chamber is sometimes referred to as the drawing room and refers to how the room was previously used.  And as described above the room was also the upper half of the room below too.

We then come to the Earl's Bedroom which does not actually contain any bed or furnishing usually found in a bedroom.

The Long Gallery is reached via the semicircular oak steps which are said to have been made from the roots of a single oak tree.  The Long Gallery itself is 110 feet long and is Elizabethan. 

The final rooms before visiting the gardens are the ante-room and the State Bedroom where you will find some of Haddon's tapestries on display, others having already been seen round the house.

Then of course there are the gardens of which there are a few photographs here for you to enjoy viewing.