Haddon Hall is the wonderful English country house set with the backdrop of the River Wye at Bakewell flowing by. It is one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland, and is now occupied by Lord Edward Manners and his family. It is open to the public at certain times of the year and has been used in television and film. The mediaeval manor house has once been described as ‘the most complete and most interesting house of its period.’
The history of Haddon hall dates back to the 11th century when the illegitimate son of William the Conqueror, William Peverel, held the manner of Haddon in 1087. The Vernon family acquired the manner of Nether Haddon by the 13th century marriage to the Haddon heiress and although it was never a castle, the Manor of Haddon was protected by a wall from 1195, when Richard Vernon received permission to build it.
Sir George Vernon became the wealthy owner of Haddon Hall, and his daughter, heiress Dorothy Vernon, married John Manners, the second son of Thomas Manners, the first Earl of Rutland in 1563. Sir George disapproved of the union and it was though because the Manners were Protestants and the Vernons were Catholic, although there is another story that it was because the second son of an earl had uncertain financial prospects. According to the legend, Sir George forbade John Manners from courting the beautiful Dorothy and forbade his daughter from seeing him. The couple were so in love, they decided to elope and shielded by the crowd during a ball given at Haddon Hall by Sir George in 1563, Dorothy slipped away and threaded through the gardens, down the stone steps and over a footbridge where Manners was waiting for her, and they rode away to be married.
The romantic story has stuck to this day, but has never been officially credited. If indeed this story did actually happen, the couple were soon reconciled with Sir George, as they inherited the estate on his death two years later. Their grandson, also called John Manners of Haddon, inherited the earldom on the death of his distant cousin, the seventh Earl of Belvoir Castle.
He had a son, also called John, who was the ninth Earl, and was made Duke of Rutland in 1703 and moved to Belvoir Castle. The hall was used very little and lay almost in its unaltered 16th century condition when it was passed in 1567 by marriage to the Manners family.
It wasn’t until the 1920s, when another John Manners, the ninth Duke of Rutland realised its importance and began a lifetime of very meticulous restoration alongside architect Harold Brakspear. The current mediaeval and Tudor Haddon includes small sections of the 11th century structure but it now mostly comprised of bits added on, additional ranges and chambers which were added by each successive generation. Major construction was carried out at various stages between the 13th and 17th centuries with the banqueting hall, a minstrel’s gallery, kitchens and the parlour, which date back from 1370 and the famous St Nicholas Chapel, which was completed in 1427. For generations, the secret lay behind the whitewashed walls, which protected pre-Reformation frescoes which were unearthed much to the delight of the restoration experts at the time. There is also a stunning 16th century long gallery, (an architectural term given to a long, narrow room with a high ceiling.)
The gardens include a walled topiary garden adjoining the stable block cottage, with clipped trees and bushes depicting the boars head and the peacock, the emblems of the Vernon and Manners family, by the ninth Duke. Haddon Hall remains in the Manners family to the present day and is an absolutely exquisite place to have a day out if you get the time – it’s full to bursting with history!