Haddon Hall

Haddon Hall is just a short distance from the popular market town of Bakewell, and is set on a rocky outcrop overlooking the River Wye. The Hall was the setting for Dorothy Vernon's elopement with John Manners, the son of the Earl of Rutland, and today the door through which she escaped is named after her. The house was eventually left to Dorothy on her father's death and has been in the Manners family ever since.

There has been a dwelling on the site since the 11th Century, but the house we see now dates from the late 14th Century, with extensions being added in the 15th and 16th Centuries.

When the Dukedom of Rutland was conferred on the family in 1703, the family moved to Belvoir Castle and eventually Haddon Hall fell into disrepair and was abandoned for almost 200 years. The solidity of the Hall's construction, ensured that the house survived this period and has thus escaped alterations during the 18th and 19th Centuries, remaining a medieval and tudor house.

The 9th Duke of Rutland returned to Haddon and made it's restoration his life's work. Haddon Hall is therefore one of the finest Medieval and Tudor houses in the country with particularly fine medieval kitchens and banqueting hall as well as a 16th Century long gallery, the most recent room in the house.

Haddon Hall has provided locations for a number of major films including Franco Zeffirelli's Jane Eyre and the television productions Moll Flanders, The Prince and the Pauper, Shakur Kapur's Elizabeth and most recently was transformed into the Lampton Inn for the blockbuster film version of Pride & Prejudice.

The Hall boasts some of the most outstanding gardens in Britain, and the roses are famed throughout the world.

There is a restaurant and gift shop.