To think of Haddon Hall without Hardwick Hall is impossible, for the two are among the greatest of many attractions in Derbyshire. Hardwick Hall (Plate XXV) dates from the year 1590 and adjoins the site of an even more princely structure. It owes its origin to the famous Elizabeth Hardwick, whose building activities were abnormal, partly because, so runs the legend, it was predicted that she would never die until she ceased to build; which prophecy was fulfilled, for her last day came at the time of a frost so severe that her labourers had to suspend operations. Bess of Hardwick survived four husbands--Robert Barley, Sir William Cavendish, Sir William St. Loe, and the Earl of Shrewsbury, who was custodian of Mary Queen of Scots. The history of her descendants is even longer than her own. She accumulated vast wealth and spent on building much of her annual income of £60,000, possibly for the reason that she believed in the prophecy concerning herself. A woman of extraordinary energy and accomplishments, she was responsible for the erection of Hardwick, Chatsworth, Oldcotes, and other places. Everyone knows the old saying, “Hardwick Hall, More glass than wall,” which was applied to the first-named building for obvious reasons. In those Elizabethan days there was a growing desire to dissipate gloom and to reverse the old practice of building mainly for strength. If Bess of Hardwick exaggerated the advantage of window space at Hardwick Hall and gave it somewhat the appearance of a modern steel-framed structure, she provided us with compensations in the same house, for the state apartment, a corner of which is shown in the illustration by Lake Price (Plate XXV), possesses great beauty in conception. It is 65 feet long, about 30 feet wide, and 26 feet high. The state bed included in the drawing came from Chatsworth. Horeham Hall, Essex (Plate XI), is an interesting example of early sixteenth-century work, retaining much of its original quality. The Princess Elizabeth found a refuge here while her half-sister was on the throne, and liked the place so much that she often revisited it after she succeeded to the Crown. The building, owing its origin to Sir John Cutt, shows a curious mixture of castle and mansion, not only as regards the exterior but in the planning. It was once surrounded by a moat, which was partially filled in about the middle of the nineteenth century. The stepped gables and ornamental battlements give picturesque irregularity to the elevation.