Oldcotes House was a mansion in Derbyshire built by

Bess of Hardwick Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury ( Hardwick; 13 February 1608), known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well-made marri ...

. The building has been completely demolished. The manor at

Sutton Scarsdale Sutton Scarsdale is a village in Derbyshire, England. It is in the North East Derbyshire district. It is very close to the M1 motorway. It is in the civil parish of Sutton cum Duckmanton. The settlement is notable for a large, ruined former sta ...

was earlier called "Caldecotes" and "Oldcotes". Bess of Hardwick bought the manor from the Savage family in 1593 and called it "Oldcotes" in her time, the modern spelling of the site is "Owlcotes". There was already a house on the site and Bess of Hardwick built a new house close by. Bess of Hardwick built the new house at Oldcotes after completing the nearby Old Hall at Hardwick and while building

Hardwick Hall Hardwick Hall is an architecturally significant Elizabethan architecture, Elizabethan-era country house in Derbyshire, England. A leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, the Renaissance architecture, Renaissance style home was bu ...

. It was intended for her son William Cavendish, who kept accounts for the work. The walls and chimneys were built by a team of six "wallers" who also worked at Hardwick. The house was probably designed by

Robert Smythson Robert Smythson ( – 15 October 1614) was an English architect. Smythson designed a number of notable houses during the Elizabethan era. Little is known about his birth and upbringing—his first mention in historical records comes in 1556, when ...

. Details in the building contract, and an image drawn on a 1659 estate plan, are compatible with a drawing by Smythson in the

RIBA ''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130

collection. In September 1599 William Cavendish paid for a table for the Low Great Chamber, indicating that the work was nearing completion. His wife, Anne Keighley, died in February 1598, before Oldcotes was completed.

Arbella Stuart Lady Arbella Stuart (also Arabella, or Stewart; 1575 – 25 September 1615) was an English noblewoman who was considered a possible successor to Queen Elizabeth I of England. During the reign of King James VI and I (her first cousin), she marrie ...

stayed at Oldcotes in February 1603. She had told Bess that she would not eat and drink at Hardwick until she had a letter from

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, so Bess sent her to her other house. Francis Leek wrote that Lady Cavendish was staying at Olcotes and unwell in July 1605 after an argument with Bess of Hardwick. In 1641,

William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire, KB, FRS (c. 10 October 161723 November 1684) was an English nobleman and politician, known as a royalist supporter. Life The eldest son of William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Devonshire and his wife Chri ...

and Christian Bruce, Countess of Devonshire, sold Oldcotes (old and new) and the lands to Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston. An inventory was made of furnishings belonging to George Pierrepont of Oldcotes in 1666. There were 40 stools with leather seats in the

Long gallery In architecture, a long gallery is a long, narrow room, often with a high ceiling. In Britain, long galleries were popular in Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. They were normally placed on the highest reception floor of English country house ...

where Pierrepont played billiards. Bess of Hardwick's Oldcotes was demolished in the early 17th-century. Some of the stonework was probably incorporated into two new smaller dwellings, and some rubble was used for roadbuilding.Pamela Kettle, ''Oldcotes: The Last Mansion Built by Bess of Hardwick'' (Merton Priory, 2000), pp. 79-81.

References

{{coord missing, Derbyshire Houses completed in 1599 Elizabethan architecture Former country houses in England Country houses in Derbyshire