Hardwick Hall: Harry Potter Filming Location

Hardwick Hall is one of England’s finest Elizabethan houses, built between 1590 and 1597 for Bess of Hardwick, who rose from modest beginnings to become the second richest woman in Britain after Queen Elizabeth I:contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}. The mansion is famous for its large windows – giving rise to the saying ‘Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall’ – and for its imposing symmetry and rooftop banqueting rooms. Today the National Trust cares for the estate, which includes landscaped gardens, a deer park and a collection of tapestries and textiles. Its honey‑coloured stone and dramatic silhouette made it the perfect inspiration for Malfoy Manor on screen. In *Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1* Hardwick Hall doubles as the exterior of Malfoy Manor. Digital artists added extra towers and gothic embellishments to its long façades:contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}. The entrance hall of the house was used as the set for Voldemort’s meeting with his Death Eaters, where he takes Lucius Malfoy’s wand and kills the Muggle Studies teacher, Charity Burbage:contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}. Fans may recognise the distinctive skyline when Voldemort returns to the manor for the climax of Part 1.