Mon. 18^th May 1998

Yesterday my family and I went to Hardwick Hall and Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire. The National Trust (NT) sent us a handbook with a big map, showing all the properties that belong to NT. My mum studied it carefully and decided that we could go to a few interesting houses in Derbyshire as it was not very far from Barlby.

We went to Hardwick Hall first. It was built in the late Tudor times (1590 – 1597) by the Countess of Shrewsbury, who was commonly known by her nickname Bess. She was a very rich lady at that time.

The Hall was symmetrical in design both outside and inside with a big garden in front of it. There was a great hall in the centre of the house, running from front to back. On the wall were a lot of drawings, telling us stories and legends of the house. There was also a portrait of Bess on the left wall. The first floor consisted of three rooms. One of them was the Drawing Room. *英国一些较富的贵族家庭一般都有 “Drawing Room”， 用来收藏一些名画、艺术品等，表现主人的爱好和艺术修养。

The second floor was brilliant. It had seven rooms and we saw them all. One of them was a long gallery, running 50 metres from one end of the house to the other. It had 81 pictures on both sides of the wall. They were all portraits of ancestors and family friends.

In the house we saw elegant Elizabethan furniture and marvellous tapestries. The enormous collections of fine embroideries hung on the walls and some of them totally covered the walls. They were made in the late 16^th and early 17^th centuries and were so well preserved and repaired over the years that they are still in good condition today. ＊这个大宅以挂毯、刺绣装饰为特色，一个长廊的两面墙上都铺满了织锦挂毯。据说这些16、17世纪的挂毯原本也有许多损坏，是他们家族的一位媳妇主动承担起修复的重任，将这些精品都修补好，并妥善保存，使他们至今仍完好无缺。

After that we went to Kedleston Hall. It is a beautiful mansion built in the 18^th Century on a very big estate with extensive grounds. There was even a golf course in the property.

Picture   Kedleston

The big mansion is in Neo-Classical style with Greek columns on the outside and many sculptures and fine drawings inside. It had a main hall with a domed rotunda and two wings with two semi-circular corridors linked to the main hall. The floor of the corridor is made of oak and is still in good condition today. ＊这一建筑建于1760年代，以古希腊和古罗马时期的建筑风格为主。外有希腊式的柱子；建筑的主楼中央有一个大厅，用于举办舞会或社交活动；后面有一个穹顶圆厅，摆放着许多雕塑和画像；另还有一间“音乐间”（Music Room）和一间“绘画间”（Drawing Room），里面展示了许多精美的古典派油画。整个建筑从中央向两边延伸，有两座对称的辅楼，用半圆形的走廊与之相连。走廊的地板用橡树木铺成，至今仍完好无损。

In the main house there were lots of beautiful rooms, including the drawing room, the music room, the saloon and the King’s bedroom. The King’s bedroom even had three hidden doors. There was a game for me called “I spy” and I had to find things in a room. 为安全起见，大部分皇宫中的国王或皇后的卧室里通常有暗道，其门用画或艺术设计掩盖，或与墙的格调一致，使人看不出来，称为“暗门(Hidden doors)”。这里虽不是王宫，但也有这样的设计，可能主人想用于接待国王来访。