Patricia Greene on Bess of Hardwick
Great Lives
BBC
4.2 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 21 August 2018
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Actress Patricia Greene (Jill Archer in BBC Radio 4's The Archers) makes the case for Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, or Bess of Hardwick as she's more commonly known.
Like her heroine, Patricia was born in Derby and was aware of the nearby grand stately home Hardwick Hall. 'More glass than wall' was the local saying; as the key feature of this 1590s house was the exuberant use of this rare material. Only recently did she discover that the initials 'ES', which are blatantly carved on the turrets, stood for a woman - Elizabeth Shrewsbury.
And so began Patricia Greene's admiration and obsession. Who was this woman born in Tudor times, when women had few if any rights at all? Bess ended up becoming the richest woman in the land after Queen Elizabeth I, but she was portrayed by some as a 'cold-hearted shrew' who only became rich by marrying four husbands, Patricia's job is to defend her hero.
The expert witness is Dr Nigel Wright, the House & Collections Manager with the National Trust at Hardwick Estate.
Presenter: Matthew Parris
Producer: Perminder Khatkar
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.
Transcript
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| 0:31.3 | This is the BBC. Today's Great Life was born an unprivileged commoner, but became the second most powerful |
| 0:40.1 | woman in Tudor England after Elizabeth the first who ended up as one of her friends |
| 0:46.4 | Elizabeth Countess of Shrewsbury or Bess of Hardwick as she's better known is our subject |
| 0:56.3 | ambitious and determined she's better known is our subject. Ambitious and determined, she's probably best known as the woman who built the magnificent Chatsworth House and the equally splendid Hardwick Hall in |
| 1:01.8 | Derbyshire. But there's so much more to her than that and here |
| 1:05.7 | to tell us is the actress Patricia Green, whom many will know as playing their radio grandmother |
| 1:11.8 | Jill Archer in The Archers. |
| 1:14.0 | Hello Patricia, though I'm told you prefer Patty? |
| 1:17.0 | I will do, but it's very nice to be here. |
| 1:20.0 | A cold-hearted shrew, Patty. |
| 1:22.0 | We will discuss this obviously in more detail later, but your initial thoughts, is that fair? |
| 1:27.6 | Absolutely not. |
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