This time we are at Chatsworth House you may well recognize it
from the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
We're going to show you the beautiful gardens and go inside the house today, so stay with us!
Welcome to the incredible grounds of Chatsworth House, home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.
A title that has passed down through 16 generations of the Cavendish family.
It was a very warm and thus busy day to visit. Once we were past this queue we could enter the
extensive gardens and explore the wonderful themed areas in relative peace and quiet.
There are 105 acres of gardens to keep you busy we only had half a day here and
could not cover everything but we'll show you what we picked as our must-see areas.
You will want to plan to spend the whole day on the estate to get the most out of it.
We have a pre-booked timed entry to the house so we'll head inside later in the video.
The house and gardens were first constructed by Sir William Cavendish and Bez of Hardwick in 1555.
We are first heading to a more modern edition, the only remaining glasshouse of
three Chatsworth had. I say more modern it was built in 1824 by Joseph Paxton
as an orchid house for the sixth Duke. The grapevines have been here since the 1920s
and it looks like it's going to be another bumper crop this year.
The 1970s display greenhouse with three temperature zones was closed due to covid.
The cottage garden is a delightful area of box, privet and yew hedging. It was created in 1989
and is maintained by the two Chatsworth gardener trainees that join each year.
An area previously used for horse grazing became the kitchen garden in 1991.
Whilst Chatsworth has been growing its own fruit and veg, herbs and flowers for centuries,
this three-year project has produced just the most wonderful part of the estate that feeds the house,
provides fresh-cut flowers for the rooms and herbs and veg for the visitor's restaurant.
After a lovely pleasant walk through the woodlands, we hear the sounds of rushing water
and children playing in the garden's famous water feature. The Cascades.
Built in 1696, they were swiftly remodelled
and the grand baroque temple or Cascade House designed by Thomas Archer was added at the top.
It has 24 cut steps each slightly different and with a variety of
textures so that each gives a different sound when water runs over and down it.
It was the busiest part of the gardens and I suspect it was due to the weather
and the school holidays. Even with the crowds, it was impressive to see.
Interestingly all the fountains and waterworks on the estate
a gravity-fed from a lake 400 feet above the main grounds.
You may well recognize the house and gardens from scenes in the 2005
adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadden.
This was Pemberley House, the residence of Mr Darcy.
In fact, it's thought that Jane Austen may have based Pemberley house on Chatsworth following a
visit to Bakewell in 1811. You can see where she stayed in our separate video on Bakewell.
The first Duke installed a fountain, the biggest in the country
but when it was thought Tzar Nicholas, Emperor of Russia might visit the estate,
an even bigger one was installed reaching 90 meters. The Tzar never made it to the house
but the fountain was still named after him Emperor Fountain. Besides canal pond where the
fountain blast from, used to be a thatched ice house this would store ice from the pond
to supply the house right up to the 1920s before the invention of refrigerators.
Walking parallel with the pond slightly uphill we passed the Blanche Vase.
Blanche Georgina Howard was the much-adored niece of the sixth Duke.
She died young and the devastated Duke placed the vase here in her memory.
Heading out to the far reaches of the estate through the wooded area
we reach Ravine Bridge and Azalea Dell.
This area was created in the 1930s by the sixth Duke's wife, Evelyn and the head gardener.
Taking inspiration from the likes of Gertrude Jekyll
who liked more natural wild gardens over the formal ones.
Which do you prefer? Natural and wild or formal, let us know in the comments, we'd love to know!
If you want to see the main garden sites without all the walking then
you can take the tractor train that does a loop throughout the day.
As we get closer to our house entry time and heading back in that direction
we wanted to show you the first Dukes greenhouse. Built in the 17th century,
it's actually not in its original location, moved here by the fourth Duke.
A wonderful flower display and imposing pillars
greet you as you walk up the lawn to the long, ten arched window greenhouse.
Normally open for viewing, again not available on our day due to covid.
This was a very clever chair made from 50 cent u.s coins.
Behind the greenhouse is a lovely flower meadow and a benched area
to sit and people watch with a grand house in the background.
Heading into the house featuring 126 rooms, we will tour just 26 open to the public.
The Duke and Duchess live here full time and the remaining 100 rooms are private to the family,
although they do change the rooms open for viewing from time to time.
As we move through the house you'll notice that modern art and sculptures
live alongside historical decor and paintings.
The chapel has not changed much over the centuries. The first Duke prayed here
daily and he commissioned artist Antonio Verrio to oil paint the altar centrepiece.
The incredible ceiling was painted by Louis Laguerre.
A Damien Hirst gold sculpture resides on the altar but far more interesting to us was the
boxwood rosary beads belonging to Henry VIII. Made in Flanders in the early 16th
century for Henry it was later purchased by William Spencer the sixth Duke of Devonshire.
The oak room was remodelled by the sixth Duke
with what at the time was fashionable dark wood panelling. A room used for men to socialize in.
The tusks on either side of the fireplace are from narwhals
"the unicorns of the sea" purchased by Edward the tenth Duke.
You can see the inner court as you move through the rooms. Appearing over the fountain is a
sculpture "leaping hair on a curly bell" by Barry Flanagan. Notice one side is more ornate
with carvings and 23 and a half carat gold on the frames. There to impress as guests arrived.
Who in their right mind could fail to be impressed with the painted hall.
This was the most elaborate room built by the first Duke between 1689 and 94.
Scenes from the life of Julius Caesar adorn the walls.
The windows, arches and the painted ceilings and walls are the only original features now.
The sixth Duke renovated this room in 1840.
This room and the next few were specifically designed as staterooms for King William III and
Queen Mary II, crowned in 1689. This one is to greet guests wishing to speak to them. They never
visited Chatsworth, unfortunately, to see the rooms and the wonderful views from the window.
On display is a 1665 door lock that may have well opened the apartment of Elizabeth Cecil
wife of the third Earl of Devonshire, seen here.
The drawing room includes a number of tapestries showing the ultimate wealth
of the owners. They were practical to rolling up for travel to warm up other drafty rooms.
The state music room holds a very special treasure. Make sure you look past the open
doorway, the light in the room is quite dark so hard to see on video.
Here's a photograph. A violin hanging from a door with a ribbon. This, if you have
been deceived is actually a wonderful and very clever painting by Jan van der Vaart from 1723.
This painting is of Elizabeth Talbot known as Bez of Hardwick. She built Chatsworth
with Sir William Cavendish and was the second most important person in England,
after the queen, during her time. The necklace she wears has 1000 pearls and took her many
years to assemble. A symbol of her wealth. A replica can be seen in this dark room.
This is the oak stair landing featuring a plethora
of family portraits through the Cavendish generations.
Looking up you and the portraits are bathed in natural light from the glass-domed ceiling.
Through the doorway in a very dark room is the library with a collection spanning hundreds of
years. Seventeen thousand books reside here with the oldest dating from 1469.
What an impressive dining room laid out for a victorian banquet.
The very first dinner in this room was in 1832 for a young Princess Victoria, later to be Queen.
The host was William Spencer Cavendish the sixth Duke. The exquisite glassware
is called "cranberry glass", the imposing silver candelabra by renowned silversmith Paul Storr.
Formal dinners are still held in this room from time to time. How we would love to be guests.
The sixth Duke was a collector of sculptures and created this room to display them.
It is here that two Devonshire hunting tapestries
are on loan from the Victoria & Albert to display exactly where they hung in the 1900s.
We leave the house through the gift shop and back out into the sunshine.
If during the course of the day you are looking for food and drink
then the former stables have been turned into a lovely food court and garden shop.
That's it from Chatsworth House, really hope you've enjoyed the tour with us. The grounds
and the house have been absolutely fantastic, well worth visiting.
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