Chatsworth House

Saturday 20th April, 2013

Today I was lucky enough to be able to go somewhere I've always been wanting to go, the incredibly beautiful Chatworth House. The drive there was spectacular, we headed through the hills of the peak district and through Glossop. The route took us through some little beautiful villages all built in the local beige sandstone and some stunning countryside.

There really is nothing that compares to the English countryside, for me at least. Perhaps its because I feel a deep connection to this land, since its been the home of my family for generations. I feel different in England than anywhere else, it runs deep in my blood, its an odd feeling that I cannot really find words to explain it exactly.Perhaps its because of the history embedded in the landscape. The old oak forests that once covered  the country were cleared for pasture lands centuries ago. Centuries old, man made dry stone walls run across the landscape creating a patchwork of fields. I often wonder about the people who have seen this view and traveled this path for millennia.  I wonder who they were and what their lives were like. I love how visible our history is, right there on the landscape. I good reminder that we're meerly passing through. The countryside really is awe inspiring, I sometimes wonder if its just me that gets that kind of feeling when standing before nature.

Look at the fields full of sheep! and luckily its also lambing season, so every field was full of tiny lambs! I have to admit I slightly obsess over all animals! But how can you not over these guys??....

The drive itself was fantastic, but I was even more astounded as we turned down the driveway for Chatsworth. I have seen pictures of it so many times, read about it in guidebooks and even seen it on screen but I wasn't really prepared for just how striking it would be.

Here it is, the view as you come up the driveway.

Chatsworth is one of the most famous and grandest stately homes in the country. Its located in Derbyshire, not to far from Bakewell- home of the famous and delicious Bakewell tart (more on that in a bit). It has been the home of the Cavendish family since 1549 when Bess of Hardwick married Sir William Cavendish and they settled there. The current house was rebuilt in the late 1600's on the site of an earlier Tudor building. The house is still the family home of Lord and Lady Cavendish and has been the seat of the Duke of Devonshire for 16 generations. Bess's second son (also William Cavendish) was granted his Earldom because of his efforts in bringing William III (William of Orange, a dutch king) to the English throne during the 'Glorious Revolution'. He spent twenty years rebuilding the old Tudor building that quite run down by the time he got it. He wanted to display his wealth and his allegiance to the new King. You might recognize Chatsworth from Pride and Prejudice (the one with Kiera Knightly), it was used as Mr Darcy's home Pemberley and its thought that Chatsworth was indeed Jane Austin's inspiration.

The interior of the house is quite overwhelming, full to the brim with antique furniture and world famous paintings. The very first room you see is the Painted Hall, it takes your breath away, with its marble floor and incredible ceiling and wall murals.

The main entrance, with its marble floors

 The murals show scenes from the life of Julius Ceaser, comparing him to William of Orange. I can't even give words to how unbelievable this room was, it certainly has the effect that Sir William Cavendish wanted it too. It takes your breath away, you don't even know where to look. Every inch of it is covered in beautiful detail, painting, ironwork, carvings. 

The main staircase

Another incredible ceiling mural painted by the Italian artist Verrio

 I've never seen wood work like this in my life, look at the detail. The whole fire place was surrounded with these carved birds. The room is called the Oak room and caintains over 18 tonnes of Oak panelling, most of which came from a German monastery 

 I could look at this view all day!!! The lake is featured in Pride and Prejudice 

 A view of the gardens from the second floor. Imagine waking up and looking out over your domain. I'm dreaming of being a Lady of the Manor right now

From the Oak room you walk through to the next, every room links. Here's the State Drawing Room, all of the walls are covered with huge tapestries woven in the 1630s by Flemish weavers. The windows in the room have to be covered to stop the sunlight from damaging the tapestries. The furniture in the room is from China, Korea, Japan and India!...(early globalization!!!) 

The porcelain jars were a massive display of wealth. They were rare and imported from China before the secret of porcelain production was discovered in Europe in 1708

Two thrones sit in the drawing room, ready for King William and his Queen.

 The State Music Room

The Gallery: 

Chatsworth has one of the best collections of Art in the country. This is probably the most famous painting in their amazing collection, painted by the legendary English artist Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788). Meet Georgianna Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire and once owner of Chatsworth. She's beautiful isn't she! She was about 30 when the painting was done, in her hand she has a rose in bloom and a rose in bud, representing that she was pregnant at the time the painting was done. Her maiden name was Spencer and her farther was the 1st Earl Spencer, making Diana Princess of Wales her great-great grandniece! Her beauty was infamous within the socialite circle and she was also great friends with Marie Antoniette. A friendship which influenced her love of French fashion and style. She is also well known for living in a rather unusual marriage arrangement  with her husband and her close friend Lady Elizabeth Foster who married the Duke after Georgianna's death. Her love of fashion and gambling! She died at the age of 48 with the equivalent of £3,720,000 debt in today's money.

here's Georgianna again depicted as Diana, the goddess of hunting. I actually really love this portrait, its so unusual for its time with the way she is posed and the clothing. It's also painted by a woman, making it doubly rare. I'm quite fond of Georgianna, I think she was a woman ahead of her time! ....

 Family portraits on the staircase... they look a little different than my own house! :)

 The dome at the top of the staircase lights all the paintings beautifully

 More family pictures

I was quite drawn to this painting. Its of Ladies Alexandra, Mary and Theodosia Acheson, granddaughters of the Duchess. I just think they look so beautiful and I love their dresses with the large bustles.

The guest bedrooms:

I kind of want one of these for myself, a little bath hidden behind cupboard doors in the bedroom 

 The ladies vanity area, I like to imagine all the ladies who have sat in that chair, primping and preening themselves. I wonder what they were thinking or dreaming of :)

Yet another dream bed

Eye spy

The library
This is only a tiny part of it, every wall lined with thousands of old books!!!
This room was originally a long gallery, built by the 1st Duke and was changed by the 6th Duke into a library. There are more than 30,000 books at Chatsworth and every generation of the family has added to the amazing collection. You can get up to the upper gallery of the library through a hidden "book door" that leads to a spiral staircase

Books beautiful books!!!

Look who I found hiding amongst the books!...our friend Henry. I took this for my dear friend Patti who is a fan of all things Tudor!

Next stop: The Great Dining Room. Just imagine entertaining here. Does it remind you of the dinners in Downton?
The first dinner to be held here was the 13 year old Princess (later Queen) Victoria. It was to be here first adult dinner, so there was a full rehearsal the day before

Here's another view, with the beautiful chadelier. I'm not sure if you can see from here, but the folks are placed downwards to stop them from catching on the lace trimmed sleeves on the ladies dresses.
As you probably know, if you're a fan of Downton or other period drama, formal dining was at the heart of life in these large houses and required a LOT of behind the scenes work.

Details of the curtain tassels. Imagine the work! I love all the intricate details, nothing is missed!

The Gardens

The house is surrounded by thousands of acres of land and forest and beautiful gardens

Hydrangea, they smelt wonderful

Glorious sunshine and the western end of the building

 The gardens and the greenhouse in the background

 Here's me! You've go to have at least one selfie right? Just to prove you were there!

 From up on the hill

The cascade. A 300 year old water works that runs down the hill towards the house

The cascade from the bottom!

Have you ever seen a more beautiful view, ladies bum 'n all! 

Stopping off for an ice cream 

The entrance to the old stable block and carriage houses. I'm a horse girl, so I always love wandering around old barns. Isn't it amazing?!

A close up of the stone work. That's the families coat of arms above the entrance 

 I like this photo of the tower, sticking up over the horizon like that it almost looks like the downton logo 

 The view from afar! 

 Dominating the landscape

So that was my day! It really was wonderful, I've wanted to go to Chatsworth for the longest time. Its a must see if you're travelling around England at all. Chatsworth is by far the best stately home I've visited favourite. So another day over and off home we head, across the beautiful hills again

I hope that you enjoyed my photos and bits... I'm quite new to blogging, so I'm not sure- Maybe I'm super boring!!! (hehe). Fingers crossed I'm not. I hope I was able to give a bit of a sense at least of how beautiful the place was! 
Till next times lovelies!

Love,
Shannon x