By: Kindah Mardam Bey

Some locations are simply epic. Some artfully composed monuments to the human capacity to make every detail matter rarely comes along and shows what happens when all the stars align – when magic appears before our very eyes. Don’t take my word for it, take Jane Austen’s word for it as she purportedly used Chatsworth House, the ‘Palace of the Peak District’ as her inspiration for Mr. Darcy’s Pemberley House in her most notable classic Pride and Prejudice.

The beauty of Chatsworth seems so hard to define. If the wealthy elite of centuries past must leave such a palatial estate for us “common folk” to admire centuries later, then it is best to be something as exquisite as Chatsworth House. The woodwork inside is compliments of Grinling Gibbings and the well-orchestrated gardens are thanks to famed landscape architect Capability Brown. You will see a Rembrandt painting and a marble corridor filled with magnanimous alabaster sculptures and a very famous painting of Henry the VIII.

Chatsworth House has room upon room of elegant fixtures, every room is as ornate as the last and every detail could have a day dedicated to its intricacies. The exquisite painted hall upon your first entrance is something only usually seen in France or Italy. Murals adorn the walls and ceilings, vibrant red carpet paired with a black and white checkerboard floor and a grand staircase immediately set an impression on visitors.

In the State Music Room you see one of Chatsworth’s most famous paintings of a violin hanging on a door. The way the image is painted gives a visual illusion and you would almost not doubt that the violin is real and not merely a painting.

Perhaps my favourite part of the Chatsworth tour is the Library adorned with rare copies that seem to create a wallpaper effect across every wall. Such a delight it would be to spend an afternoon looking at all the spines and discovering all those adventures just underneath the surface of those neatly aligned bound books. Swiftly leading from the library into the Great Dining Room where the aforementioned soon-to-be Queen Victoria had her first adult dinner (age 13). The Dining Room is richly coloured with red velvets and deeply ornate fixtures.

You could spend a day going through the interior of Chatsworth, but you could spend an equal amount of time walking the gardens of Chatsworth. You can also visit one of the House’s many shops that were founded by the Dowager. The carriage house was also transformed into shops and two restaurants and you can read up on my Afternoon Tea review HERE.

 I grew up in Derbyshire and was taken every Sunday to Chatsworth House as an outing. Growing up in the halls of Chatsworth, knowing what was around every corner, learning to adore these magnificent buildings and what they have to offer England became ingrained in me at an early age. After an extended absence I must admit the “new and improved” Chatsworth had multiple changes and one might admit not necessarily for the better. Much funding has gone into the restoration of Chatsworth, which is a welcome delight, but the items, walls, and ornaments were nowhere near as clean as they used to be. The “Oak Room”, with the mysteriously missing massive oak table with monkey legs, was simply dusty from stem to stern.

Aside from upkeep all of the major hallmarks of the tour had been moved to actually detract from their most advantageous positions. Paintings and statues have been relocated around the house to less prominent positions (the cleverly placed statue of Mercury at his vantage point at the top of the Great Hall staircase has been relocated towards the end of the tour in a boxed in room, for example).

The new Duchess and Duke of Devonshire have made considerable changes to the layout of the house and installed a large amount of modern art which does seem out of place as modern art simply does not have the elegance, expertise or detail that the craftsman of previous generations managed to manifest. Even the restaurant that the previous Duke had painstakingly put together has been blanketed in a pink colour that makes visitors feel they may have been sent back to the hippie sixties as opposed to sitting down to dine at an elegant house with a distinguished carriage house restaurant.

Chatsworth has become incredibly “kid friendly”. Even a dress-up area in one of the rooms for the kids is setup. This may add to the pleasure of visiting families, but I went through the halls at the age of four and was mesmerized by the statues, paintings, carvings, carpets, candelabras, finely painted plates and so on without the need of a "dress-up room". Unfortunately this new approach to being kid-friendly left the adult visitors out in the cold as children seemed to be screaming non-stop through these sacred halls.

A fabulous exhibit of the family history and a particular exhibit celebrating the Dowager’s 90^th birthday was on display in the Mary Queen of Scots rooms.

Aside from the many noticed changes, Chatsworth House is still a masterpiece of Derbyshire. The entire building and location seems magical, as if nymphs dance outside the building at night and princesses dance inside it all day.

Chatsworth House is only 3.5 miles away from Bakewell and nine away from Chesterfield. It is in the heart of one of England’s prettiest locations.

To learn more about Chatsworth House click HERE.

Check out our FACEBOOK PHOTO ALBUM of Chatsworth.

With the grateful assistance of Visit England:

Travelling is a compilation of experiences. When travelling to a new country for the first time we often quiz any of our family and friends who have previously been to that country to get the insider’s edge on what to expect. The Experienced Traveler Blog is intended to give travelers a first hand experienced account paired with the resourceful information of a travel writer. If you have “been there, done that, and bought the T-Shirt” and want to share your own thoughts, and inside tips, leave a comment for future travelers!

Written by :

Kindah