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Chatsworth at Derbyshire undergoes big renovations

After the Second World War the landed gentry were hit with the imposition of new death duties; suddenly the future existence of Britain’s most glorious ancestral homes was in jeopardy.

Some handed over their homes to the National Trust, but others fought on. Lord Bath famously established the Lions of Longleat and the Duke of Bedford followed with a safari park at Woburn Abbey, while Lord Montagu opened a motor museum at Beaulieu.

However, England’s most handsome country house – Chatsworth, ancestral home of the Dukes of Devonshire – has survived most impressively to become a most impressive tourist attraction.

The Chatsworth story begins with Bess of Hardwick in Tudor times, a forebearer of the Devonshires, and continues on to Peregrine, the 12^th Duke of Devonshire, who inherited the title when his father, Andrew, died in 2004. Down through time the generations of family have devoted themselves to the maintenance and improvement of the family home.

Today, it is a business relying on tourism and they are very serious about it. It was the first country house to open a Farm Shop and was figured prominently in the 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice and The Wolfman with Anthony Hopkins. The Duchess was also filmed there in 2008.

The Duchess was about Georgiana, the first wife of William Cavendish, 5^th Duke of Devonshire and the story of Georgiana is part of a new exhibition in Chatsworth devoted to her life and her tastes.

The beautiful Kniphausen Hawk, a 17^th century statuette made of silver and set with precious gemstones has a place of honor among other priceless art and has been at Chatsworth since 1819. It is said that it is the statuette that provided the inspiration for the Maltese Falcon, made in 1941 and starring Humphrey Bogart.

This new gallery is part of  a £15million programme of renovations which has opened up more of the house to visitors. Opening day is next Sunday, and will include the celebration of the 90^th birthday of Deborah Devonshire, the present Dowager Duchess.

Innovations include access to the restored stone courtyard at the heart of the house, improved access facilities meaning far fewer stairs for all visitors, and a new lift giving full disabled access to all three floors of the house for the first time.