Chatsworth, which is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, was every bit as good as I remembered it although due to the lovely weather it was very busy.
The first house at Chatsworth was built by Bess of Hardwick and her second husband William Cavendish. Building work began in 1552 and continued for a number of years. They built a large house which was on the site of the square block of the current building. There is a painting that shows what the original house looked like but nothing to show what the interior would have been like.
Bess of Hardwick was a fascinating character, wasn’t she? But I didn’t know she was connected with Chatsworth.
She is a fascinating lady. She spent a lot of time at Chatsworth before moving back to Hardwick to rebuild the old house and build the new house.
Well I don’t know a lot about the history of the UK but these houses (castles) are really beautifull, thanks for the information who accompany the images eachtime…
I am glad you are enjoying them. I really enjoy visiting them and learning some of the history and how they interconnect with each other.
These places just astound me: they’re so big! The cost to build them – and why? For show presumably because no-one needs that big a house, do they?
Lovely photos. Someone else I know has recently been to Chatsworth and their photos made me want to visit too.
A lot of it probably was for show and a display of wealth. In Bess’ case her grand daughter was in line to the throne so I should imagine that had something to do with it initially.
Whilst Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned she spent some of her time at Chatsworth.
Last time we went, it was being renovated so covered in scaffolding. I would love to see it without. Amazing grounds too, last year we went late on and the dahlias were unbelievable
There is still a little bit of scaffolding left although it isn’t too noticeable at the moment.
What time of year did you go to see the Dahlias? I love displays and I was lucky enough to see the ones at Cragside last September and Chartwell last October.
I had to go and look that up! Seems by the photo’s we went 4 October last year and they were very lovely. I also found a whole bunch of photo’s that I had forgotten about so thank you
Thank you
I really need to go back so to see all the things I missed.
I am glad you found some forgotten photos to bring back some memories.