House & displays
The house, garden, farmyard, gift shops and restaurant are now closed, and will re-open on Sunday 14 March 2010. The 1000 acre park, the farm shop and its restaurant are open all year round.
2010 will be a landmark year for Chatsworth, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, with more of the house open to visitors than ever before.
After years of painstaking work and restoration, funded by the Chatsworth House Trust, we open a new visitor route through the house, including a completely new gallery for displaying art and treasures from the collection, important rooms newly restored, elegant new displays celebrating the legendary Duchess Georgiana, and an exhibition celebrating the 90th birthday of Deborah Devonshire, the present Dowager Duchess.
Other innovations this year include access to the restored stone courtyard at the heart of the house, completely new guidebooks and audio tours, 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. Chatsworth's tradition of welcoming every visitor warmly continues in 2010, with visitors invited to quiz our friendly team, or try a talk or tour, to discover more about the intriguing people and events that have shaped Chatsworth's history over five centuries.
Highlights of the new displays will include our most spectacular ever array of family portraits spanning 450 years, on the walls of the restored Oak staircase, and the life and tastes of Duchess Georgiana reflected in new permanent displays of portraits, furniture and works of art she commissioned or acquired, many not seen by visitors before.
Celebrating Deborah Devonshire - 14 March to 31 October 2010
In honour of the 90th birthday of Deborah, now Dowager Duchess of Devonshire and the last surviving Mitford sister, we mark the nine eventful decades of her life with a special exhibition illustrating her many interests and achievements. Fascinating personal material and images, much never seen before, will offer a unique insight into the Dowager Duchess's life and work, from her childhood in Oxfordshire and marriage, her friendships with people as diverse as Lucian Freud, Evelyn Waugh, Jack Kennedy, Tom Stoppard and Alan Titchmarsh, to her many years of public service, and current well-earned status as a best-selling author and national treasure. Exhibition free with house admission.
Treasure displays
In the new North gallery on the 2nd floor, visitors will see a select display of rare treasures, including diamonds and colourful jewels, and other precious objects and rarities. In the same gallery will be an intriguing selection of 20th century paintings including some of the family portraits by Lucian Freud.