Ownership of the estate

The Chatsworth estate is owned by the Trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement, on behalf of the Cavendish family. It is run by the Agent and his Deputy, answerable directly to the Duke of Devonshire and his Trustees.

It is administered from the Chatsworth Estate Office, on the edge of the park near the village of Edensor. This 18th century building was originally an hotel for visitors to Chatsworth, which has been open to the public in some form or another for most of the last 400 years.

In 1981 the house, its essential contents, the garden, farmyard, park and some woods were leased by the Settlement Trustees for 99 years to a charitable foundation, the Chatsworth House Trust.

This Trust was formed to protect Chatsworth from future capital taxation, and thus ensure its long term preservation for the benefit of the public.