Duke of Devonshire receives 2012 Watch Award from World Monuments Fund
Date: 25th October 2012
In New York last night (23 October 2012) the World Monuments Fund presented the Duke of Devonshire with the 2012 Watch Award, which recognises advocacy and significant achievement by an individual on behalf of heritage preservation.
The Duke, along with the Duchess of Devonshire, has devoted the past six years to the renovation of Chatsworth (www.chatsworth.org) in the Peak District in Derbyshire, England, which his family has owned since 1549.
During 2007 a programme of major restoration began with the repair and cleaning of the Inner Court, and the North front of the house. Earlier this year scaffolding was removed to reveal gleaming stonework, repaired carvings and 24-carat gold gilding on the South and West fronts, restoring the house to its original glory. Work is expected to continue for a number of years.
The World Monuments Fund (www.wmf.org) is the leading independent organisation devoted to saving the world's most treasured places. At last night's Hadrian Award Gala ceremony at The Plaza on Fifth Avenue special tribute was paid to the Duke by Caroline Kennedy who remarked upon how impressed she was during her last visit to Chatsworth by "the complicated planning and engineering of a comprehensive master plan which has restored the house, created new galleries to show the great Old Master Drawings, special Treasures of the Duchesses from the family vaults, and a restored neo-classical sculpture gallery."
On receiving the award the Duke of Devonshire said of the World Monument Fund: "When I think of the work that you do, the crucially important conservation, the seemingly impossible rescues that you manage every year all over the world I am humbled that you have chosen Chatsworth.
"However, thinking back over the last 60 years or so ........it is somewhat extraordinary that this house, with its garden and park as twin pendants, have all survived and indeed are now facing the future with more confidence, more certainty than at any time since the middle of the 19th century.
"Most of the credit for this recovery belongs to my parents, Andrew and Debo. Thanks to their energy, imagination and a healthy dose of stubbornness over a tenure of 50 years they turned a sad and decrepit old place into a destination which three quarters of a million people enjoy visiting every year."
The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire instigated the restoration project following a review of the building's structure and services to help realise the shared aim of the Devonshire family and Chatsworth House Trust - the independent charity which looks after the house, collection, garden, farmyard and park - to safeguard Chatsworth's heritage and continue its tradition of innovation and progress.
Less than two months ago Chatsworth was rated Britain's favourite stately home in a report (30 Aug 2012) into the country's leading historic attractions published by the consumers organisation, Which?
"After a year-long restoration, the grand facade of the Neoclassical south and west exterior of the house is gleaming with newly gilded finials and windows" said Which?. The report says that typical comments about Chatsworth included 'the best stately home I have ever visited in the UK' and that 'the tour was excellent with very well informed guides along the route'.
Ends
Notes to editors:
The Duke of Devonshire KCVO, CBE, DL, is a Commander of the British Empire, and in 2009 was awarded a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order for his services to the Crown. He is Deputy Chairman of the Sotheby's; a trustee of Derby Museums; the Wallace Collection in London; and Storm King Art Center in New York's Hudson Valley; and Chancellor of the University of Derby.
The Chatsworth House Trust is an independent charity (no 511149) set up by the 11th Duke of Devonshire in 1981, to ensure the long-term survival of Chatsworth for the benefit of the public. All admission and event income from visitors, together with a percentage of income from shops and restaurants, goes directly to this Trust, and can only be spent on the upkeep and improvement of the house, collections, garden, farmyard and park.
Chatsworth is 16 miles from the MI, 10 miles from Chesterfield, and 8 miles north of Matlock, in the heart of Derbyshire's Peak District National Park and is well served by transport links throughout the UK.
For further information or images on Chatsworth please contact:
Steve Houghton (steveh@redbrickcommunications.com)
Liz Bee (lizb@redbrickcommunications.com)
Redbrick Communications, 68 St James's Street, Nottingham, NG1 6FJ
T: 0115 910 1500, www.redbrickcommunications.com
For further information on the World Monuments Fund please contact :
Ben Haley, World Monuments Fund, T - 646 424 9594, bhaley@wmf.org
