Celebrating House of Stories

Event Details

Friday 2 October
10am - 5.30pm
The Hartington Room, at the Stables
Adults £60 | Students £15
Chatsworth Patrons and Friends benefit from 10% off tickets

Celebrating House of Stories brings together academics, writers and curators for a day of conversation inspired by Chatsworth’s 2026 exhibition, House of Stories: Tales from the Chatsworth Library.

Provisional Programme

The day-long programme includes a keynote from Dr Mark Purcell, Director for Research and Collections at Cambridge University Library. Dr Purcell is one of the UK’s authorities on historic libraries and book collecting, whose work has transformed the understanding of Britain’s country house libraries.

Throughout the day, speakers will uncover the stories behind Chatsworth’s collections.

Guest lectures include (tbc):

Hélène Vidal - Shelf-fashioning; or, the Re-creation of Duchess Georgiana's Library

Hélène Vidal is a doctoral researcher at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, whose work focuses on the writings and reading life of Georgiana, 5th Duchess of Devonshire. Her talk will present the reconstructed shelves of Georgiana’s library, highlighting notable books and the fascinating stories behind them, as revealed through the Duchess’s correspondence and personal writings.

Jack Rhoden - Discussing The Cavendish Book Collection

Dr Jack Rhoden is a historian and Senior Lecturer in History and Military History at Lincoln Bishop University. His research spans nineteenth-century British and French political culture, political cartoons, book collecting, and archive history. Drawing on his experience as a former postdoctoral researcher at Chatsworth House, Jack will discuss the history and significance of the Cavendish Book Collection.

Louise Calf - From Literature to Life: Interpreting the Theatricals in Austen’s Mansfield Park through the Evidence of Chatsworth’s Private Theatre

The ill-fated theatricals in Austen’s Mansfield Park (1814) are arguably the best-known of their literary kind. As such, their reference has become virtually mandatory in historic accounts of private performance practices; the behaviour of the book’s gentry protagonists reveals the role of theatricals in polite society. Yet, what does the book tell us about how a private performance was staged? Where? By whom? With what materials? Austen’s text is scattered with clues but rarely are these granted attention. This talk draws on original research on Chatsworth’s own private theatre to foreground the labour, craft and networks implicated in Austen’s masterpiece.

Bibi Cox O-Brien - The plaything of the day': The Poetry of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and Hidden Archival Networks

Beatrice (Bibi) Cox O'Brien is a fourth-year DPhil candidate in English at the University of Oxford. Her research on Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire's poetry began during her MA at the University of Sheffield, where she found the unpublished poem “To Myself”, featured as part of the House of Stories exhibition.

Solange Masher - Creating the exhibition

Conservator Solange Masher, who undertook the conservation work and created the bespoke mounts for the House of Stories exhibition, will explore the practical challenges of conserving and displaying historic books and what conservation can reveal about an object's history.

Solange Masher is a book and paper conservator and the founder of Liber Conservation, an independent conservation practice based in Sheffield. She works with museums, archives, private collectors and individuals, undertaking projects ranging from the conservation and repair of individual objects to collection surveys and advisory work.

In Conversation with Charlie Porter - tbc

The event concludes with and a special in-conversation with Charlie Porter, focusing on Chatsworth as a place of literary inspiration. Porter is an acclaimed writer, critic and author of the critically acclaimed novel Nova Scotia House.

Celebrating House of Stories offers a rare opportunity to explore the people, books and ideas that make up Chatsworth’s remarkable historic library.

Emerging writers

As part of the House of Stories programme, four emerging writers undertook a collaborative residency with Chatsworth and Nottingham City of Literature, to produce a creative response to the exhibition.

There will be a short presentation of their work and the symposium will conclude with a conversation between two of the writers and writing mentor, Penny Boxall, about the process.

And more

In addition, talks and discussions around individual objects will explore theatre, performance, books, collecting, conservation and the material culture of reading.

A full programme for the day will be released shortly.

Important information

Concessions

If booking discounted member (Patron or Friend) or student tickets, you will be asked to show your membership card or Student ID on the day.

Parking and Public Transport

Tickets include free parking for one vehicle on the day of the event. Local bus services stop at Chatsworth. Learn more.

Meeting point

Please meet in the Hartington Room at 9.30am for a prompt 10am start. The Hartington Room is accessed through The Cavendish Restaurant at the Stables. 

Accessibility

The Hartington Room is a step-free venue. Accessible toilets are located off the Cavendish Restaurant. Please note there are some areas with cobblestones in the Stables Courtyard. If you are parking at Chatsworth and require a blue badge parking space, you can request one during the booking process. The Stables is located at the top of Lodge Hill.

Please email [email protected] if you have any questions about accessibility or require a complimentary carer ticket.

Refreshments

Complimentary tea and coffee will be available throughout the day.

Please note: Please be aware that for technical, operational or safety reasons, some facilities may be removed or closed, or entertainment and event timetables cancelled and/or altered at any time, including at short notice.  Chatsworth reserves the right to change the programme of attractions and entertainment if, at any time, it is deemed necessary or appropriate to do so, this may also include closing attractions or areas of the estate. We apologise in advance for any disappointment caused should this need arise.