Joining the multimedia tour (https://www.chatsworth.org/multimedia-guide) from their own home, armchair adventurers can travel through the centuries of history found in grand state rooms such as the Painted Hall, Sculpture Gallery and Library. Rather than using professional narrators, Chatsworth interviewed its in-house team for both film and voiceover to highlight their expertise, warmth and authentic connection to the estate over many years.
In more than 40 ‘postcards’, the team recreate the feeling of visiting Chatsworth’s famous landscapes, rooms and artworks by sharing not just facts and figures but personal insights and hidden stories about the people who have made it what it is today.
Room guide Nicky Crewe explains how a Royal visit that never happened made the Painted Hall so impressive; Mick Brown from the garden team explains how the gravity fed Emperor Fountain can reach 200ft; curator Dr Alex Hodby explores the role of the Veiled Vestal Virgin in ancient Rome; while the Duchess of Devonshire talks fondly of family christenings in the Chapel, using a huge silver gilt wine cooler as a font.
Chatsworth worked with Antenna International* to develop the award-winning** multimedia tour, which was originally designed for visitors using handheld devices on site. The tour has been adapted and posted onto Chatsworth’s website to share the passion and expertise of its team as visitors are temporarily unable to visit in person. The house, garden and farmyard, gift shops, restaurants, car parks, and public toilets are closed until further notice though, as a vital food service outlet, the Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop in nearby Pilsley remains open.
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Notes to editors:
* Antenna International are innovative storymakers and creative technologists devoted to visitor-first experiences. They make audio tours, mobile apps, multimedia guides, podcasts, interactives, and superior story-driven content for the museum, cultural and travel sectors.
** The Association for Heritage Interpretation (AHI) awards scheme recognises and rewards the best practice in heritage interpretation across the UK and Ireland.
Chatsworth
Will Gompertz has chosen Chatsworth as one of the ten places that tell the history of England’s art, architecture and sculpture for the Historic England campaign Irreplaceable: A History of England in 100 Places. The campaign aims to find the 100 places that bring to life England’s rich and extraordinary history.
He said: “Chatsworth is perhaps the finest example of the English stately home. There is a lot of history in its beautiful stone walls, some of which have been standing for nearly five hundred years. But it is still a living home with an energetic owner who makes sure that this historic building is still very much alive in the 21st century, sitting wonderfully – as it does – in the rolling hills of Derbyshire.”
Chatsworth won the Best Historic Attraction in the Group Leisure & Travel Awards 2018.
The Chatsworth House Trust is dedicated to the preservation of Chatsworth House, the art collection, garden, woodlands and park for the long term benefit of the public.
The charity promotes the study and appreciation of Chatsworth as a place of historic, architectural and artistic interest and of natural beauty, and encourages the use and enjoyment of Chatsworth by visitors for education and recreation.
Chatsworth is a member of the Treasure Houses of England, 10 of the most magnificent palaces, stately homes and castles in England. www.treasurehouses.co.uk
Chatsworth is only 16 miles from the M1, 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. www.chatsworth.org
Follow Chatsworth on social channels:
Facebook: @ChatsworthHouse
Instagram: @ChatsworthOfficial
Twitter: @ChatsworthHouse
YouTube: www.youtube.com/OfficialChatsworth
For Chatsworth press enquiries, please contact:
Steve Houghton, [email protected], 07917 671516
Redbrick Communications, 68 St James’s Street, Nottingham, NG1 6FJ
T: 0115 910 1500
