Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for CHATSWORTH

CHATSWORTH, an extra-parochial tract, containing a grand seat of the Duke of Devonshire, in Bakewell district, Derby; on the river Derwent, 3½ miles NE of Bakewell. Pop., 53. Houses, 8. The domain was held for the Crown at the Conquest by William Peveril; passed to the Leches and the Agards; and was purchased, in the 16th century, by Sir William Cavendish. A quadrangular mausion, defended by towers, was founded on it by Sir William, and completed by his widow, the famous Countess of Shrewsbury; was the prison, for several years, of Mary Queen of Scots; was the prison also of Marshal Tallard, taken at Blenheim; was held alternately by the parliamentarians and the royalists in the civil wars; and was, for some time, the abode of Hobbes of Malmsbury, as family tutor, and the place where he wrote his ' ' Wonders of the Peak;" but has entirely disappeared. The present mansion was chiefly built in 1687-1706, by the first Duke of Devonshire, after designs by Talman and Wren, but underwent an extension of its north wing, subsequent to 1820, after designs by Wyatville; and it was visited in 1768 by Christian VII., in 1816 by Archduke Nicholas, in 1832 by Princess Victoria, and in 1843 by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It is a magnificent pile, fit for a king; and is often called the " Palace of the Peak. " The plan is nearly square; the chief façade measures 750 feet, or, including terraces, 1, 200 feet; the base is rusticated; the upper part has fluted Ionic pillars and pilasters, surmounted by sculptured frieze and open balustrade; and the recent extension displays a compound of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian features. The great hall measures 60 feet by 27; the music-room, 35 feet by 30; the grand drawing-room, 48 feet by 28; the dining-room, 58 feet by 30; the library, 90 feet by 22; and other apartments in proportion; and all possess great wealth of embellishment and furnishing. The park is upwards of 11 miles in circuit; includes high variety of natural feature, from vale to mountain; and abounds in beauties both of contour and of art. The grounds contain famous gardens, covering about 12 acres; a grand conservatory, 300 feet long, 145 feet wide, and 65 feet high, the original of the Crystal Palace; trees planted by the Emperor Nicholas, the Duchess of Kent, and Queen Victoria; an arboretum of trees and shrubs; grand water-works, one of which throws a jet to the height of 260 feet; and about 2, 000 head of deer. See Edensor.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "an extra-parochial tract, containing a grand seat of the Duke of Devonshire"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Bakewell RegD/PLU       Derbyshire AncC
Place: Chatsworth

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