Chatsworth

Chatsworth, the magnificent seat of the Duke of Devonshire, one of the most splendid private mansions in England, is situated in Derbyshire, on the Derwent, 25 miles N. by W. of Derby. The domain was purchased by Sir William Cavendish, who in 1553 began the old mansion, which, after his death in 1557, was completed by his widow, 'Bess of Hardwick,' afterwards Countess of Shrewsbury. Here Mary, Queen of Scots, was five times imprisoned during 1573-81. The present edifice includes the old Palladian pile built in 1687-1706 by the first Duke of Devonshire, and the north wing added in 1820. The façade is 720 feet long, or with the terraces, 1200 feet. The building is nearly a square, with an inner quadrangle. Chatsworth is famed for its library, and for its pictures and sculptures by Holbein, Titian, Teniers, Murillo, Reynolds, Landseer, Canova, Thorwaldsen, Chantrey, &c. The gardens and park, 10 miles in circuit, offer an exquisite variety of hill and dale. They were laid out by Loudon and Paxton, and are celebrated for their trees, shrubs, rockwork, deer, and water-works—only surpassed by those at Versailles. The conservatory, unrivalled in Europe, covers nearly an acre, measures 300 by 145 feet, is 65 feet high, and has 70,000 square feet of glass, with a carriage-road through it. Hobbes, the philosopher, lived much at Chatsworth. See CAVENDISH.