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A Christmas Video Tour of Chatsworth House’s Decorated State Rooms
Home to the Cavendish family since 1549
Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, England, has been passed through sixteen generations of the Cavendish family since Sir William Cavendish bought the estate and began building a home for himself and his new wife, Bess of Hardwick.
Not just any home would do. It needed to mirror both his rank and to host the royal court during its annual progress through the country. As Treasurer to the King’s Chamber, he worked under Henry VIII at the end of his life, the short reign of his son, Edward VI, and Henry’s infamous elder daughter, “Bloody” Mary I.
The title Duke and Duchess of Devonshire was acquired by a descendent, and succeeding generations remodelled the house and grounds, improving the estate lands which paid for its opulence. It wasn’t to last.
As with many grand country houses, the pivoting of the country’s economy during the Industrial Revolution, followed by successive death duty taxes, and the social change brought about by two world wars, saw Chatsworth continually having to sell land and goods to stay afloat. These…