Chatsworth Derbyshire Family History Guide

Chatsworth is an extra-parochial place.

Alternative names: Edensor and Chatsworth

Parish church:

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Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

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 mansion, 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 facade 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.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Parish Records

England, Derbyshire, Church of England Parish Registers, 1537-1918

Administration

  • County: Derbyshire
  • Civil Registration District: Bakewell
  • Probate Court: Search the courts of the surrounding parishes
  • Diocese: Not Applicable
  • Rural Deanery: Not Applicable
  • Poor Law Union: Bakewell
  • Hundred: High Peake
  • Province: Canterbury