Chatsworth

The first house at Chatsworth was built by 'Bees of Hardwick' (c.1527-1608) and her second husband Sir William Cavendish (1505-57). Building began in 1552 and continued for many years. The Hunting Tower, which stands on the escarpment to the east, is of the 1580's. Bess had four husbands but she only had children by Sir William. Their second son, William, became the heir and was created Earl of Devonshire in 1618.

Sir William Cavendish came from Cavendish in Suffolk. He prospered in the service of Henry VIII as one of the Kings commissioners for the dissolution of the monasteries. When he married the redoubtable Bess, who was a native of Devonshire, she persuaded him to sell the former monastery lands he owned elsewhere and moved her home county. In spite of the physical limitations of the site, which was prone to flooding and difficult of access across the moors to the east, they built a large house on the site of the square block of the present building. There is a painting of the house which hangs at the bottom of the West Stairs, so we know what it looked like outside, but there is nothing to tell us what the interior was like, although an inventory of 1601 survives, attached to Bess's will.

After Sir William died in 1557 Bess married Sir William St. Loe (d. 1565) and lastly, in 1567, George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury (c. 1528-90). Queen Elizabeth I appointed Shrewsbury custodian of Mary Queen of Scots, who was a prisoner at Chatsworth at various times between 1569 and 1584.

Her lodgings were on the east side of the house and the rooms there, though changed beyond recognition, are still called the Queen of Scots Apartments. Bess died in 1608. She also built Hardwick Hall, near Chesterfield, her surviving masterpiece. It belonged to the Cavendish family until 1957 when it was taken by the government in lieu of death duty and given to them by the National Trust.

On 31st March 1981, after three years of negotiations with the government, the running of Chatsworth was taken over by the Chatsworth House Trust Ltd. This is a charitable foundation set up by the present Duke to help ensure for the public benefit the preservation of the house, its essential contents, the garden and the park. The trust has been granted a 99-year lease and provided with a large permanent endowment from the family trust, produced from sales from the library and the art collection from the private side of the house. It is hoped that the annual income from this endowment, added to that from visitors to the house and garden each year, will cover the costs of maintaining Chatsworth House and its garden and park. To these visitors the Duke and his family and all the staff at Chatsworth are extremely grateful.