Chatsworth

The North Corridor

This passage was originally an open colonnade through which visitors entering by the West Front (the entrance until the 1760's) had to pass before arriving in the Painted Hall, and very cold it must have been. The 6th Duke enclosed it and in 1841 the coloured marble pavement was laid to divert the eye from the irregularities of the architecture. When it was first put down "So brightly was it polished it was difficult to make anybody walk on it," he wrote. The mahogany chairs and settees were designed by William Kent (1685-1748) for Chiswick Villa and Devonshire House, two London houses which belonged to the family. On the walls are small paintings by Lesser masters of the 17th century.