The Peak District and Chatsworth House

Currently I am sitting on a bus leaving Sheffield and heading towards Newcastle Upon Tyne.  First of all, I love how English towns have funny names like that, “Upon Tyne”, so cute!  I have just spent two days in Sheffield, which is about three hours north of London, smack dab in the middle of the country.  It is located right on the edge of the Peak District, which is known for having amazing landscapes, lots of wildlife, and for being basically the most picturesque countryside in England.  I can without a doubt tell you that it lives up to the hype.

            My main reason for traveling to Sheffield was to see Chatsworth House, supposedly one of the oldest and most beautiful houses in all of England.  Also, I’m sure many of you know the house as it was used as Pemberley in the newest Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley.  To be honest, that was a large part of my reason for going there, (I actually found out about the house on my special features on my DVD).  I know, I know I’m a Jane Austen freak, but at least I have many people who relate!  Also, in the gift shop there was a Jane Austen section, but that’s beside the point.  The movie does not do Chatsworth house justice.  It is absolutely beautiful. The gardens are extremely extensive, and the grounds even more so. 

            But, now for a little bit of history about Chatsworth!  It was built in the early 1500s and came into the hands of Bess of Hardwick in the late 1540s, (I think).  Bess of Hardwick married Lord Cavendish, and they decided to raise a family there.  Four generations later the family was awarded a Dukedom, (they already had the Earldom), and thus Chatsworth became the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.  A second wing was added by the Sixth Duke in the early 1820s to house his growing sculpture collection, and in addition the grounds were put under the new charge of Joseph Paxton.  He completely revamped the gardens and made them universally acknowledged as the best gardens in England.  This opinion still stands today.  Sadly the HUGE greenhouse that he built was destroyed in the 1960s because it was too expensive to keep up.  However, now there is a small hedge maze in its place.  Which I definitely got lost in.  Whoever said the key to a maze was to always go left lied.
           My day at Chatsworth has been one of the best I have had so far traveling.  In addition to getting lost in the maze, I went on a five mile loop around the grounds, then did another two mile loop around a different part, explored the gardens for about three hours and then toured the house.  I honestly wish I could have stayed longer.  The best part of it all was that I rarely saw other people.  Sure, there were tons of people there, but the park is so big that you all feel like it is just you and the gardens.  It was amazing.  I kind of decided to go off the path for a while, which has now resulted in very muddy pants and shoes which I’ll have to wash soon…  I also climbed the stonewall bordering the estate, (there was even a secret garden-looking door in the wall) and took a nap on a bench overlooking the hills.  It reminded me of Saratoga in the fall, and the little piece of land that we have next to our house, which is still blissfully undeveloped.  You can just sit, look out at the water, be surrounded by trees and see no other houses.  So serene, and that’s what Chatsworth is all about, a little slice of heaven to go escape to.

            Chatsworth House was another thing entirely.  I mean, I’ve seen palaces, and you expect them to be ornate and all crazy with gold and statues, and this house was no different.  Well, to be fair there wasn’t much gold, but the house just had this vibe to it that made it seem like a fairytale.  You know like wood paneled walls, fireplaces lit, tons of paintings, ceilings painted with murals depicting Greek myths, a huge room devoted to just marble statues, and… my favorite part of all, Christmas music playing everywhere!  The house had already been decked out for the holiday season, and it had this amazing smell of pine in every room.  I could have spent an eternity in there.  The only downfall was that the statue that I had wanted to see was off the floor for cleaning.  Guess I’ll have to go back again!  Seriously though, I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to visit. 

            Now, however, I’m on my way to Newcastle AND it’s Guy Fawkes day!  Parrrrrrtay!  There should be a huge bonfire and a fireworks display.  So excited!!! Until next time!