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Chatsworth House grounds |
Today Lindsay and I traveled by bus from
Sheffield (where we are staying) to
Chatsworth House, which is a
leisurely hour-long ride through the gorgeous English countryside and an
adorable town called Bakewell. Bakewell looks like what you would
picture in your head as an "English town" for a movie. True to its name,
Bakewell had an old-timey shop selling artisan bread loaves that made
me want to stop and taste. Carbs are my weakness! But I stuck to the
plan and we continued on to Chatsworth House.
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The staircase featured in the P&P movie |
Chatsworth is a huge house with
even bigger gardens. I believe the term "house" is a little bit of an
understatement for a building like this. This house is rumored to be the
inspiration for Jane Austen's Pemberley, and it was used as Pemberley
in the
2005 Pride & Prejudice film starring Keira Knightley.
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Mural above the grand staircase |
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Wood-paneled wall carvings |
We started exploring the inside of the house, where
each room seemed to be more beautiful than the one before it. Almost
every ceiling was an exquisite mural with a Roman theme, usually gods or
angels surrounded by more gods and cherubs. The rooms were all
impressive, starting with the grand staircase in the main room and
continuing through to the elaborately carved wood-paneled room with
busts made into the walls. This room also contained a letter composed
by Elizabeth I, which was an unexpected surprise. The hallways are lined
with statues, paintings, and artifacts of all types including large
rocks, urns, and Egyptian carvings.
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Veiled Vestal Virgin |
In one of the long galleries, there are several
marble statues that are so life-like you almost believe that they will
move if you stare at them long enough. The most impressive statue was a
woman wearing a veil over her face that manages to look sheer because
you can see her features "through" it. The craftsmanship was so amazing
that I didn't believe at first that this wasn't just a statue with a
cloth draped over it. The statue is formally called the Veiled Vestal
Virgin and was carved by Raphaelle Monti in the mid 1800s. This statue,
the ceilings, the house's front staircase, and the gallery were all
briefly featured in the P&P movie.
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The formal dining room |
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Part of the library |
The library that the statue is housed in
would make any reader insanely jealous. It was converted from a long
gallery originally used to showcase paintings, then spills into the next
room and the next smaller room connecting it to the formal dining room.
And all of the splendor inside is magnified by the view on the outside.
The house overlooks rolling hills and fields with a river running
through for the many sheep roaming around to drink from. There are
several ponds and fountains on the property with the most impressive
ones being located near the house. There is one behind the house called
the Cascade, which is located on a hillside and made up of a series of
waterfalls to follow the hill's descent. The other impressive one is a
huge, geyser-style fountain on the side of the house with a large
reflecting pool. This is so lovely that I would have had the roads
redone so that this side of the house would become the front. It's what I
would want people to see when they drove up.
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The Cascade |
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