Pages

Tuesday 4 April 2017

A-Z Challenge 2017 - Houses, some real, some not - 'C'

C - Chatsworth House

Many Jane Austen devotees  believe that Mr Darcy's Pemberley is based on Chatsworth House, the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

Looking west across to Chatsworth House with the Peak District as the backdrop.
Even a non-Austen fan visiting Chatsworth might recognize the description as it was observed by Jane’s heroine, Elizabeth Barrett:

“It was a large, handsome, stone building, standing well on rising ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills; and in front, a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its banks were neither formal, nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place of which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste.”

It’s not surprising that Elizabeth “… felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!”


The connection with Chatsworth was to be maintained when Pride and Prejudice was filmed, using the Chatsworth exterior and two important rooms for Mr. Darcy’s mansion. It will be interesting to see whether Derbyshire’s Chatsworth becomes as associated with Pride and Prejudice as Yorkshire’s Castle Howard is with Brideshead Revisited.

(The above text is taken from my article 'Houses in Fiction' issued in The Lady magazine in October 2008)

Photo attribution:
 © Copyright Paul Collins and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

10 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Bob - wonderful photo by Paul Collins I note! I'm sure Chatsworth is here to stay in the social media world we live in today ... the Devonshires are doing a pretty good job. Must be amazing to live in one of these houses ... Chatsworth, Castle Howard etc ... fantastic ...

Well done on getting your article into The Lady - have you had a few other articles included over the years? Or published them elsewhere?

Cheers and thanks for your visit - Hilary

http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/c-is-for-cattle-and-cow-cooper.html

Rajlakshmi said...

It looks exactly like how it's mentioned in the book. Beautiful capture.
From A to Z
Yogasana
Cherry Blossoms

Mail Adventures said...

I can consider myself an Austen fan... How I would like to receive a postcard from Chatsworth House!

-----
Eva - Mail Adventures
C is for Castle.

21 Wits said...

Wow. Can't take my eyes off of this beauty!

Kristin said...

Amazing houses you are sharing here. I wonder if when they were first built if they were full of family and servants and more family and visitors. And after awhile, a few ghosts.

Kristin said...

My favorite of the pictures above is the one of the Wild Cattle. I stopped listening to The Archers when that maniac was tormenting his wife. I hear he's out of the story now.

MySpicyKitchen said...

You have an interesting theme. Looking forward to seeing other houses, some real and some not.

-- A-Z Challenger

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous house. Looks worth a visit.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous house!

Donna B. McNicol said...

What a gorgeous house and setting...I can't even imagine living in a place like that.


DB McNicol, author & traveler
Theme: Oh, the places we will go!