Derbyshire's Chatsworth House to reopen for first time since lockdown with new safety rules

While the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire have continued to live at the Derbyshire stately home, the planned public opening of the house, garden and farmyard in March was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Having put stringent safety measures in place including significantly reducing the number of tickets available each day, requiring all visitors to book tickets in advance and a one-way visitor route, along with a raft of new cleaning procedures, Chatsworth will reopen on Monday, July 27 and be open from 10.30am to 5.00pm daily.

Over the past month, Chatsworth has been undertaking a carefully considered phased reopening of the estate, including the garden, shops and restaurants.

The farmyard and adventure playground remains closed, with plans currently being developed to enable its safe reopening at a later date.

Visitors will once again be able to enjoy the splendour of the Painted Hall with its spectacular ceiling by Louis Laguerre; the Great Dining Room for entertaining the great and the good; the Chapel that has witnessed the christenings of the Devonshire dynasty over the centuries; the magnificent Sculpture Gallery, one of the grandest private sculpture galleries in Europe; the State Rooms and more.

Sally Ambrose, head of Visitor Experience at Chatsworth, said: “We’re delighted to open the doors again, the house really comes alive when visitors are there to enjoy all of its treasures.

“Our number one priority remains the health and wellbeing of our visitors and staff, so we’ve implemented a number of new safety measures, including limiting the number of visitors each day, with bookings only available in advance, to ensure our visitors and staff can practise safe social distancing.”

Chatsworth’s garden reopened in late June with a display of more than 50,000 new flowering perennials, shrubs and trees as well as a huge, new stone sculpture called Natural Course by the artist Laura Ellen Bacon.

Open for pre-booked visits from 9.30am to 5.30pm every day, the garden is currently undergoing its biggest transformation for nearly 200 years with previously underdeveloped areas being opened up and replanted under the supervision of Tom Stuart-Smith.

As an essential food outlet, the estate farm shop in nearby Pilsley has remained open to the public during the pandemic and has also been delivering food supplies to vulnerable households in the local area.

For more information visit: www.chatsworth.org.

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