In the heart of Derbyshire, this Tudor mansion that provided the iconic back drop for Pride and Prejudice is getting ready for an influx of Christmas visitors.

The house will be transformed with traditional and nostalgic Christmas displays that celebrate festivities of yesteryear. Staff are busy decorating fifty-two Christmas trees with 900,000 fairy lights outside and on the inside, they will adorn 18 fir trees with over 6,000 tree ornaments. Much of the Christmas prep must take place at night so as not to interfere with the daily visitor experience.   There’ll be a Christmas Market with more than 100 stalls packed with festive goodies and arts and crafts- last year it attracted more than 200,000 visitors. 

Each year the house takes on a much-anticipated Christmas theme that is announced in September. This year it’s a Phileas Fogg round the world experience with the grand rooms of the house dressed in homage to countries generations of the family spent time. Chatsworth’s tour guides will take guests on a festive adventure around the globe from a Nordic winter wonderland, through blossom trees in Japan, to a baroque Portuguese church. The Chatsworth team has delved into the collection to find a treasure trove of memorabilia from around the world, including a Christmas card from America’s first family, the Kennedys, who have many connections to Chatsworth. Morocco, India, Holland, Italy, China, Japan, Portugal, and America all feature in what is being described as ‘one of the most ambitious Christmas seasons staged by Chatsworth'.