"To Pemberley, therefore, they were to go"

-Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a certain girl in possession of the name Austen must like all things “Jane Austen”. At least, that’s what everyone seems to think. I come from a family of bibliophiles, and my mother loved Jane Austen so much that she named me after her. Now I will confess something here, Jane Austen is not my favorite author. 

I know, I know, cue the shrieks and disbelief and looting. I like Jane Austen, sure: I admire her writing, she’s smart as a whip, hilarious, and keenly aware of how people tick, and I’ve always admired her as a woman for what she did in her time. She’s a key historical figure and a wonderful author, but if I’m being honest, a lot of the connection I’ve felt toward Jane Austen is not through her writing, per se, but through our shared name. 

Nevertheless, even I couldn’t help but jump up down and clap my hands like a little girl when I found out I was visiting Pemberley. Yes. The Pemberley. 

Much like Elizabeth Bennet, I did not find myself at “Pemberley” on purpose, in fact it wasn’t until the night before my trip that someone enlightened me. I simply thought that it would be fun to see the home of a Duke and Duchess (we don’t have nobility in the US, so this seemed so novel to me). I booked the trip, my first solo travel since my arrival, and was excited to go and see how the other half lived. I knew literally nothing about this place, Chatsworth House, only that it’s the seat of the Duke of Devonshire. When I mentioned the name to a group of my friends and someone said, “Oh that’s Pemberley! From the movie!”, I frantically started googling this, and sure enough, there were photos of 2005 Kiera Knightley on the official Chatsworth House website. Needless to say, I was fairly psyched. 

The next day (Saturday), I got on the bus and made a few new friends, and watched the rolling country side full of sheep (there are so many sheep here in England, seriously, they are everywhere) turn into hills full of trees. I saw signs for Derbyshire, the residence of the one and only Mr. Darcy. We pulled up to the massive gates and the place was teaming with people. Apparently touring the houses of great men is still a favorite pastime today for the English and foreign tourists alike. 

I walked through the massive house with my new friends, remarking the whole way through about its size, its grandeur, and its age (everything in England is so old and that never ceases to be a source of awe and amusement for me). Almost every ceiling had fantastical and masterful scenes painted on them, the staircases were all gilt, the wood paneling so intricately carved to make the reliefs of fruit and flowers and fowl looks so vivid and lifelike and delicate. Everywhere you turned there was lux and ancient satins, velvets, hand painted wallpaper, and oriental rugs. It was almost too much for my eyes to take in. 

Touring the house wasn’t just like touring a historic site, it was also a bit like touring an art museum, that’s just how laden the walls were with art work. Almost every wall I looked at had paintings by grand masters, or portraits that belonged in history books (and some I’m sure I’ve seen in history books, actually). Every room held a little bit of history, such as the room that house Mary, Queen of Scots more than once as a prisoner. This house was so old and so famous that I’m still trying to wrap my head around how it fits into all these historical events. Royalty has stayed there, and it houses one of, if not the, largest and most important collection of art still in private hands in Europe (and maybe the world? Don’t quote me on that…), and it was also home to another famous Kiera Knightley role, oddly enough, Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire and the subject of the movie “The Duchess” (who also happened to be a distant relative of Princess of Diana). If you’re interested in reading more on the history of the house, I direct you to Wikipedia. 

Yes, that Duke of Wellington stayed here

Even with all the history abound, you could see elements of the modern Duke and Duchess everywhere. The 12th Duke of Devonshire and his wife are great patrons of contemporary art, it seems, as there are installations everywhere, thrown into the fray with classical, rococo, and medieval pieces throughout the house and grounds. It was sort of strange to see these pieces that would make more sense in the Guggenheim than amongst a garden full of Renaissance marble studies. The Duke and Duchess also seemed to like collecting rocks and minerals (hey there actual geologists, Willow and Vickey)— there were massive geodes all over the place. They are also really into their dogs, this I gleaned from a few portraits of the noble pooches, and the abundant dog paraphernalia to be found in the gift shop. 

A "canvas chair", one of many contemporary art installations in the house

After wandering through almost the whole house, I finally came to the room. The room from the film. The sculpture gallery of Pemberley fame. Though it looked different from when Kiera Knightley strolled through 10 years ago, many of the pieces were the same, with the addition of a few contemporary installations. 

Kiera Knightley in the Pemberley Sculpture Gallery

My own photo of the Chatsworth House Sculpture Gallery

I made my way through and ended up in the gift shop, which was filled with books divulging the history of the house, real Chatsworth wool blankets and hats, local wines and honey, cute mugs and magnets with pictures of the house, and several shelves devoted to Jane Austen fan items. They certainly knew how to play to the crowd; I mean, they were playing the score from the movie in the gift shop. I got innumerable presents for my mom, since I knew she would probably pass out when she’d heard I’d gotten to visit Pemberley, and of course, I had to take some photos with the bust of Matthew Macfadyen’s Mr. Darcy. I mean, how could I pass up an opportunity like this? You could actually buy miniatures of the bust to take home with you (I would’ve gotten you one, mom, but they were pricey and heavy). 

Me and Mr. Darcy 

After a sweet lunch at the cafe in the garden, I made my way to take in the famous view of the house, the view from the movie, with the long lake. It was gorgeous. I can’t really describe my experience, it was just really pleasant and hard to believe, that’s the only way I can put it, really. I know people will say that it’s just like looking at a set, but this could have been the real Pemberley actually: Jane Austen visited this area once, and even visited Chatsworth House—a lot of people think that this was the real-life inspiration for Pemberley. 

Me and "Pemberley"

After I had my fill of gazing at the facade of Pemberley, I strolled through the extensive grounds with my new friends. There were lakes, waterfalls, art installations, hedge mazes (which took like an hour or more to navigate, oh my gosh), and traditional English style gardens. 

Very "Alice in Wonderland" hedge maze

As we wandered around, I looked at all the people and thought about how strange it must be, not only to live in such a massive and historically important house and have essentially a national park as your backyard, but to have so many strangers constantly milling around. I know that the public is kept cordoned off, only allowed to see a handful of rooms compared to the nearly 100/126 private rooms, but still, the front of the building has a parking lot, and there’s a gift shop and restaurants built into the house and stables, and people are constantly wandering around outside, which would make it awkward if you ever just wanted to sit outside and read or something. I can’t even imagine it, how strange that is, though I guess it sort of comes with the territory. 

Overall, I had a really lovely day! I made some new friends, I got to try a traditional Cornish pastie for lunch (it was sort of like a calzone but not pizza stuffings and made with pastry dough), I got to see an amazing, beautiful, and historic house that also happened to be the filming location for a very famous movie. Even though I didn’t make a wrong turn and rediscover my true love, or end up having waffles with a duchess (I still can’t believe that’s a real story…), I thoroughly enjoyed my time wandering the great house and grounds. Honestly, it was probably the best way for me to cure my bout of homesickness!

(Also, feel free to check out my Instagram account for more photos! Everyone should be able to see it!)