From 13 to 15 June, visitors will be able to experience a whole range of activities each day from live theatre performances and dressing up opportunities to expert talks and workshops, all designed to immerse visitors in the Regency era.
Events throughout the three-day celebration include a Regency Afternoon Tea served in the Old Duke’s Glasshouse. Featuring a selection of delicious treats from warm fruits scones served with Chatsworth recipe jam and Bakewell Macarons, to Derbyshire ham and mustard mayonnaise sandwiches, all of which use locally sourced ingredients from the Chatsworth Estate and beyond.
For those looking to get creative, themed embroidery workshops are taking place each day from 10.30am – 12.30pm in The Old Potting Shed in the garden. Led by Derbyshire-based artist Abigail Rose Creative, they will offer participants the opportunity to learn specialist needlecraft skills from the period.
Each day, those visiting the house and garden will also be able to enjoy live music from pianist Lisa Timbs, who will be playing music from the Regency era, whilst local amateur dramatic group, The Chatsworth Players, will be staging pop-up performances of scenes from Austen novels at various times throughout the day.
The Natural Theatre Company will be performing a comedic promenade performance of Austen: Lost & Found in the garden on the Saturday and Sunday, inviting the audience to get involved and immerse themselves in the ‘lost’ Jane Austen novel.
On Saturday 14 June, Chatsworth will host its Summer Pride & Prejudice Ball, with ticketholders donning their best gowns and breeches for an evening of elegance, etiquette and romance. Visitors will enjoy drinks and canapés in the Painted Hall, featured in Joe Wright's film adaptation of the novel starring Kiera Knightley, followed by a three-course dinner and traditional dancing in the Carriage House at the Stables.
Celebrations will continue well into the summer, with a musical retelling of Jane Austen's first published story, Sense and Sensibility, performed live in the Rose Garden on Saturday 16 August by Ledwell Productions and featuring international singer-actors from the UK Premiere cast.
Emma Flack, Head of Visitor Experience at Chatsworth, said: "Jane Austen is a much-loved novelist across the country, and especially at Chatsworth given her ties to the house, so we’re hugely excited to be holding her 250th anniversary celebrations here this summer.
“The events are a wonderful addition to our 2025 calendar, and we can’t wait for visitors to immerse themselves in the Regency period, whether sampling afternoon tea, trying on dresses of the period or relaxing in the Rose Garden as they enjoy a musical adaptation of their favourite film.”
Chatsworth is widely believed to have inspired Jane Austen’s depiction of Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice. She visited the house in 1811 while staying nearby in Bakewell and revising the manuscript.
During her visit, Austen even referenced going to see a “great house” in a letter to her sister Cassandra dated 24 May 1811, with the description of Pemberley in the novel closely matching Chatsworth’s setting.
The links between Chatsworth and Pride and Prejudice were reinforced in 2005 with the film adaption featuring the house as Pemberley on screen, and Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth Bennet famously wandering through Chatsworth’s Sculpture Gallery.
To find out more about the events on offer and to book tickets, please visit: chatsworth.org/austen