Inside Chatsworth House, the Derbyshire mansion that is England's answer to the Palace of Versailles

Inside Chatsworth House, England's answer to the Palace of Versailles (and it was Mr Darcy's mansion in the hit movie Pride and Prejudice) Deirdre Fernand says the house, which is the seat of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, 'glitters' in the sunAfter visiting Versailles, the first Duke employed the finest architects and craftsmen to build the mansion Deirdre admires the artwork in the picture-lined hallway of Chatsworth House and explore the estate grounds Update: 29 Sep 2022 4:53pm BST This is a polite reminder not to smooch the beautiful face in front of me. I'm in the Chatsworth gift shop and, alas, it's just a bust of actor Matthew Macfadyen, aka Mr Darcy: plaster, not flesh and blood.

The Darcy connection is one of the reasons some 600,000 people visit Chatsworth, the lavish Derbyshire seat of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, each year.

Macfadyen starred with Keira Knightley in Jane Austen's 2005 hit film Pride and Prejudice, and the mansion replaced the seat of Darcy's extended family, Pemberley .

Hollywood has always loved this particular corner of England; Tom Cruise is just the latest celebrity to declare his passion for the county.

Under the autumn sun, the Baroque facade of the 17th century house century sparkles. No wonder it is often compared to Versailles. After a visit to the...