Chatsworth House: A Great British Year

It's March 2020, the house emerges from deep winter hibernation anticipating a bumper year of visitors and events; but just a few days before the grand opening, corona virus starts to infect the process.

Chatsworth is in deep lockdown and learning to live life under the new normal; the community rallies, the estate farm shop becomes a much-needed delivery service.

It's high summer and life across the house and estate gets back to (the new) normal; the super dry spring means there is now a water shortage, but head gardener Steve must unleash a Victorian irrigation system to recharge lakes and fountains.

At Chatsworth all that glitters really is gold: each window frame on the West and South fronts is covered in 1500 sheets of gold leaf; the windows were recently restored as part of a $44 million renovation project.

October brings the deer rut, when Chatsworth's stags lock horns, literally, to win the attention of their hinds; but in 2020 this annual event takes a sinister turn, with two sheep found dead close to the territory of a dominant male deer.

Winter looks ahead as legacy, wildlife and renewal shape Chatsworth's future.