Exclusive to Friends of Chatsworth
Event details
Friday 20 March 2026
As a thank you for your support, Chatsworth House Trust would like to invite Chatsworth Friends to preview the new 2026 exhibition House of Stories: Tales for the Chatsworth Library and experience an exclusive programme of entertainment.
Friends may bring one guest with them to the Preview Day (one guest per membership). All member and guest tickets must be pre-booked.
Visit the house
The house will open from 10.30am until 5.30pm, with last entry at 4.30pm
Ticket required: Included with your preview ticket.
What's on
Be the first to see our new exhibition House of Stories: Tales from the Chatsworth Library.
Books, letters, artworks, and furniture assembled for the exhibition will be on display throughout the house.
There will be musical entertainment in the house as you walk around. You can also join tours of the Theatre and Belvedere (below). Please look out for details on the day or ask a member of the team on arrival.
In the garden
The garden will be open from 10.30am until 6pm, with last entry at 5pm
Ticket required: Included with your preview day ticket.
Guided tours
Experience a range of 'drop in' guided tours around the garden:
- Garden walking tours from Flora's Temple | please see the noticeboard on arrival for times.
- Garden tractor and trailer rides | regular intervals between 11am - 4.30pm from the tractor-trailer stop by the Orangery gift shop
In the farmyard and adventure playground
The farmyard and adventure playground will be open from 10.30am-5pm, with last entry at 4pm
Ticket required: Included with preview day ticket.
Meet and feed the animals, take a tractor and trailer ride through the park and discover more about what we do in our animal talks (all activities are drop-in):
- Tractor trailer rides | see the blackboard on arrival for timings
- Animal handling sessions | see the blackboard on arrival for timings
- Hand feed the goats and sheep | ask for animal feed on arrival
Free talks - pre-booking required
Important information: All talks are complimentary but must be booked in advance. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
You will need to pre-book a preview day ticket plus a ticket for each talk you wish to attend.
Talks
Our talks will take place in The Old Potting Shed in the garden, located near the glasshouses. They last approximately 30 minutes, plus questions.
Ticket required: a preview day ticket and a ticket for each talk you'd like to attend
Please book considerately and only book if you are certain you can attend the talk; this will ensure the maximum number of Friends can benefit from the limited spaces available. All seats will be allocated on arrival - please be on time, if you are late you may not be admitted. We are unable to offer a sheltered area for queuing.
11.15am | ‘The Chatsworth Garden’ with Steve Porter, Head of Garden and Landscape
12.15pm | ‘The Chatsworth Cascade - history and restoration’ with Rob Harrison, Head of Operations
1.15pm |‘The Chatsworth Garden’ with Steve Porter, Head of Garden and Landscape
2.15pm | ‘The Chatsworth Cascade - history and restoration’ with Rob Harrison, Head of Operations
Shop and Dine
Friends can benefit from 10% off all shopping and dining with their membership card.
Dine
- Carriage House Café | 10am-5pm
- The Parlour | 10am-5pm
- Cavendish restaurant | 11.30am-5.30pm (last sitting 3pm)
- Flora's Temple Tea shop | 10.30am-6pm
- Park picnic shop | 9.30am-4.30pm
- Farmyard takeaway café (inside gift shop) | 11am - 4pm
- Chatsworth Farm Shop café | 9am-5pm
Shop
- Stables gift shop | 10am-5.30pm
- Orangery gift shop | 10.30am-6pm
- Farmyard shop | 11am - 4pm
- Chatsworth Farm Shop | 9am-5.30pm
Friends of Chatsworth
This event is exclusive to Friends of Chatsworth, a membership programme that supports the work of the registered charity, Chatsworth House Trust.
Please note that events and times may be subject to change at short notice.
