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26 April 2026

Kedleston Hall

Kedleston, Derby, Derbyshire, DE22 5JH

One of two National Trust visits on sunny a Sunday in April. The house is a Robert Adam's neo-classical masterpiece.

The north facade with Corinthian portico.

The Marble Hall is the heart of Kedleston, and arguably Robert Adam's finest interior. The inlaid Italian marble floor is ringed by twenty fluted alabaster columns with Corinthian capitals.

The cherry-coloured veined Nottinghamshire alabaster, mined locally from the Curzon family's own quarries at Ratcliffe-on-Soar.

The Saloon rises over 62 feet to a coffered dome modelled on the Pantheon in Rome

The drawing room with it's powder-blue wool-and-silk damask in an old-fashioned "pomegranate" pattern.

Sir Nathaniel and Lady Caroline Curzon were keen musicians, and the Music room functioned as something close to a everyday sitting room.

The Dining Room.

The State Bedchamber was designed in anticipation of a royal visit which never materialised.

National Trust volunteer Anne gave us a fascinating insight into Kedleston's famous housekeep Mary Garnett.

She was housekeeper at Kedleston for an extraordinary 43 years, from 1766 until her death in 1809 at the age of 85. Almost nothing is known of her life before she took up the post in her forties, which is part of what makes her such an intriguing figure.

From the moment Kedleston was completed, Sir Nathaniel opened it to "respectable" visitors, and Mrs Garnett was the one who guided them through. Warm and obliging, she was highly regarded, with a reputation as an especially welcoming and informative guide, and she conducted some genuinely famous people around the rooms — including Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, who visited together in 1777.

What makes her remarkable, though, is the portrait. Around 1800, Thomas Barber the elder of Nottingham painted her oil portrait, set in the Marble Hall — and this was extraordinarily unusual for a servant. The painting was almost certainly commissioned by Lord Scarsdale himself, which suggests genuine personal regard rather than mere convention.

She is buried near the Curzon family in All Saints' Church in the grounds - another mark of how unusually she was regarded. There are persistent local stories that there was something between her and Lord Scarsdale (or some other secret) that explains her prominence, the portrait, and the burial spot, but no documentary evidence has ever surfaced. — National Trust volunteer Anne gave us a fascinating insight into Kedleston's famous housekeep Mary Garnett. She was housekeeper at Kedleston for an extraordinary 43 years, from 1766 until her death in 1809 at the age of 85. Almost nothing is known of her life before she took up the post in her forties, which is part of what makes her such an intriguing figure. From the moment Kedleston was completed, Sir Nathaniel opened it to "respectable" visitors, and Mrs Garnett was the one who guided them through. Warm and obliging, she was highly regarded, with a reputation as an especially welcoming and informative guide, and she conducted some genuinely famous people around the rooms — including Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, who visited together in 1777. What makes her remarkable, though, is the portrait. Around 1800, Thomas Barber the elder of Nottingham painted her oil portrait, set in the Marble Hall — and this was extraordinarily unusual for a servant. The painting was almost certainly commissioned by Lord Scarsdale himself, which suggests genuine personal regard rather than mere convention. She is buried near the Curzon family in All Saints' Church in the grounds - another mark of how unusually she was regarded. There are persistent local stories that there was something between her and Lord Scarsdale (or some other secret) that explains her prominence, the portrait, and the burial spot, but no documentary evidence has ever surfaced.

The full north facade

The south facage. Robert Adam based this facade on the Arch of Constantine in Rome