Further Afield

Funeral of Andrew Buxton Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire
Monday 10th May 2004

Thousands turned out to pay their final respects to the much-loved Duke and perhaps also to offer support to the Duchess, who is a familiar sight around Chatsworth. As is usual there, everything was superbly organised with great consideration being given to members of the general public. Not only was there car parking organised on the grass beside the house, but coaches to ferry the less-able to the church. There a marquee had been set up for the distribution of the handsome Order of Service booklets.

Then the hearse arrived, accompanied by one funeral car bearing the Duchess and two female relatives. This drove slowly from Chatsworth, the whole route lined by uniformed members of staff, each wearing a black arm band. All the remaining members of the large funeral party walked from the house to the little church, designed by George Gilbert Scott, in the estate village of Edensor. 

The simple service was relayed outside so everyone could join the singing of 'I vow to thee, my country', 'Mine eyes have seen the glory' and 'The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended' hymns the Duke himself had selected.

After the service everyone was invited to walk past the grave.

On the back of the of the Order of Service it said 'All are welcome for refreshments after the service in the garden at Chatsworth' ‐ a very typical gesture from a most generous family.

I myself have spent many happy hours at Chatsworth as it is only an hour away from where I live. Incredibly the vast Parkland, covering some 100 acres is always freely available to everyone. I think considering the huge Death Duties the Duke inherited it would have been easy to decide to charge for visiting the Park, or even to have made most of it exclusive and private. Instead it is a special, magical place for thousands of visitors, in fact consistently Chatsworth is voted Britain's favourite place to visit.

Last autumn when I was there a fantastic roaring resonated round the Park. It took a while to realise that it was the rutting season, and then a couple of stags appeared across the river, eyeing each other up and generally strutting proudly about. A wonderful moment. Another time I watched gleaming trout leap out of the water to catch flies ‐ I'd never seen that before.

So I think the thousands who stood quietly in the pale Spring sunshine to bid farewell to the Duke of Devonshire were paying their respects to a much-loved individual, but also saying Thank You.

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