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CHATSWORTH HOUSE TRUST

Registered charity 511149 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

Opening the House and gardens and part at Chatsworth every day from mid March to Christmas.Holding various events and exhibitions.Offering educational programmes for school visits and self-led activities. Holding an annual Country Fair.Holding international horse trials and other sporting events. Allowing use of grounds and buildings for other charity activities.

Objects

TO PRESERVE FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT THE MANSION HOUSE KNOWN AS CHATSWORTH HOUSE IN DERBYSHIRE TOGETHER WITH ITS ANCILLARY BUILDINGS GARDENS ARBORETA WOODLANDS AND PARK ('CHATSWORTH') AND TO PROMOTE FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT THE STUDY AND APPRECIATION OF CHATSWORTH AS A PLACE OF HISTORIC AND ARCHITECTURAL INTEREST AND NATURAL BEAUTY. (FOR FURTHER DETAILS SEE MEMORANDUM AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION).

Area of benefit: NOT DEFINED

The charity’s charitable objects and area of benefit, quoted from its governing document as held on the Charity Commission register.

Causes: Arts/culture/heritage/science · Environment/conservation/heritage · Recreation · website · Get email alerts

Registered contact address: Derbyshire Dales, East Midlands, England (from the postcode on the register)

Received the assets of THE DEVONSHIRE EDUCATIONAL TRUST (charity 1107405) — merger registered 12/04/2023.
Source: Charity Commission register of merged charities (OGL v3.0).
Latest income
£19.4m
Latest spending
£17.4m
Registered
1981
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total net assets increased to £36,988,000, with free reserves rising to £12,202,000. The charity reported a net incoming resource of £1,959,000 from activities and confirmed it has sufficient funds to continue as a going concern for at least 12 months.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £180,001 - £190,000 — in the top quarter for charities its size (median £130k)
“In the band £180,001 - £190,000” — page 43
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Employees paid over £60,000: 6
“There were six staff members earning more than £60,000 per year”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Largest income source: Admissions (69% of income)
“The admissions income accounted for 69% (2023/24: 71%) of the charity’s total incoming resources in 2024/25.” — page 14
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Crocus.co.uk Limited
“During the year Crocus supplied plants at a market value of £7,772” — page 61
“The fees for the period are £49,091” — page 62
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Currey & Co LLP
“During the year Crocus supplied plants at a market value of £7,772” — page 61
“The fees for the period are £49,091” — page 62
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Pension scheme deficit: £7.6m
“Present value of unfunded obligations 7,587”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Chatsworth House Enterprises Limited
“Chatsworth House Trust has one subsidiary, Chatsworth House Enterprises Limited.” — page 4
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Shorts Chartered Accountants. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Policies the charity declares

In its annual return the charity told the Commission that it has the policies listed below. This is self-declared: it is not verified by the Commission or by this site, and it is not evidence of how a policy works in practice.

From the charity’s annual return (Part A, self-declared)

Answers and figures the charity gave in Part A of its annual return to the Charity Commission. They are self-declared: not verified by the Commission or by this site. Only positive answers and figures are listed; items not listed are simply not shown.

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/03/2025

  • Volunteers: 219
  • Employees paid over £60,000: 6 (£70,001–£80,000: 2; £80,001–£90,000: 1; £90,001–£100,000: 2; £150,001–£200,000: 1)
  • Has a trading subsidiary

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/03/2024

  • Volunteers: 183
  • Employees paid over £60,000: 6 (£70,001–£80,000: 3; £90,001–£100,000: 2; £150,001–£200,000: 1)
  • Has a trading subsidiary

Self-declared on the annual return for the financial year ending 31/03/2023

  • Volunteers: 174
  • Employees paid over £60,000: 4 (£60,001–£70,000: 1; £70,001–£80,000: 1; £80,001–£90,000: 2)
  • Has a trading subsidiary

Source: this charity’s annual returns on the Charity Commission register.

In the news

Recent coverage mentioning this charity by name (automated match; headlines belong to their publishers).

Corporate structure

CHATSWORTH HOUSE ENTERPRISES LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Amounts owed to group undertakings: £1,400,509

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

3 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (2 freehold); recorded price paid £277k. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Trustpilot: Chatsworth scores 2.5/5 from 431 reviews (source) — reviews usually concern the charity’s shops or services, not its charitable performance.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook (254,321 followers) · instagram (332K followers)

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Total income
£19.4m
Total spending
£17.4m
Cost of raising funds
£2.2m
Reserves (reported)
£36.1m
Employees
170

Reported reserves equal ~24.9 months of spending — in the top quarter for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (69% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 11.3% of total income — above the median for charities its size (3.7%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Derbyshire

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£19.4m£17.4m
31/03/2024£19.4m£17.7m
31/03/2023£17.4m£15.8m
31/03/2022£13.9m£11.5m
31/03/2021£7.4m£10.1m

Common questions

Is CHATSWORTH HOUSE TRUST financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total net assets increased to £36,988,000, with free reserves rising to £12,202,000. The charity reported a net incoming resource of £1,959,000 from activities and confirmed it has sufficient funds to continue as a going concern for at least 12 months. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Shorts Chartered Accountants.

What does the highest-paid employee of CHATSWORTH HOUSE TRUST earn?

Per its FY2025 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £180,001 - £190,000 band, and 6 employees earned over £60,000.

Who funds CHATSWORTH HOUSE TRUST?

Funders whose own accounts filings name CHATSWORTH HOUSE TRUST as a grant recipient include DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE'S CHARITABLE TRUST, THE ADRIAN SWIRE CHARITABLE TRUST, THE JOHN BOOTH CHARITABLE FOUNDATION, THE NATIONAL MANUSCRIPTS CONSERVATION TRUST, THE IDLEWILD TRUST.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE'S CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£84k
DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE'S CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£34kTwo individual donations totalling £34,210
THE ADRIAN SWIRE CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025Unverified read£25k
THE ADRIAN SWIRE CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2024£20k
DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE'S CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£10k
THE JOHN BOOTH CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONFY2022£10k
THE NATIONAL MANUSCRIPTS CONSERVATION TRUSTFY2021£8kfor Signed & Sealed: conserving early modern legal and family papers from the Devonshire Collection Archives.
THE IDLEWILD TRUSTFY2022£5k
THE IDLEWILD TRUSTFY2021£5k

Grants marked “Unverified read” were flagged by automated checks as possibly misread from the funder’s filed accounts. They are listed, but left out of the totals, counts and funder relationships this site computes.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Heritage Fund01/03/2023£5.0m"Celebrating the Cascade at Chatsworth"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund15/03/2016£80k"The Game Larder: a landscape heritage interpretation project"

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
THE GODINTON CHARITABLE TRUST1£310k
THE ARDEOLA CHARITABLE TRUST1£248k
Country Houses Foundation1£240k
THE GEORGE CADBURY TRUST (EDWARD CADBURY SECTION)1£10k
THE KNOLL CHARITABLE TRUST1£230

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with CHAWTON HOUSE LIBRARY.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
CHATSWORTH HOUSE TRUST£19.4m£180,001 - £190,0006above—no doubt
CHAWTON HOUSE LIBRARY FY2025£878k——unclear—no doubt
THE GODINTON HOUSE PRESERVATION TRUST FY2025£1.3m—0unclear—no doubt
STUART HOUSE TRUST FY2025£36k—0unclear—no doubt
HOUSE PROJECT CENTRE FY2026£160k——unclear—no doubt
HAREWOOD HOUSE TRUST LIMITED FY2025£6.0m——below—noted

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.