The Cavendish Chapel

The effigies of Sir Charles Cavendish and his wife Katherine

At the time of my visit to Bolsover Parish Church, I was getting to the end of a biography of Bess of Hardwick and I had just been invited to give a talk, in 2020, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the consecration of St. Peter’s church in Edensor – which was rebuilt by the 7th Duke of Devonshire on the Chatsworth Estate. 

The monument to Sir Charles Cavendish

With Bolsover being inextricably linked with her youngest son Sir Charles Cavendish - the youngest son of Bess of Hardwick - and his descendants, I was particularly interested in seeing the monuments in the Cavendish Chapel, as they would undoubtedly use decorative stones that were quarried from the family estates, which would be the subject of my talk. 

A detail of the effigy of Katherine

The chapel was commissioned in 1618 by William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, to house the large standing wall monument to his father Charles Cavendish (d.1617) and his mother Katherine (d.1627), who are represented as recumbent effigies, with kneeling children beneath. 

A detail of the kneeling children

The designer is not specifically mentioned in any published sources that I have seen but Huntington Smythson - the grandson of Robert Smythson who designed Bess of Hardwick’s tomb in Derby Cathedral - built the Cavendish Chapel and he may well have been responsible for the Sir Charles Cavendish monument too. 

A column of Ashford Black Marble

The principal material used is alabaster, with Tutbury in Staffordshire almost certainly being the source, with Ashford Black Marble used for columns and panels, which have been painted with gold lettering - including the epitaph by Ben Jonson. 

The epitaph by Ben Jonson

Another particularly interesting stone is ‘cockleshell marble’, an ironstone from the Coal Measures that is packed with Carbonicola bivalve fossils, which are formed of calcite. It is used for small panels and other details and it was the first time that I had knowingly seen this stone, although it does occurs in some of the ornate fireplaces at Bolsover Castle, which I have visited a few times. 

A panel of  'cockleshell marble'

The source of this unusual stone is not known but the working of ironstone from the Coal Measures in North-East Derbyshire was once an important industry, with the Dogtooth Rake above the Cockleshell Coal being particularly productive. It was mined in opencast workings or bell pits and, like so many minerals on their estates, the Cavendish family had ready access to it. 

A general view of the Henry Cavendish monument

The other great monument in the Cavendish Chapel was commissioned by Henrietta Cavendish Holles Harley in 1727, to commemorate her grandfather Henry Cavendish and his wife Frances, as well as her mother Margaret. 

A general view of the Henry Cavendish monument

Designed by James Gibbs in a Classical style and sculpted by Francis Bird, it makes extensive use of Italian brecciated and white marble and others but, although very impressive, it wasn’t particularly relevant to my research and I therefore didn’t look very closely at them.

The pediment of the Henry Cavendish monument