I love this place - everything seems so fresh, organic and responsibly sourced that you feel like you're walking out with a bagful of good karma! :)
I went with two couples who were each planning what to cook together that evening whilst I was just tagging along for a browse - and of course walked out with more stuff than either of them.
It covers the works - dairy, preserves, sauces, a fishmongers, a butcher's, cakes, bread, booze, teatowels and much more - and the veggies are all so fresh they're practically still growing. A great selection of organic and locally-sourced stuff, though confusingly also found bits from the likes of Yorkshire and Devon, and reading the small print the Chatsworth House branded cider is actually bottled for them in Somerset for example. So it's not all local but they at least seemed to be supporting small independent farms and unknown brands.
My highlights were the cheese counter as the smiley guy there let me try a yummy blue, and the Easter-themed chocolate section for all the cutesy treats (including mini marzipan hot cross buns and chocolate pizza!). I could have spent way longer browsing the crafty gift and homeware section too but everyone was already waiting for me outside, woops.
I ended up with a haul of bakewell puddings (the local delicacy), cous cous, orange marmalade with scotch whisky (any excuse I know) and the favoured local cider of my cider-expert friend. The one sore point, ever the case with these places, is that you pay up for the pleasure, and it's a good job I'm not a local otherwise I'd be blowing the weekly food budget on one day's worth of food here :-$
A nice treat from the everyday shop for sure - make sure you pop in as part of your visit to Chatsworth House. The farm shop is 1.5 miles down the road and has its own large car park. Bonus novelty of a proper wicker basket to carry all your goodies around in too :) read more