A RARE painting of one of Derbyshire's most historic buildings is expected to fetch up to £50,000 at auction.

The Chapel at Haddon Hall was painted by William Blacklock in about 1852 and exhibited at the Royal Academy.

It will be sold by London auctioneers Sotheby's next week, with experts predicting high levels of interest due to the rarity of the artist's work.

Simon Toll, who specialises in Victorian and Edwardian art at Sotheby's, said another of Blacklock's paintings sold for £51,650 last year and he expected the Haddon painting to fetch a similar amount.

He said: "Blacklock is quite a rare artist. He only exhibited about 30 paintings at the Royal Academy during his career.

"He did another painting at Haddon Hall in 1848 but you can't see the building in it, just the steps of the terrace.

"The hall was very popular with artists during the 1850s and would have featured in guides to local beauty spots which Blacklock probably used."

Described by art experts as an "intriguing figure", Blacklock was born in London in 1816.

Two years later, his family moved to Cumwhitton, in Cumbria, where he worked as an apprentice bookseller and publisher.

Blacklock attended Carlisle's Academy of Art, where he was described as a "rising artist" with a "feeling for nature and a correctness of taste".

In 1836, he moved to London, where he exhibited at the Royal Academy and British Institution and was best known for his paintings of the Lakeland fells.

But in 1854, he lost the sight in one eye and shortly afterwards suffered a mental breakdown. He died in the Crichton Royal Mental Institution in Dumfries in 1858.

The Chapel at Haddon Hall is the earliest picture by Blacklock to have been out up for sale at auction in recent history.

Built in the 12th century, Haddon Hall is the home of Lord and Lady Edward Manners, whose family have owned it since 1567.

It has featured in a number of films and television programmes over the years, including, most recently Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen and Dame Judi Dench.

The 2006 BBC production of Jane Eyre, starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson, was also filmed at the hall.

The painting will go under the hammer at Sotheby's auction house in London next Thursday. For more information, visit www.sothebys.com