Chatsworth Derbyshire - The Cavendish Family Back to Garden UK
Chatsworth is that famous garden containing much grandeur. (There are several good booklets about the garden, its history and the owners. And this stands for the other gardens I have visited  on this page as well ). May I just point at some of the marvels which have interested me the most.
1 The House seen from the river Derwent
2 View over the landscape across the river to the Chatsworth Park The wide outlook, taking in the whole  landscape on the other side of the river, is attained by drastic methods: the old cottages of Edensor village, which could be seen from the house, where pulled down in the middle of the 18th century. “Oh, horrible”, cries some, “how could that be done just for the pleasure of the 4th Duke ? That's an outrage against the villagers”. On the contrary, I have read somewhere, that the houses were very old and damp, without any facilities at all. And the rebuilt cottages for the farmers were laid out to form a new model village.
3 The House seen from the top of the Salisbury Lawns The Salisbury lawns from around 1760 - laid out by 'Capability' Brown – have never been changed and the small wild flowers and grasses are competing on natural ground and most interesting to study in the close.
4 The Conservative Wall - Paxton's Wall This arcitectural idiom was for more than 100 years quite out of fashion. Then suddenly with the postmodern style introduced around 1970 it's now quite modern.
5 The Conservative Wall - The Central portion
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The Cascade and The Cascade House The waterworks at Chatsworth are  real wonders and must be studied carefully by some reading beforehand. Take care to investigate the time when they are playing. In dry periods they must only be turned on at certain hours. Behold - the flowing waters are the image of the source of life!
8 The Emperor Fountain The Emperor Fountain, from 1844, for almost a century the highest in the world.
9 The Willow Tree Fountain The Willow Tree, "planted" first in 1692, spurting water from the branches. This very old feature of the  Sacred Tree  - from the Persian  as well as the Druid - is now in congenial company with a statue of Pan.
10 The Wellington Rock The  Rock with the sweetsmelling Primula florindae and the giant Gunnera manicata, (named after the Norwegian bishop Gunnerus, a friend of Linnaeus).
11 The Paxton's Rockeries "The spirit of some Druid seems to animate Mr. Paxton in these bulky removals" said the 6th Duke 1842. Among the rocks thrives, as in so many places at Chatsworth - a lot of sweet flowers with a "natural" look  of being self sown. Here Aquilegia and Meconopsis  with Azalea.
12 The Maze The Maze from 1962. Another of those old, mythical features, still surviving  and enchanting. Be aware that the Maze isn't always open to the public.
13 The old conservatory garden  with the mopheaded acacias in the foreground
14 The lupins under the Robinia pseudoacacia 'Inermis'
15 The Serpentine Hedge The serpentine hedge of beech,a most ingenious feature, was only planted in 1953. Of course the serpentine is a form most archaic and fearful!
Back to Garden UK by Vera Gade, Sweden
Created : 17 February 2002 Last update : 14 September 2005	File: Vera_Garden_UK_Chatsw.htm VeraHomePage 3