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Project Description: Known for elaborate waterworks, Chatsworth has been the home of the Dukes of Devonshire since the late 17th century. Chatsworth features many fountains, a maze and serpentine hedge, fine landscapes, a wide variety of plants and an extensive park. The First Duke's Greenhouse was built in 1698 to contain oranges and myrtles. Now camellias and mimosa grow there. The Salisbury Lawns were designed by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown for the 4th Duke of Devonshire in the 1760s. Brown planted trees along the rim of the park to ensure an unchanging skyline. He arranged them in wedge-shaped formations so that after one section is felled, another is there to take its place. Clusters of trees throughout the park appear to occur naturally but are actually Brown's work. The Cascade is a waterfall dating from 1696 designed by Grillet, a Frenchman and pupil of Le Notre. In 1703, Thomas Archer designed the carved stone temple from which the cascade begins. The first Willow Tree Fountain was made in 1692, its trunk and branches made of copper and lead sprouted water which appear as the tree's leaves. Beneath the tree stands a lead statue of Pan. Rockeries were created by Joseph Paxton in the mid-19th century as labyrinth of rocky walks by which people approached the conservatory. Moving immense rocks to the site and stacking them to dramatic heights caused Paxton and his engineers to invent a new engineering system which they called Rowtor Rocks. One of the largest is the Wellington Rock, a 45 foot high waterfall that drops into its own pond. On the site of Paxton's Great Conservatory, a yew maze was planted in 1962. There are 1209 yews planted in the maze. The Grotto was built for Lady Georgiana Spencer in 1798. It originally had a thatched roof and contained some fossils. Her son, the 5th Duke of Devonshire, added a cavern lined with copper crystals that had been discovered in Ecton mine on the borders of Staffordshire. It sits above the Grotto Pond, an ancient fish pond that once marked the southern boundary of the garden. The Canal Pond and Emperor Fountain are dominant features of the garden. The Canal Pond, a 314 yard-long sheet of water, was dug in 1702. Joseph Paxton began researching the possibilities for creating more gravity-fed waterworks in honor of an upcoming visit from Czar Nicholas of Russia. For this purpose, he engineered a new reservoir, an 8 acre lake that required removal of 100,000 cubic yards of earth. The Czar never visited Chatsworth but the Emperor Fountain, capable of shooting water 296 feet into the air, was named for him. The Serpentine Hedge, made of beech, was planted in 1953. It was designed to create an impressive approach to the bust of the 6th Duke of Devonshire which is placed at the south end. Project History: First references to a garden at Chatsworth date from a letter written by in 1560 by Bess of Hardwick who mentions making a garden by the new house which she and her husband, Sir William Cavendish, were building. In 1690, George London and Henry Wise were commissioned by the First Duke of Devonshire to design the West Parterre and a commission for the South or Great Parterre followed in 1694. The Fourth Duke of Devonshire hired Lancelot 'Capability' Brown to redesign the garden and park in the spirit of the new 'landscape movement.' This new design involved major engineering projects: parts of the land was leveled and drained, a bridge was built, and the river was widened and the park was developed around it. Joseph Paxton was appointed chief gardener in 1826 by the Sixth Duke of Devonshire. When he arrived the gardens were criticized for their lack of organization and grand effect. But under Paxton, Chatsworth received acclaim from the critics of his day. Paxton's greatest contributions were the grand scale rockeries which were artfully arranged and planted with exotic trees and plants and the Great Conservatory, the prototype for the Crystal Palace in London, which was also filled with exotic plants. After much experimentation and with the assistance of Decimus Burton, Paxton created an environment ideal for growing exotic plants. It covered nearly three quarters of an acre with an iron and glass roof, the surface of which was 52,287 sq. ft. It was heated by 7 miles of 4-inch hot water pipes. Wars in the first half of the 20th century brought changes to Chatsworth. Labor and coal shortages caused by the first World War destroyed the Great Conservatory, which was demolished in 1920. From 1939 to 1945, girls from Penrhos College in Wales took up residence at Chatsworth. Much of the gardens were given over to food production during those years. Since 1950, much restoration and renovation has taken place. Additions to the gardens include: double rows of pleached limes (1952), the serpentine hedge of beech (1953), the maze in the Old Conservatory Garden (1962) and the Display Greenhouse (1970). Size: 105 acres of garden, 1000 acres of park |
