Chatsworth, Bakewell, Derbyshire, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

Formal gardens and pleasure grounds with elements of a layout of about 1688-1703 by George London and Henry Wise, and M. Grillet for the first Duke of Devonshire, which were remodelled during the early and later 18th century and subsequently by the 6th Duke with Jeffry Wyatville and Joseph Paxton during the first half of the 19th century. Landscape park by Lancelot Brown of about 1755-1765 with 17th-century origins.

NOTE

This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate description nor a satisfactory account of the development of the landscape. The user is advised to consult the references given below for more detailed accounts. Many Listed Buildings exist within the site, not all of which have been here referred to. Descriptions of these are to be found in the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest produced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

 SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Chatsworth lies within the Peak National Park about 16 kilometres west of Chesterfield. The site, of about 405 hectares, lies within the valley of the River Derwent which runs north/south through the park. On the east side of the site the land slopes steeply up to an escarpment while the land rises more gently on the west side of the river. Fences and walls divide the park from agricultural land and from open moorland.

REFERENCES

Knyff and Kip, Britannia Illustrata 1, (1714)

W Adam, Gem of the Peak (1838), pp 75-109

V Markham, Paxton and the Bachelor Duke (1935)

Architect Hist 4, (1961), pp 77-92

G F Chadwick, The Works of Sir Joseph Paxton (1961), pp 22-43

P Coates, Great Gardens of the Western World (1963), pp 126-135

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), p 499

N Pevsner and E Williamson, The Buildings of England: Derbyshire (2nd edn 1978), pp 126-139

J Harris, The Artist and the Country House (1979), pp 75, 268

A Hellyer, Gardens of Genius (1980), pp 181-185

Duchess of Devonshire, The Estate: A View from Chatsworth (1982)

G and S Jellicoe et al, The Oxford Companion to Gardens (1986), pp 108-109

Garden History 23, no 1 (1995), pp 29-55

Chatsworth Garden, guidebook, (Duchess of Devonshire 1996)

Chatsworth Historic Landscape Survey, (Historic Landscape Management (HLM), 3 vols 1998)

Maps

[all reproduced in HLM 1998]

W Senior, Estate Map, 1617

S Brailsford, Plan of Chatsworth, 1751

G Barker, Survey of Chatsworth, 1773

E Campbell, Plan of Chatsworth, 1858

E Campbell, Plan of Chatsworth, 1858, corrected and updated by W Roberts, 1887

Archival items

For a full list of sources, including NMR photographic collection, see HLM (1998)

Description written: October 1998

Amended: March 1999

Edited: November 1999