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This Jane Austen blog brings Jane Austen, her novels, and the Regency Period alive through food, dress, social customs, and other 19th C. historical details related to this topic.

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« Ways to Keep Warm in the Regency Era, Part 2
Sense and Sensibility 2008, A Visual Review of Part 2 »

The Cascade Fountain at Chatsworth House

February 5, 2009 by Vic

Elizabeth, as they drove along, watched for the first appearance of Pemberley Woods with some perturbation; and when at length they turned in at the lodge, her spirits were in a high flutter.

The park was very large, and contained great variety of ground. They entered it in one of its lowest points, and drove for some time through a beautiful wood, stretching over a wide extent.

Elizabeth’s mind was too full for conversation, but she saw and admired every remarkable spot and point of view. They gradually ascended for half a mile, and then found themselves at the top of a considerable eminence, where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by Pemberley House, situated on the opposite side of a valley, into which the road, with some abruptness, wound…. Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. – Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Chatsworth

Chatsworth

Waterfall from the top

Waterfall from the top

Chatsworth is said to be the model for Pemberley, Mr. Darcy’s home in Pride and Prejudice, and the great house served as Pemberley for the 2005 film adaptation. The home of the Dukes of Devonshire, Chatsworth dates from the Elizabethan era when Bess of Hardwick and William Cavendish, the treasurer of the Chamber to Henry VIII, acquired the land. The exterior was rebuilt in the early 1700’s by William, the 1st Duke of Devonshire (Bess’s son). He built it wing by wing until some of the Elizabethan structure was buried deep within its new walls.

The first duke also renovated the garden, making it a complement to the house and causing Daniel Defoe to call it “the most pleasant garden and the most beautiful palace in the world.”  In 1760 the 4th Duke widened the Derwent River. He also directed famed landscape architect Capability Brown to make neoclassical improvements to the land surrounding the house:

The cascade of the willow tree fountain is a dramatically splashing and rushing water feature, originally designed in the 1690s by Grillet, a pupil of Ande Le Norte. Several years later, this cascade was dug up and extended, and a temple pavilion designed by Thomas Archer was placed at the top of the cascade in 1703 to provide a dramatic vista from the east side of the house. Around 1830, Paxton supervised the rebuilding of more than half the water cascade to align it better with the house. A new water aqueduct filling the garden ponds, reservoirs, and pipework were built to supply it. Later in the 19th century, some criticized the cascade, which is rather unique for an English garden. Joshua Major, in his book on the theory and practice of landscape gardening, remarked on how the cascade combination of art and nature opposes the dictates of good taste. However, pushing the limits of water power and its effects interested Paxton, his innovative work on the cascade and other fountains, as well as his designs for the garden, still delights visitors today. The water cascades, a sheet of water flows over the series of elegant steps, down from the Baroque pavilion to disappear abruptly into a culvert at the bottom, and feed into yet another fountain, the Sea Horse Fountain on the South lawn close to the house. – The Fountains at Chatsworth

The cascade waterfall is old, beautiful, and unique

The cascade waterfall is old, beautiful, and unique

From that first period remain several formalist landscape designs including a spectacular cascade tumbling down stone steps in the hillside east of the house, which was designed by Grillet, a pupil of Le Notre. The little temple at the head of the steps is fitted out with pipes and spouts and becomes itself a fountain with water cascading down its dome.

The great parterres of this period were swept away by the vogue for the romantic or natural landscape as created by Lancelot (Capability) Brown for the fourth Duke. By the 1760’s, the gardens became lawns (Chatsworth boasts the oldest lawn in Britain under continuous care) and the hills were crested with oaks and elms seen today in their maturity. An unspoiled Capability Brown park is what Jane Austen was describing.- New York Times, 300 Years of Treasures At Chatsworth

The step waterfall attracts tourists and waders.

The step waterfall attracts tourists and waders.

  • The Gardens at Chatsworth
  • The Fountains at Chatsworth
  • Chatsworth House and Gardens Slide Show
  • Incredible photos of Derbyshire and Chatsworth
  • The Cascade
  • The Cascade Part 2

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Posted in jane austen, Jane Austen's World, Pride and Prejudice, Regency gardens, Regency Life, Regency style, Regency World | Tagged Capability Brown, Chatsworth House, Dukes of Devonshire, Pemberley, Regency fountains | 9 Comments

9 Responses

  1. on February 5, 2009 at 14:28 blarneygirl

    I so need to make another trip to the UK!! This is gorgeous! I’m in the middle of reading Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire and would love to see the places she lived.


    • on October 21, 2009 at 18:22 Phoenix Dawn

      Make your trip cover the first weekend in September when Chatsworth always hold the Fur and Feather event. You’ll get a real good feel for English tradition at Chatsworth then. It’s tremendously popular so very busy, though I would say everyone will be enriched by attending at least once in their lives. I have very fond memories of Chatsworth and my family competing in various events during the Fur and Feather through my childhood and adulthood. Yes, do come back and soak up the experience!


  2. on February 6, 2009 at 11:08 elly

    i love your site..
    succes for you


  3. on February 6, 2009 at 17:44 Janeen

    Wow that is beautiful! I love the pic showing everyone cooling off in the hot temps. Ahhhhh I want to be there! Great post!


  4. on February 6, 2009 at 23:29 Melissa Marsh

    When I was in England in October of last year, Chatsworth was on my list of “must see’s.” I spent an absolutely WONDERFUL day there. I didn’t want to leave. I wandered through the house, took numerous pictures, and felt so peaceful and calm. I wanted to buy everything in the gift shops, but couldn’t afford it (and wouldn’t be able to bring it back to the States with me anyway as that would cost a fortune!)

    It is truly a gorgeous estate and I can’t wait to return some day.


  5. on February 8, 2009 at 22:20 Ellen Moody

    The last few days have been marvelous here. I really liked this blog. I’m writing this in the wrong space for I also want to say is I am a Mary Delany fan despite her having been instrumental in making Fanny Burney a prisoner-slave (as Fanny came to see it) at court. I’ve not read enough of her letters to get a feel for what she was when she was young. Swift liked her.

    Ellen


  6. on September 25, 2009 at 20:24 Elizabeth Newell

    Ha, I remember paddling in this cascade as a child.


  7. on April 5, 2010 at 16:56 Craig Carter

    I spend most weekends walking round the Chatsworth Estate and never get bored, it is a wonderful place to visit.


  8. on August 9, 2010 at 18:24 BARBARA MACINTYRE

    I HAD TO CHECK THIS BEAUTIFUL ESTATE DUE TO THE MOVIE PRIDE AND PREJUDICE WITH KIERA KNIGHTLEY. I MUST HAVE ALREADY SEEN THIS MOVIE AT LEAST AT LEAST 50 TIMES. THAT IS HOW MUCH I LOVE IT! I HAVE BEEN CHECKING OUT SOME OF THE SITES AND OBJECTS THAT WERE IN THE MOVIE THAT I LOVE SEEING. LIKE THE MARBLE STATUE OF THE VEILED LADY THAT IS SIMPLY GORGEOUS!!! JUST SO MANY THINGS.

    I DO HOPE SOME DAY I AM LUCKY ENOUGH TO GO BACK TO ENGLAND AND SEE THIS LOVELY ESTATE AND A LOT MORE THAT I HAD MISSED ON MY LAST TRIP.

    I LOVE ALL BEAUTIFUL THE SITES FROM FRANCE, ENGLAND AND ITALY THE MOST, OUT OF ALL THE PLACES IN EUROPE.



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