Chatsworth House can be found nestling in the heart of Derbyshire on the edge of the Peak district.  Chatsworth house is also associated with the recent the filming of “The Duchess” which was released in September 2008. Until 31st October 2008 you can visit Chatsworth House and see an exhibition dedicated to the film.

view from look out post high above the gardens

Chatsworth House has a multitude of things to do, like visiting the farmyard, walking around the vast gardens, looking in the shops or visiting the grand house itself, it makes a great a great day out for all the family. By the way the Duke and Duchess of Devonish still lives in part of the house to this day.

tallest gravity fountain in the world

I have visited Chatsworth House on a number of times, and because of its size you do need to visit more than once to be able to see everything.  I particularly like the gardens; they cover a very large area and are a bit hilly in places.  For the adventurous there is a big maze which is quite hard to get to the middle of, but it can be done with many twists and turnarounds.  

view of part of gardens

There is a lot of water around, with lakes and waterfalls, an impressive one is where the water cascades down steps set into the slope, when its warm people love to take their shoes off and walk down these steps.  Each of the steps is different so that the water makes a different sound as it cascades down them.  There is also the lake behind the house where the tallest gravity fed fountains in the world shoots water high up into the air.  It took me a couple of visits before we fell upon the “squirting” tree, a tree made of metal and has been in the gardens for 300 years.

same fountain different direction looking at house

You can also tour inside the house at your own pace so that you can marvel at the artworks, decorations, tapestries and many other great things.  The house tells the history of the family of  the Devonish over 450 years so there is plenty to do, and you will have to set aside a couple of hours to give the house the justice it deserves.

“trick” tree – water shooting out of branches

For the children, there is also a farmyard and adventure playground in the grounds of Chatsworth House.  In the farmyard there is a wide range of animals and young for the children to stroke and see, and the playground is a woodland adventure.  There are sand pits and water play areas for the very young and slides, ropewalks and commando wires for the older children to play on.

Chatsworth House is a great place to visit; you will definitely want to go for the whole day as there is so much to do. 

steps waterfall looking up from the bottom

To learn more about Chatsworth House, please see: http://www.chatsworth.org/index.htm 

All photos courtesy and copyright of Gill Webster.

Gill Webster is the England Editor for Wandering Educators.