Waterworks—The Willow Tree.
The Willow-tree, one of the most striking and clever of the water-works, is a weeping willow, about twenty feet in height, entirely formed of copper and lead, and coloured in imitation of a real tree. It stands in a charming little circular dell, overhung with forest-trees, and surrounded by banks and rockeries covered with luxuriant ferns and other plants, itself rising from a central rock-work, around which runs a path. At the entrance to this little dell are a vase and fountain, and at the opposite side is a leaden statue of Pan, holding in his hand the Pandean pipes, and having a goat at his feet. From each leaf and stem of this remarkable tree, the water, when turned on from a small hidden cave in the rock in front, rushes out in a rapid stream, and thus forms a novel kind of “shower-bath” to any luckless visitor who may happen to be beneath it.
Part of the Rock-work.
At the same time, a number of jets rise up from hidden pipes all around the dell, and these streams being directed angularly upwards towards the centre, while those from the tree fall in all directions downwards, there is no way of escape without being caught in the heavy shower. Of this tree we give an engraving from a photograph taken specially for the purpose, with others of our illustrations, by Mr. George Green, of Worthing, an eminent photographic artist, whom we specially engaged for these Chatsworth views, and whose skill deserves high commendation. Near the Willow-tree, passing onwards towards the grand conservatory, is a rocky archway of wondrous construction, and a little beyond this a “rocky portal”—an immense block of unhewn stone, turning upon an axis with such ease as to be moved with the pressure of a single finger.
Passing through this portal, one of the next most striking objects is a perpendicular rock, of great altitude, down whose face a stream of water is for ever falling, and this water supplies some charming little lakes filled with aquatic plants, in whose windings and intricacies the botanist and lover of nature might revel for hours.
The Great Conservatory.
The Great Conservatory, one of the wonders of Chatsworth, besides its own attraction as the finest conservatory in the kingdom, possesses an historical interest as being the first of its kind ever erected, and from which the idea of the Great Exhibition building of 1851, and all the later exhibition buildings, including the “Crystal Palace” at Sydenham, was taken. This splendid conservatory was erected some years ago by Sir Joseph, at that time Mr., Paxton, and is, in its interior, 277 feet in length, 123 feet in width, and no fewer than 67 feet in height in its centre. Its form is that of a trefoil; the transverse section showing a semicircle 70 feet in diameter, rising from two segments of circles springing from breast-walls. The whole building is of glass, constructed on the “ridge and furrow” principle, with iron ribs. About 70,000 square feet of glass are used in this gigantic building, and the iron sash ribs alone are calculated to extend, if laid together lengthways, no less than forty miles. At each end is a large doorway, and along the centre is a wide carriage-drive, so that several carriages can, on any special occasion, as on the Queen’s visit in 1843, be within the building at the same time. Besides the central drive, there are side-aisles running the entire length, and a cross-aisle in the centre of the building. A light and elegant gallery also runs round the entire interior, and is approached by a staircase hidden among the rockery. Of the collection of trees and plants preserved in this giant conservatory, it is not necessary to speak further than to say that from the smallest aquatic plants up to the most stately palm-trees, and from the banana down to the papyrus and the delicate ferns, every conceivable rarity and beauty is here, flourishing in native luxuriance and in endless profusion. Beneath the conservatory a railway runs around the entire building, for fuel and other purposes.
