West Front from the South.
Chatsworth Park and grounds, from the Baslow Lodge on the north to Edensor Mill Lodge on the south, and from the East Moor on the east to Holme Wood on the west, are somewhere about ten miles in circumference, and comprise an area, in round numbers, of about 1,200 acres; and it would be difficult to find anywhere, in the same space, so great a variety of scenery ranging from the purely sylvan to the wildly romantic, and from the luxuriant wood to the rugged and barren rock, where beauties of one kind or other crowd together so thickly, or where such a charming alternation from one phase to another exists. But it is impossible even briefly to attempt to speak of these beauties—our engravings will have shown some of their features; others must be left for the eye of the visitor to revel in while there. On one or two more points only can we touch.
The Hunting Tower.
The Hunting Tower, which forms so conspicuous an object in the landscape, crowning the wooded heights at the back of the house, and from which floats a huge flag whenever the Duke is at Chatsworth, was built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth as a prospect-tower, from which the ladies of the family, and guests, might watch the progress of the chase. It is a massive erection, of square form, with a circular turret at each angle, and is about ninety feet in height; it commands a magnificent prospect on every side. Near it, by the lake, or reservoir, is the Swiss Cottage—a perfect cottage ornée.
Mary Queen of Scots’ Bower.
Queen Mary’s Bower is one of the best-known objects in the park, being situated near the drive leading from the bridge to the house, and at a short distance only from the banks of the river Derwent. This interesting relic of the unfortunate queen is a raised enclosure surrounded by a deep moat, and approached by a flight of steps which bridge over the water on its south side. Externally the “bower,” overhung with trees and covered here and there with ivy which reaches up to its open balustrade, is highly picturesque; internally it is a pleasant enclosed grassy retreat, rendered shady by the trees which grow in and around it.
The Kitchen Gardens lie to the left of the drive from the house to Baslow, and near to the banks of the Derwent. They are of great extent, and of the most perfectly scientific character in the arrangements—indeed, it would be impossible to find finer or better constructed gardens attached to any mansion. At the entrance to the gardens, shortly after passing through the lodge, is the house formerly inhabited by the late Sir Joseph Paxton, M.P., who was head gardener to the late Duke of Devonshire. This house, originally a fit dwelling-place for the head gardener of such a grand establishment as Chatsworth, but which had “grown with the greatness” of Sir Joseph until it became in itself an elegant mansion, is now very properly altered and divided into two residences. Sir Joseph Paxton, whose career was marked with great success, was born at Milton Bryant, in Bedfordshire, on the 3rd of August, 1803, his father, a small farmer, being a tenant of the Duke of Bedford.
