The Formal Gardens And Fountains at Chatsworth, England

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The Gardens At Chatsworth - 1670's

Water Feature And Garden Design  - The formal garden at Chatsworth was created in the late 17th century by William Cavendish. It began as a grand Palladian Manor House, with extensive formal gardens, and ranks as one of the most splendid estates. With the additions and changes by successive heirs of the Devonshire family over the past 450 years the estate has grown into one of the most lavish and wonderful examples of formal garden design in England.

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The willow tree fountain, created in 1693 by Grillet, a pupil of Ande Le Norte, reflected the European taste for cleverly built "joke" fountains, used to soak unsuspecting by passers as they stopped to admire the beauty of the fountain.

Joseph Paxton Head Gardener To The Nobility

In 1826 Joseph Paxton's tenure as the 6th Duke's Head Gardener brought Chatsworth renewed fame. Paxton redesigned the landscape to include decorative garden ponds with fountains. He was also responsible for including over 20 glasshouses, including the Great Conservatory which in turn inspired his work on the 1851 Crystal Palace.

There has been a 'trick' tree in the garden for 300 years, with water shooting out of the leaves and branchesWillow Tree Fountain

Paxton arranged for a new Willow tree fountain, as the previous one, constructed from brass was long since past it's best. The new copper water fountain consisted of 8,000 pieces of copper and brass and had 800 jets of water hidden amongst it's branches and foliage. Paxton's garden fountain design was erected in a partially concealed glade, fashioned from Paxton's new naturalistic rock garden. It was to be an artificial element in the middle of the artfully arranged formal natural landscape. A new reservoir was dug on top of the hill to supply water to the fountain

The Cascade House. Water can be made to run over the roof and out of the mouths of carved dolphins and fishThe Cascade Fountain

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 pipe work were built to supply it. Later in the 19th century, some criticized the cascade, which is rather unique for an English garden, including Joshua Major, in his book on the theory and practice of landscape gardening. Paxton's contemporary fountains and public water features on show at Chatsworth estate are a tribute to his innovative work on the cascade and other fountains, as well as his designs for the garden. Thousands of visitors each year pay testimony to the grand designs of the outdoor garden fountains on show. 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 Gardens at Chatsworth remain an excellent example of English formal garden style.

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