The magnificent house and gardens of Chatsworth Estate are set amongst the rolling North Derbyshire hills, on the banks of the River Derwent and surrounded by woods and heather moorland.  It is a truly grand and idyllic setting and has been voted the UK’s favourite country house on several occasions.

But it is the gardens that draw the crowds - gardens that are full of surprises, combining vast areas to ramble and picnic, along with a collection of special feature areas to delight just about all tastes. 

It is this multi-faceted nature that makes Chatsworth so attractive - that and the fact that everything has been executed with great skill, vision and the vast resources necessary to make it all happen.

In the late 17th century the 1st Duke created a baroque garden which featured many parterres, fountains and sculptures. The surviving structures include The Cascade and Cascade House, The Canal Pond, the Seahorse Fountain and Flora’s Temple.

In the mid 18th century Lancelot "Capability" Brown redesigned the garden, removing the parterres and ponds, replacing them with sweeping lawns, lakes and tree plantations. 

The new English landscape style (typified by Stourhead and Stowe) was sweeping Europe and Chatsworth was a perfect canvas for Brown to practice his art.

Later in the early 19th Century, many innovations were introduced including the rockeries, arboretum and pinetum along with the famous Emperor Fountain and Lake and the Case Conservatory designed by Joseph Paxton - essentially a very long (91m) and thin greenhouse built against a stone wall.

In the later part of the 20th century, as stately home and garden visits gained momentum so many other new features were added, including: the South Lawn Limes, the Serpentine Hedge, the Maze, the Display Greenhouse, the Cottage Garden and the Sensory Garden.

 Visitors in May/June should look out for the Laburnum Arch - not as large as that of Bodnant in Wales but still very impressive.

The gardens have also had a multitude of sculptures added - some classically Roman while many new 'organic' pieces have been woven into the landscape. 

There are many famous bronzes too, like "Couple On Seat" by Lynn Chadwick, the Angela Connor collection of portrait busts, the whimsical Barry Flanagan 'Nijinski Hare' and the water powered 'Revelation' kinetic sculpture by Angela Conner. 

Its an art gallery and garden in one - a perfect environment for large scale works of art.

But nothing in a garden is literally set in stone, it's a living thing, growing and changing with time and the seasons. 

Multiple glasshouses provide tropical and climate sensitive delights, while the kitchen garden is enormous, producing fresh foods for the entire estate and many of the visitors through the cafe offerings.  There are also numerous informal walks - the Ravine is particularly recommended.

You'll need a full day to explore the great scope of these grounds and thankfully there are plenty of grassy knolls to rest-a-while and an excellent cafe for light lunches, teas and refreshments.

I personally think they are too large to be called gardens but the Chatsworth Estate grounds are an absolute delight and well worth a visit . . over and over again.  Especially if you can snare a ride on the horse-drawn tours.

P.S. Capability Brown is hailed as a landscaping hero but we hope that one day the garden designers will restore some of the original parterres which were so fancifully swept away as casualties of garden fashion. 

(After all if Chateau Villandry can do it so well then perhaps Chatsworth can too.)