On the second day of our visit to
Derbyshire, we booked afternoon tea at Chatsworth House. Chatsworth House
is a stately home on the bank of the River Derwent, and I had heard
of it because of its association with the novel and film Pride and Prejudice.
We arrived early as we were
staying just around the corner, and with afternoon tea not being booked until
2pm, we decided to look round the gardens first. The gardens span 105 acres, including the cascade, Victorian rock garden, and a maze.
The cascade is a set of steps over
which water flows from fountains above. Built in 1696, it is one of the earliest
features still remaining today. Another water feature is the Emperor Fountain
above, which can reach a height of 296 feet and was at one time used to generate
Chatsworth’s electricity.
It did take us a while to reach
the middle of the maze, but once you climb the hill afterwards, you can get a
better view of where you should have walked. The maze is planted with over 1200
yew trees.
Upon entering the house, one of
the first things I remember seeing is the impressive staircase pictured below. Chatsworth
has 126 rooms, with 100 of these being closed to the public. There are still 26 rooms
to look round, some containing works of art from over 4000 years ago.
Afternoon tea at Chatsworth is
served from half 11 until half past 4. We got to pick which teas we wanted (I
stuck with the English Breakfast), and they were served in cute teapots. The
food was lovely – we had the usual selection of sandwiches with their crusts
cut off, two little tartlets, two scones each and a delicious selection of
cakes. Two of the scones were plain, and so I ate these because I always
embarrass myself by having to pick out the raisins!
