Chatsworth House

The Cavendish family have been here since the 1550s and the present house is largely a rebuild of the 1690s with a nineteenth-century north wing. The garden is the more remarkable half: the Cascade of 1696 runs down twenty-four stone steps of varying heights so each produces a different note, fed entirely by gravity from lakes on the moor above, and the Emperor Fountain of 1844, built by Joseph Paxton in six months for a visit by the Tsar that never happened, throws a single jet up to about ninety metres on the same gravity system with no pumps. Paxton's Great Conservatory, the prototype for the Crystal Palace, was demolished after the First World War; its walls remain as a maze. The village of Edensor was moved in the 1830s and rebuilt with each house in a different style.

What you actually see

• The Cascade - twenty-four stepped falls of differing pitch, from 1696.
• The Emperor Fountain - a ninety-metre gravity-fed jet built in 1844.
• The maze - laid out in the footprint of Paxton's demolished Great Conservatory.
• Edensor - an estate village rebuilt in the 1830s, each house different.

When to go

March to October for house and garden; the Christmas decoration of the house from November is a major draw and needs timed tickets. The Emperor Fountain runs only at set times and not in drought or frost.

Honest expectations

It is expensive, and house and garden tickets together are a substantial outlay for a family. The site is very large and the garden alone takes hours of walking on slopes. Summer weekends and Christmas openings are crowded, with timed entry and long car park queues.

Nearby

Bakewell is a short drive; Haddon Hall and the Peak District moors lie close.