In 1832, Princess Victoria, aged just 13, visited the 6th Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth. During her stay, the Princess attended her first formal adult dinner, which took place in the Great Dining Room. This was such an important occasion that the 6th Duke arranged for there to be a ‘cooked rehearsal’ the day before to ensure that everything went perfectly.
However, it was Chatsworth’s water features that most enchanted the young Princess, as is the case for many who visit the gardens today. She was so impressed that she wrote about the Cascade in her diary: “We then went to the cascade & saw some other fountains, very curious & pretty.”
Lady Blanche Cavendish, niece of the 6th Duke, was also staying at Chatsworth at the time. She wrote to her sister Georgiana to say just how much Princess Victoria had enjoyed her visit:
“Between the scenes and after it was over, there were illuminations. The fountains looked beautiful, seen in the brightest red light. There were also very pretty blue lights, which made the whole gardens seem in moonlight.
“….The most striking thing was the great Cascade. It was like an enchanted castle, the water seemed turned into fire. Rockets going up in every direction. The little Princess was enchanted. I think her a delightful child, so unaffected & childish & yet so much manners & very intelligent. She seems to enjoy herself beyond anything & was extremely excited last night about the charade.”
Following her childhood visit, Queen Victoria returned to Chatsworth in December 1843 with her husband, Prince Albert, the Duke of Wellington and many other distinguished guests. They only gave three weeks’ notice but Head Gardener, Joseph Paxton, and his team quickly arranged a magnificent spectacle.
The garden water features were illuminated by 1,380 oil lamps, and a further 14,000 lamps were lit along the ribs of the Great Conservatory (then the largest glass structure in the world), prompting a local newspaper to liken it to ‘a fairy palace’. The Duke of Wellington was heard to exclaim “This is really wonderful – astonishing” and Queen Victoria declared that “Mr Paxton is quite a genius”.
The Queen and Prince Albert drove with the 6th Duke through the conservatory in their carriage and admired the illuminations on the waterfalls, fountains, and even on the river. The Cascade was lit with coloured Bengal lights in white, blue and red, and 3,000 Russian lanterns blinked from the trees.
At 10 o’clock, Paxton gave the signal for a single rocket to be launched. Cannons shot from the Cascade and the hunting tower, coloured lights burst from the robber’s stone, and magnificent fireworks exploded over the park.
By the next morning, when the Duke of Wellington rose early to see how it was all accomplished, not a trace of the evening’s festivities could be found in the peaceful gardens as Paxton’s men had worked through the night setting the place to rights.
Victoria wrote to the King of the Belgians shortly after her visit:
“We arrived at Chatsworth on Friday and left it at nine this morning, quite charmed and delighted with everything there. Splendour and comfort are so admirably combined, and the Duke does everything so well. The first evening there was a ball, and the next the cascades and fountains were illuminated, which had a beautiful effect.”
Follow in Queen Victoria’s footsteps
The Chatsworth Garden has evolved over five centuries to reflect changing fashions, innovations and climates, and while the Great Conservatory is now a Maze, many of the garden features that Queen Victoria admired can still be experienced today.
The Cascade remains one of the garden’s best-loved landmarks. Unfortunately, due to centuries of wear, we are not able to run water down its 23 steps until it has been restored.
