Mike Smith's exploration of the stories behind the county’s iconic buildings takes him to the stunning Chatsworth Stable Block.
When reviewing Giles Worsley’s The British Stable, in The Spectator, John Martin-Robinson discovered that the finest 18th century building in England is ‘not a royal palace, not a library, not a cathedral, but a stable block: that designed by James Paine at Chatsworth. It is a faultless piece of architecture. Perfect in siting, perfect in proportion, perfect in its golden stone execution. It is a masterpiece.’
This magnificent building was constructed between 1758 and 1763 for the fourth Duke of Devonshire, at a time when stable blocks were designed to emphasise the rank of the owners of the country houses that they served.
Even at Chatsworth, the stable block can more than hold its own architecturally alongside one of the great palaces of England.
When describing various additions that were made over the years to the Chatsworth Estate, ‘Debo’ Devonshire, the late Dowager Duchess, called it ‘the best improvement imaginable’.
The Stable Block stands at the head of a long avenue that climbs up a hillside to the north of the house.
It is entered through a central triumphal archway, topped by a pediment adorned with an intricately-carved coat of arms, which, in turn, is surmounted by a clock-tower with an open cupola.
The arch is flanked by four massive attached columns, decorated with thick bands of rough stone which look like outsize gaiters.
Immediately beyond the arch, there stands Elisabeth Frink’s monumental bronze sculpture of a war horse. Describing the horse and the artist responsible for it, the twelfth Duke of Devonshire said, ‘Eliz Frink insisted that her sculpture was to be touched and sat upon and so it is gratifying to see the shiny marks where many children have sat to be photographed, pretending to be riding this great beast.’
The war horse guards the entrance to a large courtyard at the centre of which there is a fountain fed by fresh water, provided by lakes on the hill above the stable block. The buildings on the perimeter of the courtyard are characterised by their outstanding rusticated stonework.
Rustication is a technique that originated in the palaces of Florence in the 15th century and was popularised in England in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It features walls with projecting blocks of large stones, which are joined by sunken joints rather than being flush with each other.
The overall effect is one of deliberate roughness and strength. The Chatsworth Stable Block is one of the best examples of rustication in England, or anywhere else, for that matter.
REFRESHED
Realising that the Stable Block had the potential to be one of the finest tourist assets on the estate of the great house, the trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement Trust commissioned Peak Architects to refresh the block and update its facilities, without losing any of its historic character.
Thanks to the clever employment of glazing, using frameless glass, in order to create new areas in and around the perimeter of the yard, together with the careful preservation of historic details, this objective has been achieved to wonderful effect.
The Stable Block has become one of the most visited retail and refreshment venues in the Peak District.
One side of the stable yard is given over to the Stables Gift Shop, where there is a beautifully-mounted display of desirable gifts, including fine jewellery, quality books and choice accessories, many of which bear the distinctive Chatsworth label.
The yard itself is decked out with lots of tables and chairs, where visitors can enjoy refreshments selected from a variety of offerings.
A mobile van parked in one corner of the yard serves speciality coffee and dairy ice cream, and the Stables Bar serves champagne, cocktails, wines and local ales.
The former carriage house, added by the sixth Duke to the stables in the 1830s, now houses the Carriage House Café, where visitors can enjoy cakes, hot drinks and food selected from the daily deli and salad counter, whilst they take in the ambience of a very tall interior hung with chandeliers and surrounded by arcades.
Of course, regardless of the quality of the food and drink on offer, it is the visual impact of those rusticated eighteenth-century columns and arches on the perimeter of the stable yard that leaves a lasting impression on all visitors to this unique building.
WHILST YOU ARE THERE
After being suitably refreshed at the Stable Block, you will want to sample one or more of the many visitor attractions on the Chatsworth Estate. Here is a small selection:
Chatsworth House
Known as the ‘Palace of the Peak’, Chatsworth House is one of the greatest country houses in England, whether judged on its wonderful position as the centrepiece of a park landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown or on the quality of one of Europe’s great art collections or on the elegance of the interiors, including the magnificent Painted Hall. There is even a farmyard and adventure playground to keep the children happy.
READ MORE: How to go behind the scenes at Chatsworth
Edensor
Of all the Chatsworth estate villages, Edensor is the most distinctive, because no two buildings are alike. According to legend, when the sixth Duke of Devonshire was asked to select his choice of house design for the village from a portfolio submitted by the architect John Robertson, he was too busy at the time to make a considered judgment, so he simply ordered one of each!
READ MORE: Exploring the idyllic Chatsworth village of Edensor
The Chatsworth Garden Centre
The centre, located in an idyllic setting near the hamlet of Calton Lees, sells a huge range of products for the home and garden. The Vines Restaurant, beautifully positioned on an elevated terrace, serves full English breakfast, lunchtime carvery, specials of the day, as well as home-made cakes, snacks and refreshments.
Chatsworth Farm Shop
This award-winning farm shop, the first of its kind in the country, stocks fresh, quality produce from the Chatsworth Estate, tenant farms, Derbyshire suppliers and small food producers. The outdoor tables at the café overlook great swathes of the estate, with the tall spire of Edensor Church catching the eye as it protrudes from the centre of this bucolic scene.
