The Emperor Fountain is a 19th-century fountain in the grounds of

Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family sin ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, England. The Canal Pond in which the fountain stands is long and wide. The fountain and pairs of surrounding sculptures has been designated by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

as a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

In 1843 Tsar

Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I , group=pron ( – ) was List of Russian rulers, Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He was the third son of Paul I of Russia, Paul I and younger brother of his predecessor, Alexander I ...

informed the Duke that he was likely to visit Chatsworth the following year. In anticipation of this visit,

William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire William George Spencer Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, (21 May 1790 K. D. Reynolds, ‘Cavendish, William George Spencer, sixth duke of Devonshire (1790–1858)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; ...

, decided to construct the world's highest fountain, and set

Joseph Paxton Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

to work to build it. An eight-acre (32,000 m²) lake, the Emperor Lake, was dug on the moors 350 feet (110 m) above the house to supply the natural water pressure. The work was finished in just six months, early in 1844, and the resulting water jet is on record as reaching a height of 296 feet (90 m). However, the Tsar died in 1855 and never saw the fountain. The fountain was seen by

Prince Wilhelm of Prussia A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

, who visited the park on Thursday 22 August 1844. The fountain is at the north end of the Canal Pond, which was dug in 1703. The metal jet is surrounded by irregularly placed boulders. To the north are two sandstone sculptures of reclining figures. Because of the limited supply of water, the fountain usually runs on partial power and only reaches half its full height, but occasionally it is switched to maximum flow. The water power found a practical use generating Chatsworth's electricity from 1893.''Coventry Evening Telegraph'' – Saturday 9 December 1893 Gilkes of Kendal installed three vortex turbines and a generator in an underground chamber, approximately 120 m (400 feet) down the hill from the Emperor Lake. From 1936 the house was then connected to the mains supply. In 1988 a new turbine was installed, which produces about a third of the electricity the house needs.

References

{{Commons category, Emperor Fountain (Chatsworth's garden) Grade II listed buildings in Derbyshire Fountains in the United Kingdom 1844 sculptures

History

See also

References