Lottery cash to help restore historic Chatsworth feature

Chatsworth House, which is part of the Devonshire Group, has been awarded more than £400,000 to help restore one of its most-loved features.

The Chatsworth House Trust has been given £422,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to help kick-start its ‘Celebrating the Cascade’ project.

The funding will help the charity’s research and development work to restore the Grade I listed Cascade in its gardens.

Built over 325 years ago, the structure is made up of a temple with spouts and fountains, and 24 steps that water flows over, which descend approximately 60 metres.

Chatsworth House Trust is a registered charity, responsible for looking after the house, collections, garden, woodlands and park.

It relies on income from visitors and supporters to undertake an ever-expanding programme of essential conservation, and to fund an extensive learning and inclusion programme.

The cost of the Cascade restoration project has been estimated at over £7 million and is urgently required due to rapid structural deterioration caused by significant leakage of water through the mortar and joints in the stonework, and around the surrounding earth.

This has resulted in the forced closure of a 19th-century tunnel that runs underneath, which was once used to supply coal to heat the Great Conservatory.

Lord Burlington, chairman of the Chatsworth House Trust, said: “The Cascade is one of the most popular features at Chatsworth, and ‘Celebrating the Cascade’ is a major project that will enable us to ensure many more people will get to experience and enjoy it in the years to come.

“This project is just one of many ways in which we are working to bring a more diverse group of visitors to Chatsworth, as well as creating truly transformational experiences that involve both the nature and the built heritage in our custodianship.”