Pictures of Derby - Elvaston Castle

Home Site Search Pictures Wanted Copyright Contacts What's New

Memory Lane

Breadsall Station
Breadsall Viaduct
Bus Station
Carsington Reservoir
Cathedral Road
Cathedral Views
Cheapside
Cockpit Island
Cornmarket
Derwent Street
Duckworth Square
Duke Street
Eagle Centre
Eastgate House
Ford St / Agard St
Greyhound Stadium
Iron Gate
Leys Foundry
Market Place (Hotel)
Mansfield Road
Moor Farm (Oakwood)
Queen Street Area
Riverside Market
Siddals Road
Silk Mill Area
Sowter Road
Stores Road
St Mary's Chapel
St Mary's Church
St Mary's Goods Yard 1
St Mary's Goods Yard 2
St Peters Street
Toyota Burnaston
Victoria Street
Wardwick
Wyvern Centre

Around the City

5 Lamps Area
Abbey Street Area
Ashbourne Road Area
Becket Street
Bold Lane Area
Cheapside
Cornmarket
Derby Canal
Derwent St Area
Duke Street
Friar Gate page 1
Friar Gate page 2
Green Lane
Iron Gate
King Street Area
Mansfield Road Area
Market Place
North Parade Area
Queen Street
River Gardens
Sadler Gate Area
Silk Mill Area
St James Street
St Mary's Chapel
St Mary's Church Area
St Mary's Gate
St Peters Church Yard
St Peters Street
Vernon Street
Wardwick / Victoria St
West End
Westfield
Willow Row Area

Derby Suburbs

Allestree
Allestree Park
Alvaston
Alvaston Park
Breadsall page 1
Breadsall page 2
Chaddesden page 1
Chaddesden page 2
Chaddesden page 3
Chaddesden page 4
Chaddesden Wood
Chester Green page 1
Chester Green page 2
Chester Green page 3
Darley Abbey
Duffield page 1
Duffield page 2
Duffield page 3
Elvaston Castle
Fritchley
Kings Newton
Locko Park
Mackworth page 1
Mackworth page 2
Melbourne page 1
Melbourne page 2
Melbourne page 3
Mickleover page 1
Mickleover page 2
Mickleover page 3
Oakwood page 1
Oakwood page 2
Ockbrook page 1
Ockbrook page 2
Spondon
Swarkestone
West End
Wilmorton page 1
Wilmorton page 2

Peak District

B29 Crash Site
Bleaklow
Chelmorton
Cressbrook Dale
Curbar Edge
Deep Dale
Derwent Edge
Dovedale
Elton
Kinder Scout
Lathkill Dale
Mam Tor
Monyash
Monsal Dale
Taddington
Win Hill
Youlgrave

Elvaston Castle - Page 1 of 3
Click an image for a large framed picture, but please wait for all the pictures to load first

Elvaston Castle and the surrounding parkland was the seat of the Earls of Harrington until 1939.

The gothic-style castle was designed for the 3rd Earl of Harrington in the early 19th century by the architect James Wyatt, although Wyatt himself did not live to see his designs carried out.

The gardens were created for Charles the 4th Earl of Harrington by William Barron and a team of 90 gardeners between 1830 and the Earl’s death in 1851.

By 1850 Barron had planted examples of every species of European conifer then known at Elvaston, as well as an avenue of limes which led to the Golden Gates. These gates, which had previously adorned the royal palaces at Madrid and Versailles, had been acquired by the 3rd Earl of Harrington in 1819.

Under the 4th Earl the gardens at Elvaston remained a private place for the Earl himself and his wife.

Factoids

Every species of European conifer then known in 1850 was planted at Elvaston
A Moorish temple was built in the gardens
It was Britain's first public country park/estate
The location for the film Women in Love

Barron’s design created a series of theme gardens to the south of the castle, including an Italian garden based on designs from Tuscany, and the Alhambra garden which included a Moorish temple

The bower garden, which became known as the Garden of the Fair Star, had a monkey puzzle tree in a star shaped bed at its centre, as well as many statues and green and yellow yew trees clipped into different shapes.

It had to wait for the succession of Leicester Stanhope as the 5th Earl of Harrington before the gardens were opened to the public. When the gardens were opened thousands of people visited them despite the rather high admission fee of three shillings, often travelling to Elvaston on special excursion trains.

During and after the Second World War the castle at Elvaston was home to a teacher training college, evacuated for safety from Derby. Every room in the castle was needed to accommodate over 150 staff and students: the cellar was used as an air raid shelter, and the Hall of the Fair Star became a lecture room and common-room.

The acquisition of Elvaston castle and surrounding land by the County Council and Derby Corporation was completed in 1969, and the park was opened on Good Friday 1970 and was the first of it’s kind in Britain spanning over 200 acres of beautiful varied landscape

Barron also planted several avenues of trees and constructed a large lake on the site (where, incidentally, some of the scenes in Women in Love were filmed).

The Autumn of 2003 provided some spectacular autumn foliage, here's a selection

Elvaston Castle Country Park was the first park of its kind in Britain. Following the proposal in the Countryside Act of 1968 that ‘country parks’ should be created to provide improved opportunities ‘for the enjoyment of the countryside by the public’ in conveniently located areas, the suitability of Elvaston as a site for a country park, situated only a few miles south-east of Derby, was immediately recognised.

The acquisition of Elvaston castle and surrounding land by the County Council and Derby Corporation was completed in 1969, and the park was opened on Good Friday 1970. Prior to its opening, however, the grounds required extensive work to overcome the problems created by over 25 years of neglect. Many trees were pruned and restored, and shrubs were cleared to bring light and air to other specimens. Unfortunately some areas like the Bower Garden were beyond restoration.

Following the opening of the park, the lower stable yard was restored and became home to the Working Estate Museum, opened to the public in 1980. It was (until closed down by the County Council), a working museum where staff in period dress helped visitors to experience something of the lives of those who worked on the estate in the early 20th century. The top stable yard was also developed to provide improved visitor facilities, including a shop, information centre, and a schools' field studies centre.

The park spans 325 acres of varied landscape, including beautiful woodland, gardens and open parkland. It offers a wide variety of facilities, from a riding centre and showground to caravan and camp sites. A permanent nature trail has been made there and part of the park has been set aside as a Local Nature Reserve. Surveys have also been undertaken in the past to monitor the wildlife and compile information on the different species of birds, plants, insects and small mammals present in the park.

Elvaston Castle and the surrounding parkland was the seat of the Earls of Harrington until 1939. The gothic-style castle was designed for the 3rd Earl of Harrington in the early 19th century by the architect James Wyatt, although Wyatt himself did not live to see his designs carried out. The 3rd Earl also wanted to see a new landscaped garden to go with his rebuilt castle, and offered the commission to a famous landscape gardener of the time, Lancelot (Capability) Brown.

Brown, however, turned down the invitation because the area was so flat, and so it was left to the 4th Earl Charles to finish the work at Elvaston. Charles was quite a character. When he inherited his title in 1829 he had earned himself a reputation as a dandy and Regency buck. He was a trend setter, and attracted the friendship of the Prince Regent, who copied his clothes, tea drinking, and addiction to snuff, the Earl had 365 snuff boxes, one to use on each day of the year! He designed many of his own clothes, and many of his fashions were copied, however odd.

In 1831 Charles married Maria Foote. She was 17 years his junior, an actress and an unmarried mother (neither of which were socially acceptable at that time). Although their love affair had begun in the 1820s, marriage had been out of the question while Charles’s father was alive, and the affair was a favourite topic of society gossips. The Earl was devoted to Maria, however, and it has been suggested that the gardens he commissioned at Elvaston were his tribute to their love (The inside of the Moorish temple in the Alhambra garden was decorated with symbols of the chivalric love of a knight for his lady, and there was even a statue of the couple showing an adoring Charles at Maria’s feet!).

The gardens were created for Charles the 4th Earl of Harrington by William Barron and a team of 90 gardeners between 1830 and the Earl’s death in 1851. Barron’s design created a series of theme gardens to the south of the Castle, including an Italian garden based on designs from Tuscany, and the Alhambra garden which included a Moorish temple. The bower garden, which became known as the Garden of the Fair Star, had a monkey puzzle tree in a star shaped bed at its centre, as well as many statues and green and yellow yew trees clipped into different shapes.

Barron also planted several avenues of trees and constructed a large lake on the site (where, incidentally, some of the scenes in Women in Love were filmed). Charles was impatient to see his new garden take shape, and so to meet his demands Barron pioneered a method of moving mature trees from one place to another. Some of the yews which became part of the gardens at Elvaston were already hundreds of years old, and were transplanted over distances of many miles to reach Elvaston.

By 1850 Barron had planted examples of every species of European conifer then known at Elvaston, as well as an avenue of limes which led to the Golden Gates. These gates, which had previously adorned the royal palaces at Madrid and Versailles, had been acquired by the 3rd Earl of Harrington in 1819. Under the 4th Earl the gardens at Elvaston remained a private place for the Earl himself and his wife. It had to wait for the succession of Leicester Stanhope as the 5th Earl of Harrington before the gardens were opened to the public.

When the gardens were opened thousands of people visited them despite the rather high admission fee of three shillings, often travelling to Elvaston on special excursion trains. During and after the Second World War the castle at Elvaston was home to a teacher training college, evacuated for safety from Derby. Every room in the castle was needed to accommodate over 150 staff and students, the cellar was used as an air raid shelter, and the Hall of the Fair Star became a lecture room and common-room.

Set four miles south-east of the city of Derby is Elvaston Castle Country Park, a picturesque site featuring over 200 acres of woodlands, parkland and formal gardens.

At the heart of the estate lies Elvaston Castle - a Gothic Revival masterpiece designed by James Wyatt in the early 1800s, based on the original house dating back to 1633. Wyatt's design, built for the 3rd Earl of Harrington, became home to the Stanhope family until the estate was sold by the then Earl of Harrington to Derbyshire County Council in 1968. The Council have operated it as Elvaston Castle Country Park since then.

Surrounding the country house are the famous Grade II Listed gardens, pioneered over a 20 year period back in the 1830/40s by William Barron, one of the most influential gardeners of the century.

In addition to the formal gardens, there is acre after acre of woodland and parkland incorporating a lake, picnic areas, children's play areas and a caravan & camping site. A tea room, information centre and gift shop are located in the Castle building. A working estate museum and stable yards were also previously in existence on the estate until these were both closed by Derbyshire County Council last year.

Sadly, the ongoing lack of funding and attention from the Council over recent years has resulted in the Castle and grounds beginning to run heavily into disrepair. As a result, the castle itself is now in desperate need of restoration and, as such, is rarely open to the public nowadays.

However, despite the continuing erosion, the estate still continues to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, be it families having a day out, community groups coming together to use the grounds or couples in search of a romantic wedding venue - Elvaston is still hugely popular with the public and has a place in the hearts of many.

Springthorpe's Cottage

The true love story of the Elvaston estate as we know it today really begins in the early 1800s but the full history of the Elvaston estate can be traced back to the 11th century and earlier with ownership changing hands several times in the proceeding centuries. Records show Sir Thomas Hanselin as one of the original estate owners before it passed into the hands of the Musards of Staveley, followed by the Frenchvilles before being purchased by Sir Walter Blount in 1420.

The estate then passed through several other families before it was transmitted to Sir Thomas Stanhope of Shelford in the reign of Mary I, and his grandson Philip, the first Earl of Chesterfield, commissioned a new house which was built in 1633. A branch of the Stanhope family took up residence in the house and oversaw various developments of the property over the next century.

In 1742, the Elvaston Stanhopes took up the title of Earl of Harrington and proceeded to commission more rebuilding. But the house as we know it today really started to take shape when the third Earl of Harrington, Charles Stanhope, commissioned James Wyatt to remodel the old house. Wyatt didn't live to see his plans to fruition, the designs instead being executed by Robert Walker between 1815 and 1829.

Amongst the changes designed by Wyatt (pictured right) were the gothic façades which still grace the house today. A new great hall was added to the west and a new wing added to the north-west. Much of the existing interior was also Wyatt's design, including the spectacular screen of four-centred arches, niches, fan vaulting and pendants in the great hall.

The fourth Earl of Harrington, Viscount Petersham, was nearly 50 when he inherited the title and estate in 1829. He had a reputation as something of a Regency buck, renowned for his stylish dress, tall and handsome looks, charming personality and way with the ladies.

When he finally married in 1831, it was to Maria Foote - a Covent Garden actress seventeen years his junior. Prior to their marriage, their affair had been the talk of the town in both London and Derbyshire and their relationship had been heavily frowned upon by the previous Earl and many other members of the family.

Lord Petersham and his wife (pictured right) took up residence at Elvaston shortly after their marriage. The couple were inseparable and besotted with one another. The Earl would never allow Maria out of the grounds - nor would he allow visitors in - such was his love and obsession for his wife. To that end, the Earl set about creating an private and secluded oasis of great beauty for himself and the love of his life - a Gothic paradise designed as a symbol of his undying love for her. It is here that the Elvaston estate as we know it today began to take shape.

The final phase of building at the house began in 1836 when Lewis Cottingham was called in to rebuild the south front with the brief to give the facade, still the original from 1633, a more harmonious look to match the rest of the newer building work on the house.

The Earl also commissioned the work on the surrounding grounds. Respected landscaper Humphrey Repton had originally been called in by the third Earl to oversee the project, but Repton turned down the commission, daunted by the unerring flatness of the estate. So, in 1830, the fourth Earl turned to previously untried gardener William Barron.

Barron (pictured right) spent the next 20 years working on the surrounding gardens, woodlands and pleasure grounds, introducing many revolutionary designs and techniques to the grounds including spectacular topiary, intricate drainage methods and a pioneering technique for transporting fully-grown trees from one location to another - a method necessitated by the Earl's impatience to see his gardens in full splendor which forced Barron to bring in and plant full-grown trees for instant impressive effect rather than planting saplings. Barron's work at Elvaston established him as one of the most respected landscapes of his time and he and his successors enjoyed much prominence in the business for the next century. The gardens today, deservedly so, retain Grade II Listed status.

Following the completion of Barron's work, the estate remained shrouded in privacy as the Earl and his Countess craved their seclusion. However, following the death of the Earl in 1851, his successor, Leicester Stanhope - the Fifth Earl of Harrington - finally opened Elvaston to the public. The estate had amassed a huge reputation of the preceding years and thousands flocked to Elvaston to see the glory of the house and gardens finally revealed.

The estate remained under the ownership of the Harringtons for the remainder of the 19th century and for much of the 20th, being occupied by the Harrington's kinsmen the Lillingstons up to the onset of World War II. During the war, the house was taken over by young women and turned into a teacher training college after the original college in Derby was evacuated for safety. The college vacated the house in 1947 and it remained mostly empty for the next two decades.

With the house in a state of neglect and the grounds mostly unkempt and overgrown, the estate was finally put up for sale by the Harringtons in 1966. Derbyshire County Council and the then Derby County Borough Council were the joint purchasers. They set about a restoration project which brought much of the grounds back to beauty (although sadly, some were beyond restoration back to their full former glory) and the estate opened to the public as a Country Park, the first of its kind in England, on Good Friday, 1970.

New features were added to the estate over the following years, including the Working Estate Museum which opened in 1980. The top stable yard building were also redeveloped to provide visitor facilities such as a information centre, shop and educational centre.

But, by 1990, a combination of increased visitor numbers but dwindling finances were starting to take its toll on the estate. Much of the pathways began to show signs of erosion, as did the castle building itself. By the late Nineties, the castle had fell into such disrepair that much of it was closed to the general public, reopening only on occasions for rare open days.

By 2000, Derbyshire County Council had admitted that they could no longer afford the ongoing running costs of £500,000 per year, let alone the estimated £3million repair costs to the estate. The Council therefore opened up bidding for the lease of the estate to private bidders - a process which has since lurched from failure to failure for the past 4 years.

Now, in 2004, the castle is desperately in need of restoration. The council, in a bid to save money on the estate, have closed many of the facilities including the Estate Museum and stables and now seem intent on leasing the castle and grounds to a hotel group who will inevitably close much of the remaining grounds to the public.