Chatsworth Walk is one not to be missed. It provides magnificent views over Chatsworth Park, and if you have the time, you can visit Chatsworth House. It is one of Britain’s treasure houses and holds one of Europe’s most significant art collections. The gardens with historic and modern waterworks and sculptures are a joy to behold.
The first part of the walk takes you along the banks of the River Derwent, with fantastic views of Chatsworth House. After passing the house and following the gently ascending estate road, The Hunting Tower is reached, from which there are magnificent views of the park below.
As you walk through Stand Wood, you pass both the Emperor and Swiss lakes before descending a bracken-clad moor to Beeley Hilltop, one of the oldest houses in Derbyshire.
LOOK OUT FOR
Route Point 1 – The Old Mill now stands in ruins, saved from demolition by the late Duchess Deborah after being damaged by a falling beech tree in 1962. It has been made safe and forms an integral part of the landscape. Designed in a decorative style for the Duke by James Paine, the mill was built between 1761 and 1762 and replaced a former working mill near the house.
Point 2 – Queen Mary’s Bower is close to the bridge leading to the house. It took its name after Mary, Queen of Scots, who was held prisoner at Chatsworth five times between 1570 and 1581. She was allowed to exercise in a secure environment close to the River Derwent. Her coat of arms appears over the gateway.
The Old Mill
Queen Mary's Bower
Point 4 – With its magnificent trees, Stand Wood provides a superb backdrop to the park below. At the top of the hill, outstanding views over Chatsworth House are available. The Emperor Lake, one of a series of artificial lakes, feeds the fountain of the same name in the gardens below.
Point 5 – The Hunting Tower is Elizabethan in construction. It stands on an escarpment 400 feet above Chatsworth House, on the edge of Stand Wood. It has magnificent views over Chatsworth Estate. The cannon at the house’s base came from a ship that fought at the Battle of Trafalgar.
View of Edensor from Stand Wood
Hunting Tower
Point 7 – Joseph Paxton designed Swiss Cottage in the late 1830s on the northern side of the Swiss Lake as a gamekeeper’s cottage. The intention was to impress walkers and carriage riders who passed through the estate.
Point 10 – Beeley Hilltop Farm is one of the oldest houses in this part of Derbyshire and probably dates to 1250. The Old Hall in Beeley village was considered the original Manor House until 1559 when John Greaves of the ‘Greaves’ bought it. Manor House status was then transferred to the ‘Greaves’, later known as Beeley Hill Top. Both reverted to farmhouse classification in the 17th century.
Swiss Cottage
Beeley Hilltop Farm
WALK DETAILS
Length: 4.5 miles.
Start: Calton Lees Car Park is off the B6012 between Rowsley and Baslow. It is situated on the eastern side of Chatsworth House, close to Chatsworth Garden Centre.
Terrain: Easy walking along clear paths and estate roads, with a steady climb up to Hunting Tower from Chatsworth House. The descent to Beeley Hilltop House can be marshy in places, possibly requiring some avoiding action.
Refreshments: Several food outlets are located in the Stable Yard at Chatsworth House, and a popular café is also available at Chatsworth Garden Centre.
THE ROUTE
Beeley HilltopWalk back to the car park entrance, cross the road close to the cattle grid to the Chatsworth Park footpath sign. The Old Mill is to your right down the slope to the Derwent.
Follow the path to the left for about a mile to the bridge over the River Derwent, which you cross. Queen Mary’s Bower is on your left. Continue along the footpath towards Chatsworth House.
Follow the path up the hill past the Restaurant, heading for the Farmyard and Adventure Playground.
A few yards after going through a gate by a cattle grid, turn right along a surfaced estate road, signed for Stand Wood.
Turn left where the road divides, and go around a hairpin bend. On reaching the Hunting Tower, climb the steps and pass the tower on the right. Walk down a short track and turn right onto an estate road.
Continue along this road, keeping to the left where the road divides. After passing Emperor Lake, the road bends to the right.
Pass Swiss Lake with Swiss Cottage on the other side of the lake. The road soon bends to the left and then sharply to the right. Stay on the main track through the woods.
When you reach a crossroads, continue straight on, marked for Hob Hurst’s House and Beeley. After only a few yards, the road turns left, leading to a high stone stile.
Cross the stile and after walking along the track on the other side for 75 yards, follow the waymarked sign down the bracken-clad hillside, to a stile into a field.
Angle slightly to the right across the field towards some farm buildings, go over a stile on the left of a farm gateway and turn right down a lane past Beeley Hilltop.
At the bottom of the lane, turn right along the busy B6012 – take care to keep off the road – there is no pavement for a short distance. A few yards after crossing the bridge over the river, turn left and take the footpath signed for Rowsley. Climb the short distance up the wooded hillside to the car park where you started your walk.
