This fountain is powered by the pressure of the water dropping 122 metres, through a 40 centimetre iron pipe made from a man-made lake. The fountain can reach a height of 90 metres although it is usually to half that height to conserve water. In the summer when water is scarce the hours that the fountain is displayed are sometimes limited for the same reason.

The Emperor Fountain

Always Chasing Rainbows

13 Comments CherryPie on Aug 25th 2010

13 Responses to “Chatsworth – The Emperor Fountain”

  1. sally says:

    I have enjoyed reading about Chatsworth and looking at the photos too which are very good as always :-)

  2. Andrew Scott says:

    That’s very interesting about the fountain’s power. I’ve always regarded fountains as such a waste of electricity, but not this one, with gravity doing all the pumping.

  3. Andrew Scott says:

    Oh… I hope they don’t use electricity to pump the water all the way UP to that human-made lake though?

    • CherryPie says:

      No electricity for this one, the water flows down from a man made lake through the cascade and other water features down to the river. When water is short they have to restrict the times the water features display. There is a little bit more about it here.

  4. Helen says:

    We visited Chatsworth a couple of times while we stayed in nearby Winster a couple of years ago. It is a lovely property and the only one where we were allowed photography INSIDE the house.
    I really admire the current Duke’s father (I think it was him) who has rescued the family fortunes through sharing this magnificent property with us. It would be terrible to have to give it up because of the crippling Death Duties your country has. Luckily for us here in Australia we don’t have Death Duties robbing families of their inheritance. We may have started off as convicts but we’ve given highway robbery away !!
    Cheers
    Helen

    • CherryPie says:

      More and more properties are allowing indoor photography which is nice :-)

      It is outrageous about the Death Duties. There are ways around it to some extent but you have to plan in advance.

  5. Claudia says:

    I’m glad that the public is allowed to enjoy the place, even if it’s not free (I suppose). In the old days, they would have been there only to do the maintenance work. No recreation. This has been a great presentation, Cherie.

  6. MTG says:

    Design and craftsmanship of the highest order.

  7. JD says:

    Hydraulic power is a very old energy source. The Romans and the Moors used it extensively.
    And in one of your favourite buildings, Cragside, Lord Armstrong made use of it in all sorts of ways; a hydraulic lift, a rotisserie, laundry equipment, turntables in the greenhouses and not least to power the electric light in the house.
    Modern ways are not always an improvement on the old ways.
    :)

    • CherryPie says:

      Yes there are some great innovations in Cragside.

      I agree some of the old ways are much better than the more modern ways. The modern ways are more expensive too, I suppose that is the point for the people who are providing the services.