This cascade was built for the 1st Duke of Devonshire by a French engineer, Grillet, and completed in 1703. Each step is different to the one below and above it, to vary the sound of the falling water. The temple was designed by Thomas Archer. Water can be made to flow over the roof and out of 13 spouts, including the mouths of the stone dolphins, and there are even hidden jets in the floor. The temple and the Cascade were restored between 1994-96.

All the waterworks in the garden are gravity-fed, with water piped from man-made lakes 400 feet higher than the house, above the slope behind the garden. Water from the bottom of the Cascade is used twice more in it’s decent to the river – in the seahorse fountain on the south lawn and a fountain in the private west garden. No water is pumped back up the hill, so in a dry spell we restrict the hours the waterworks play.

The second photo is from a previous visit in 2003. This time I couldn’t get a clear view to take a photograph looking up from the bottom of the Cascade due to the large number of people paddling and a temporary sculpture that was installed near to the bottom of the Cascade.  More on the sculpture later…