Chatsworth House

Last Monday I visited Chatsworth House to take a look at all the sculptures there. I decided to do this after a few of the students had mentioned a particular tree-like sculpture so as it was quite a cold day I wrapped up warm and headed for the garden.

I have included a few photos of some the most interesting things from throughout my day but more photos can be seen on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hannahlouisebarker/ .

The most interesting link to the project was a christmas tree inside the house which was made to allow visitors to write and attach personal noted to the tree leaving mementos behind for others to read. Sadly they would not allow me to take a photo of this however it has definitely brought to life the leaving behind of a memory, memento or celebration. The act of attaching the note to the tree was a particularly ceremonious moment and was extremely thought provoking. Re-creating those feelings and emotions of leaving something to be remembered is something that I am excited about implementing in my design and I believe that I have already started to do so in some of my initial sketches.

I loved wandering the gardens with the trees and the sculptures and was very excited to see two woodpeckers which is surprising considering I am definitely not a walker. The inspiration nature creates is exciting though and it was great to get some images of some old trees as well as the sculptures.

Chatsworth House was beautiful particularly on the outside which they are halfway through restoring, inside the Christmas decorations were beautiful perhaps a little over the top for my personal tastes however I would definitely visit it again, especially if it snows.