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(of 179 found)Chatsworth House (& Heights of Abraham)
(First try with some new gallery software, let me know if it works OK...)
Back in September 2005 (Yes, I am a lazy-ass), I went on a bus tour to the Heights of Abraham and Chatsworth House, which are located in central England.
The first stop was the Heights of Abraham, which I can only recommend if you really have nothing else to do. It is basically a hill with a cable car going to the top, where you can go inside a "show cavern". Unfortunately, this cavern is really a worked out medieval lead mine. Since it is a dry cave, there aren't any nice stalagmites or anything. The only really interesting thing for me here was the graffiti left behind by some of the miners 500 years ago.
You do get a nice view of the surrounding countryside from the cable cars, and from the viewing tower on the top of the hill. (This is the first cable car system in Britain). There's a cafe, and stuff for kids, but that's about it.
There were some interesting carvings on the hill (fun with chainsaws)....
Luckily, they only had an hour scheduled for the Heights, so we could get on with the main attraction: Chatsworth House.
This is a historic house and garden estate, which is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. Their ancestors obviously had some cash, and accumulated an amazing collection of historic artifacts. The loot in this house would be at home in any of the big museums in Europe. The garden is the second best one that I have seen over here (Kew is still the best), with a variety of ecosystems, hedge mazes, etc.
One odd thing about the house, is that it would probably make a good home for Slytherins in the Harry Potter world ;) There are more than the usual amount of creepy artifacts and paintings in the house, and a lot of snake-themed decorations. Probably just my imagination tho.
(Some of the indoor photos are a bit blurry, since I had using the flash in museum-type places.)
This is the best-preserved Roman statue I have seen so far.
A very impressive painted ceiling dating from 1689.
Here are some of the previously mentioned creepy things: a lovely serpent-themed pram, Mercury choking a cherub, and spooky herons.
Nice hideaway bath.
Another bit of creepy, looking over the
bedroom...
Hand-painted silk wallpaper.
Firebolt replica, signed by J.K.Rowling.
Throne used by Queen Victoria, if I am remembering correctly.
This was a really astounding wood carving. The main bit and the bird are all one piece!
More purty stuff, the pictures don't do it justice.
What house is complete without ancient Egyptian artifacts and a canoe?
The chapel was very ornate, but again a bit creepy. However, it was trumped by the monkey leg table. (Which I think was actually made from stuffed monkeys :p )
DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT PAGES 2-3!
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