Artist Laura Ellen Bacon is to create a new installation in the gardens of Chatsworth House.

Laura has been chosen to design and build a new, monumental sculptural installation as the centrepiece of the Arcadia area in Chatsworth’s world-famous 105-acre garden as it undergoes its biggest transformation for 200 years.

Designed to appear as if seeping from the ground, Natural Course will flow down a woodland slope in the previously undeveloped, 15-acre area called Arcadia, which is being created by celebrated garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith. Assembled by coordination of hand and eye to give the great mass of stone a sense of slow, gradual movement over the land, Natural Course aims to suggest an innate life force to the hard and seemingly motionless stone.

Natural Course will push the boundaries of dry stone walling technique. Very different from a typical boundary wall, the technical challenge comes from both the sheer volume of material used and particularly its 40 metres of contours and curves. At more than 10m in length and 2m in height with a base width varying from 50cm to 3m, visitors will be able to enter up to 5m into the sculpture, giving a feeling of being swallowed by stone.

Built from more than 100 tonnes of local stone taken from the Bretton Moor Quarry near Foolow, less than five miles away, Natural Course will be made from tens of thousands of individual, hand placed pieces using a traditional dry-stone walling method. Work is underway with a small team of local dry stone wallers and Laura Ellen Bacon aims to complete the build by April 2020.

Usually working in wood, often willow, Laura Ellen Bacon is known for creating large-scale organic forms but this is her first major commission in stone. Natural Course will join more than 20 sculptural works at Chatsworth by post war masters including Antony Gormley, Angela Conner, Elisabeth Frink, Allen Jones, Michael Craig-Martin and Barry Flanagan.

Laura Ellen Bacon: “This sculpture is a development of my study of form and particularly site-specific works. Inspirations for the work have come from the vast network of dry stone walls across Derbyshire as well as the volume and handling of the immense stones in the Rockery at Chatsworth itself, which is one of the earliest and largest rock gardens in the world.”

“The form, with a quiet nod to a consumption wall in its method, appears to slowly flow over the land and confront the visitor with its sense of mass and quiet movement – referencing the absorbing process of working with one’s hands and the epic work involved in creating the dry stone walls found across Derbyshire.”

The Peak District home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Chatsworth has begun work on the biggest transformation of its garden since Joseph Paxton’s work finished more than 200 years ago. Having completed the £32m Masterplan project to conserve the house a few years ago, the Duke and Duchess have since been planning to have a similar revitalising effect on the garden.

The Duke of Devonshire: “Laura created a temporary sculptural installation in the garden called Woven Space about seven years ago. Sculpture has always been integral to the garden so, as we were developing early plans for the garden’s transformation at that time, we began talking about ideas for something more permanent. We were keen on something that strongly referenced both Chatsworth itself and the Derbyshire landscape from which it was born.”

“We gave Laura freedom to explore the garden and develop her vision for the location, the materials used, and the sculptural form. I’ve visited her studio in Cromford on various occasions in the past and have been very excited to see how her plans and models have evolved into what will become Natural Course. Its use of local stone and the dry stone walling method will root it in its environment and surroundings but at the same time the ‘hand and eye’ construction and shape make it surprising and thought-provoking in keeping with Chatsworth’s best traditions.”

The Arcadia area is part of a huge garden transformation project that also includes a remodelled Rockery, the Maze borders, the Ravine, and Dan Pearson’s redevelopment of the Trout Stream and the Jack Pond. It includes the clearance of previously inaccessible areas, large-scale structure installations, new sculpture commissions, the movement and addition of hundreds of tonnes of rock, hundreds of thousands of new plants and hundreds of new trees, as well as new pathways taking visitors into underexplored areas of the garden.

The 105-acre garden is the product of nearly 500 years of careful cultivation. Although some points of interest have been replaced to make way for new fashions, the garden retains many early features, including the Canal Pond, Cascade and Duke’s Greenhouse. The famous waterworks include the 300-year-old Cascade, the Willow Tree Fountain and the impressive, gravity-fed Emperor Fountain, which reaches heights up to 90m.

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Images credit: Chatsworth House Trust

A new exhibition will present some of the fascinating figures that have shaped Chatsworth’s past and present over the centuries, by placing their portraits alongside key objects that both illuminate their story and influence perceptions about Chatsworth.

Life Stories traces the lives of friends, artists, politicians and others associated with Chatsworth. Running from 21 March to 4 October, the exhibition pairs portraits and objects, inviting visitors to look closer and meet the many faces of Chatsworth.

Artists Lucian Freud and Angela Conner, the playwright Tom Stoppard, the poet Sir John Betjeman, and ceramicist Natasha Daintry are paired in new and unexpected ways. Objects such as the abandoned paints used by Freud on an unfinished work found in the Sabine Bathroom are used to illustrate their relationship to Chatsworth.

Famous names and objects, Devonshire family members, and staff such as cellarman Edmund Marsden invite visitors to look again at works in the Collection. Founder Bess of Hardwick’s portrait is shown with a modern reproduction of her necklace of 1000 pearls, footage recreating the moment film star Adele Astaire met her future family introduces moments of humour and humanity, while new pieces of jewellery by contemporary artist Tarka Kings are inspired by Chatsworth’s collection of portrait miniatures.

Dr Alexandra Hodby, Curator of Exhibitions & Engagement, Chatsworth said: “We wanted to make the famous faces seen all around Chatsworth more human and easier to relate to – to reduce the distance that their name or the grand setting can sometimes create. In the end, they are human beings like the rest of us and by linking them to a very personal object we make it easier to understand them as people and the impact, great or small, they have had on Chatsworth over the years,”

Click here to find out more about the Life Stories Exhibition

Skin Deep by Natasha Daintry © Natasha Daintry © The Devonshire Collections, Chatsworth. Reproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees.

Organisers of the 2020 Redbrik Chesterfield Half Marathon have confirmed the route for this year’s race.

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The race begins in the Park, before runners head through the town centre to be cheered on by the crowds in the market square and looping around the town’s famous crooked spire and southwards onto the A617.

Runners will then get the unique opportunity of not only running along the dual carriageway, but on right-hand side of the road, before heading towards Hasland Road and coming back towards the town centre, passing the halfway point in Hasland.

The runners will then have another chance to lap up the atmosphere of the busy crowds as they head back towards the town centre, past headline sponsors Redbrik Estate Agents, the town hall and out onto Chatsworth Road. They then then head towards event charity partner Ashgate Hospicecare, before looping back onto Chatsworth Road and heading for the finish line in Queens Park.

The 1km Fun Run will also take place during the main event in Queen’s Park.

John Timms, Event Director at Redbrik Chesterfield Half Marathon, said: “We’re delighted to confirm the route for this year’s Half Marathon.”

“Following feedback from runners, Chesterfield Borough Council and event partners, we’re building on the route to not only provide an enhanced experience for our runners, but also provide easier movement for traffic, to keep the people of Chesterfield moving around the town as much as possible.”

“It also offers more opportunities for people to come and watch the event, with more time spent in the town centre and Queen’s Park. Friends and family can easily see runners a few times within walking distance of the start.”

“We’re really excited about this year’s event and we can’t wait until it starts.”

Entries remain open for the Redbrik Chesterfield Half Marathon, which is being held in aid of Ashgate Hospicecare, Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and countless other good causes.

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Local company M Markovitz Ltd have been confirmed as headline partners for the Sparkle Night Walk for the fourth year running, as they aim to surpass £1 million raised for Ashgate Hospicecare.

Savannah Redhead, Events Fundraiser at Ashgate Hospicecare said: “The 2019 Sparkle Night Walk set new records with over 3,000 walkers taking part. Collectively over the years, the event has raised more than £700,000 for patients and their families across North Derbyshire and we are hoping that 2020 will raise over £300,000. This would take the total amount raised over the last four years to £1,000,000! ”

“The ongoing support Markovitz provides means that the money people raise on the night goes directly to caring for patients in their own homes and at the hospice. We are aiming for another record sell-out event when it returns on Saturday 11 July 2020 with an improved route and additional capacity for more walkers – and the support of Markovitz has been integral to that growth.”

Barbara-Anne Walker, Chief Executive at Ashgate Hospicecare, said: “What an amazing four years it has been for the Markovitz Sparkle Night Walk and Ashgate Hospicecare’s Events Team. The event continues to beat all expectations and raise phenomenal amounts for the hospice each year, something we couldn’t have done without the support of David Hopkins and Markovitz.”

“We can’t put into words how grateful everyone at Ashgate Hospicecare is for the amazing support and kindness all those involved have continued to show. The Markovitz Sparkle Night Walk has made an enormous contribution to the hospice and difference to the care that patients and their families across North Derbyshire have been able to receive.”

“It means a huge amount to all of us at Ashgate to have had your support at our flagship event over the past four years.”

David Hopkins, CEO of Markovitz, said: “2020 will be our 4th year as proud sponsors of the Sparkle Night Walk. Thanks to the thousands of local people who year after year support this fantastic event, in this short time over £700,000 has been collected. Hopefully this year will see us smash through the £1million.”

“Our heartfelt thanks go out to all those supporting the Markovitz Sparkle Night Walk. With everyone’s help we must ensure that Ashgate Hospicecare remains able to support those in need at the most difficult of times.”

Ashgate Hospicecare encourage any local business who might consider supporting with this fantastic event to get in touch with our team at Ashgate Hospicecare. If you or your business would like to sponsor Chesterfield’s biggest fundraising event in 2020 and make a huge difference to the lives of local people, please get in touch with Ali at alison.ward-foster@ashgatehospicecare.org.uk before the end of February 2020.

Registration for the Markovitz Sparkle Night Walk 2020 on Saturday 11th July is now open. If you register before 14^th April you will receive our Early Bird Discount, reducing entry to JUST £10 per person.

Click here to find out more and to book your place at the Markovitz Sparkle Night Walk

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