Edensor model village

Edensor appears in the Domesday Book. Up to the 4th Duke of Devonshire's day (1720-1764), the village stretched out towards the Derwent, opposite Chatsworth. When that duke set about landscaping the park with Capability Brown, the cottages visible from the house were pulled down; the demolitions began in 1762.

Between 1838 and 1842 the 6th Duke had the old village demolished and rebuilt it with Joseph Paxton, his head gardener. The story goes that he wanted to clear the view from his windows; yet his letters and diaries show that he cared as much about his tenants as about the look of the estate, and he told his accountant that, near such a house, villages ought to be remarkable for neatness and comfort. Besides, he could not see Edensor from Chatsworth: the mill, inn and vicarage that had been in sight were cleared in the middle of the 18th century. Much of the new village occupies the site of the old one, and the church has not moved.

In October 1838 the duke and Paxton left for a year-long tour of Europe, and the land agent Sydney Smithers ran the works. To save money he reused materials and repaired houses where he could instead of rebuilding them: some of the "new" houses were given only a new front, with the old walls still standing behind. That same year the Derby architect John Robertson was commissioned to design new cottages. Of the 500 people who lived in Edensor before the demolitions began in 1817, only 60% came back once the village was finished.

The present church is later: Sir George Gilbert Scott rebuilt it in 1867, in place of a medieval building. Paxton lies in the churchyard, under a listed tomb raised around 1865.

The village mixes houses in a range of styles: a Norman-style villa (Grade II*), with a square tower at one corner and a tall fortress-like wall around its rear courtyard; the house called the Italian Villa (Grade II*), an older building remodelled for the model village, whose slate roof, in Swiss-chalet style, overhangs boldly on massive paired timber brackets; and Tudor Lodge (Grade II*), built from 1837 to 1839 to a design by Jeffry Wyatville and completed by Paxton, in brick mostly laid in herringbone fashion, sandstone and close-set timber framing, with fretted bargeboards. Other houses are Italianate, with windows of three round arches, or Tudor. With a few exceptions, the houses built around 1839 follow the illustrations of a pattern book, John Claudius Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture, which includes the design of Tudor Lodge.

John Robertson designed most of the houses, which are closer to villas than to cottages, and Paxton arranged them so that these clashing styles would form a harmonious whole.

A low sandstone wall topped with wrought-iron spear-headed railings, dated to about 1842, closes the north of the village and sweeps in a broad curve around the green, The Green. At the back of the green, St Peter's Church (Grade I) stands on a mound; 166 feet (about 51 m) high, it towers over the village.

The village is lived in by Chatsworth estate staff, working and retired, apart from a few rented properties. The Edensor Tea Cottage welcomes walkers. St Peter's Church holds a service every Sunday and weddings; its churchyard is the burial place of the Cavendishes since the 6th Duke.

Edensor (pronounced "Enza") lies within Chatsworth Park, inside a walled enclosure with gates, and is explored on foot; the trails in the park are open to walkers all year. The houses, which are lived in, are seen from the village lanes: visitors are welcome, as long as they park considerately and respect the residents. The church can be visited during its opening hours.