Chatsworth
The Horticultural Society's gardens were close to the gardens of William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire at Chiswick House. The Duke frequently met the young gardener as he strolled in his gardens and became impressed with his skill and enthusiasm. The Duke offered the 20-year-old Paxton the position of Head Gardener at Chatsworth, which was considered one of the finest landscaped gardens of the time.
Although the Duke was in Russia at the time, Paxton set off for Chatsworth on the Chesterfield coach immediately, arriving at Chatsworth at half past four in the morning. By his own account he had explored the gardens, scaling the kitchen garden wall in the process, and set the staff to work, then ate breakfast with the housekeeper and met his future wife, Sarah Bown, the housekeeper's niece, as he later put it, completing his first morning's work before nine o'clock. They married in 1827, and she proved to be supremely capable of managing his affairs, leaving him free to pursue his ideas.
He was to enjoy a very friendly relationship with his employer who recognised his diverse talents and facilitated his rise to prominence.
One of his first projects was to redesign the garden around the new north wing of the house and to set up a 'pinetum', a collection of conifers which developed into a 40-acre (160,000 m2) arboretum which still exists. In the process he became skilled in moving even mature trees. The largest, weighing about eight tons, was moved from Kedleston Road in Derby. Among several other large projects at Chatsworth were the Rock Garden, the Emperor Fountain and the rebuilding of Edensor village.
While at Chatsworth Gardens, he built enormous fountains: The Emperor Fountain in 1844 was twice the height of Nelson's Column, which required the creation of the Emperor Lake on the hill top above the gardens, and the excavation of 100,000 cubic yards of earth.
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