The seat of the Cavendish family since 1549, Chatsworth is more than a great country house: it is one of Europe's finest designed landscapes. This book tells the story of Chatsworth's gardens and park, a grand, thousand-year narrative that takes us from a small Domesday settlement to Elizabeth Frink's sculpture of a stallion, set proudly at the head of the Canal Pond. John Barnatt and Tom Williamson show how Chatsworth's history is like a tapestry. Particular individuals -for instance 'Bess' of Hardwick, the successive Dukes of Devonshire, 'Capability' Brown and Joseph Paxton - come and go, weave their distinctive threads, and then move on. The authors trace these threads backwards and forwards in time, showing in detail the process of landscape evolution. The book: combines original archival research and archaeological survey in a multi-faceted 'garden history'; is richly illustrated with photographs, historic maps and paintings from Chatsworth's own collections; reveals for the first time the details of the medieval and earlier field systems and settlements which underlie the park. John Barnatt is Senior Survey Archaeologist for the Peak District National Park Authority and the author of The Peak District: Landscapes through Time (Windgather 2004). Tom Williamson's many books include Shaping Medieval Landscapes (Windgather 2003).