History of the farmyard

The vision was to create an educational exhibition by gathering a cross-section of our farming and forestry activities to explain how the land is used.

1973

The farmyard opened in July 1973 as the Farming and Forestry Exhibition or 'Model Farm' with a variety of animals including dairy cows, beef cows, and calves, sheep and lambs, pigs, horses, goats and poultry, with a milking parlour for demonstrations.

1983

The adventure playground opened with scramble nets, rope walks, firemen's poles, commando slides, tree houses and a secret tunnel to test the physical skill and daring of all ages.

1998

In 1998, the adventure playground was completely demolished and rebuilt to the highest standards with sand and water play areas, a spiral slide, mini diggers, a trampoline and much more. The new adventure playground was opened in March 1998 by Declan Morrison, grandson of the 11th Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

2001

The foot-and-mouth epidemic had a severe effect on both agriculture and the tourism industry in the UK. We had no cloven hooved farm animals on show in the farmyard, and we closed for two weeks with the rest of the countryside. To compensate, the house and garden remained open for Christmas.

2002

We welcomed Father Christmas to the farmyard as we opened for Christmas for the first time.

2003

2003 saw the celebrations of the farmyard's 30th anniversary which coincided with the 3 millionth visitor as well as the launch of a 28-seater trailer ride to educate visitors on the history of the estate and the living landscape around Chatsworth.

2005

The Oak Barn was opened by Alan Titchmarsh on 5 April 2005, and is used to provide cover for education talks and demonstrations including rural skills, spinning and bee keeping.

2009

Young farmers' days were added to educational activities in the farmyard and are a great way for children of all ages to muck in.

2012

The new climbing forest in the adventure playground was added in time for Easter holidays and proved to be very popular with visitors of all ages.

2013

Celebrated 40 years of the farmyard, the farmyard and adventure playground is as popular as ever and continues to evolve and educate all ages fulfilling the vision of Duchess Deborah all those years ago.

2021

The farmyard is accredited by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, recognising its important contribution to the conservation of some of the rarest livestock and equine breeds native to the UK.

The farmyard is also certified by the Animal Attraction Assurance Scheme ensuring that our visitors and animals are safe.