Peak District combines high culture with the great outdoors

Though known for its green and gentle land, England has a handful of wild and dramatic places that are preserved as national parks and much loved by walkers.  In the past I've written about Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Lake District and the Peak District.  All are similar in their mix of landscape, charming villages and dog-friendly establishments, but the last wins the prize for the best stately homes.  If you want to mix your fine views with art history, this is the place to come.

Over our Easter weekend we took in three of the district's blockbusters.  First up was Kedleston Hall, one of the finest of Robert Adam's houses.  (Technically not in the Peak, but a gateway to it when you're coming from the South.)  Architecture geeks like me will be satisfied with the entry hall alone: a columned, marble-floored, statue-bedecked place that any ancient Roman might mistake for a high-end temple.  Beyond it there's a round, domed salon that's equally sophisticated, and wrapping around that are a series of rooms all bearing Adam's magical touch.  This was one of his early works and the first time he could fully carry out his vision of complete design: not just the architecture, but furniture and interior decor as well.  The dining room, with its tasteful alcove for the fitted buffet, classical urn-shaped plate warmers and imperial wine coolers, all designed to work together, is exquisite.

The National Trust has been hard at work on restoration over past years here, and the place is much improved since my first visit in the early '90s.  Craftsmen have re-created period wall coverings, renewed gilding and restored furniture.  Check out the long, Adam-designed sofas held up by frames of golden mermaids and mermen, set against walls covered with the same light blue damask that upholsters the seats.  Now all restored to full 18th century glory.  It's no wonder this place is such a popular film set, most notably in the recent adaptation of The Duchess.

Do step out of the 18th century to explore the small museum in the basement.  A more recent owner was Viceroy of India.  The collection comprises a wide array of Indian artefacts, from armour to elephant saddles to carved ivories.  The dress Lady Curzon wore to the Delhi Durbar, sewn with thousands of tiny jewels in the pattern of peacock feathers, is jaw-dropping.

In the centre of the district is Chatsworth, known as the Palace of the Peak.  The magnificent pile of the Dukes of Devonshire has been growing and changing since its Tudor foundations, as each generation makes its own contribution.  Though the bulk of what you see here is English baroque, you'll stumble upon Victorian oddities, an Edwardian theatre, a Regency dining room … even the rococo exuberance of carved panelling from a German monastery, transported here to become one Duke's smoking room.  To mark the centenary of WWI there's also a fascinating exhibit about the house and the family through the World Wars in a newly-opened display space near the end of the tourist route through the house.

Chatsworth is still owned by the Cavendish family.  They are active caretakers and collectors, meaning
that the place is constantly evolving.  It's one of the glories of any visit here.  In the six years since my last, the current owner (Stoker, 12th Duke) has completely reworked the tourist route through the house, dotted the place with modern art, re-created a traditional 17th c. display of plate in the original dining room, dotted modern sculpture around the park and completely re-decorated one long hallway to show off antique china on one side, and abstract, highly textural ceramic wall tiles on the other.  I loved some of the modern additions: collections of modern pottery form a lovely contrast sitting within classical mantlepieces, a sculpted pack of hounds romping across one of the internal courtyards is fantastic.  Others were too jarring for me:  A vividly-coloured wire sculpture breaks the line of the baroque water cascade in the gardens; an electrified neon, cartoon-style portrait of the current Duke's daughter-in-law changes colour every few seconds at jarring odds with the cool colours of the under-stair grotto in which it hangs.  You may love them or hate them as individual pieces, but the novelty is the reason that regular returns to Chatsworth are worth the admission fee.

I wish the Manners family could take a leaf out of their neighbours' book when it comes to Haddon Hall.  I don't think a thing has changed here since my first visit more than 15 years ago.  Granted, the idea that the house has been preserved in aspic is one of the main reasons for coming here.  The fortified manor on its hilltop above the River Wye saw great investment in the early Tudor era, then was mostly ignored until the early 20th century when "Tudorbethan" revival was all the rage and the Dukes of Rutland realised this little used secondary home was worthy of note.  This is one of the top places to visit in the UK if you want to be whisked back to 1520. And another oft-used filming location, notably used in all three of the most recent adaptations of Jane Eyre.

That's no excuse, however, for a complete lack of investment or improvement over the years.  In my recent entries on Dutch museums I talked about how good that nation is at using technology and communications to bring their culture to life.  There is so much potential here to evoke the magic of history and the drama of all that happened here.  Instead, you can look at dog-eared, laminated one-pagers that have been here for years to point a few facts about each room.  The closest they come to innovative interpretation is a replay of the excellent BBC show on medieval banquets that was filmed here.  Not shown in the kitchen … the focal point of the piece … but in a room at the end of the tour.

If you love Tudor architecture, you have to see this place.  But, sadly, there's little reason for a return visit, and I fear you'd have to work quite hard to get children to understand how special the place is.

Sticking to the Peak District's country houses doesn't mean you have to give up on the area's favourite pastime of walking.  The houses provide their own possibilities, with gentler trails and good parking.  It's a good option for the less fit, or the less adventurous.  Both Kedleston and Chatsworth have formal gardens and expansive parks, and dogs are allowed at both.