A STATELY home is celebrating a new Chippendale furniture exhibition by giving visitors a new perspective on its famous flower borders – with a giant hand-crafted replica of a priceless chair.

Newby Hall, near Ripon, has one of the best Chippendale collections in the country and, to mark the 300th anniversary of the renowned furniture maker’s birth and the opening of a new Chippendale exhibition, it has unveiled a 2.2m high wooden chair at the end of its famed double herbaceous border.

Visitors can now climb up to get a new view of the magnificent 172-metre-long flower beds – some of the longest in the UK – which are packed with around 6,500 plants.

Thomas Chippendale was commissioned to provide furniture for Newby Hall by an 18th century ancestor of current owner Richard Compton. The house now boasts the most complete Chippendale interior in existence and, from this month until September, will be hosting a special Chippendale exhibition.

Richard Compton said: “We wanted to link this year’s Chippendale celebrations with the collection at Newby and its magnificent gardens and thought this would be a great way to do it. You might not be able to clamber on our real Chippendale chairs, but we will be encouraging visitors to climb up and sit on our giant version to enjoy the view and have their photo taken.”