Tapton House was included in the lease of one of the collieries, and as
it was conveniently situated--being, as it were, a central point on the
Midland Railway, from which he could readily proceed north or south, on
his journeys of inspection of the various lines then under construction
in the midland and northern counties,--he took up his residence there,
and it continued his home until the close of his life.

Tapton House is a large roomy brick mansion, beautifully situated amidst
woods, upon a commanding eminence, about a mile to the north-east of the
town of Chesterfield. Green fields dotted with fine trees slope away
from the house in all directions. The surrounding country is undulating
and highly picturesque. North and south the eye ranges over a vast
extent of lovely scenery; and on the west, looking over the town of
Chesterfield, with its church and crooked spire, the extensive range of
the Derbyshire hills bounds the distance. The Midland Railway skirts the
western edge of the park in a deep rock cutting, and the shrill whistle
of the locomotive sounds near at hand as the trains speed past. The
gardens and pleasure-grounds adjoining the house were in a very neglected
state when Mr. Stephenson first went to Tapton; and he promised himself,
when he had secured rest and leisure from business, that he would put a
new face upon both. The first improvement he made was cutting a woodland
footpath up the hill-side, by which he at the same time added a beautiful
feature to the park, and secured a shorter road to the Chesterfield
station. But it was some years before he found time to carry into effect
his contemplated improvements in the adjoining gardens and
pleasure-grounds. He had so long been accustomed to laborious pursuits,
and felt himself still so full of work, that he could not at once settle
down into the habit of quietly enjoying the fruits of his industry.

He had no difficulty in usefully employing his time. Besides directing
the mining operations at Claycross, the establishment of the lime-kilns
at Ambergate, and the construction of the extensive railways still in
progress, he occasionally paid visits to Newcastle, where his locomotive
manufactory was now in full work, and the proprietors were reaping the
advantages of his early foresight in an abundant measure of prosperity.
One of his most interesting visits to the place was in 1838, on the
occasion of the meeting of the British Association t