Part 60
Over the doorways, beneath cusped Gothic arches, are also the arms of Cavendish, with crescent for difference. This room, like every other portion of the edifice, has been greatly improved by the taste of its noble owner, and the mechanical skill of those employed by him: this is evidenced in a remarkably ingenious and original contrivance for the raising and lowering of the sashes of the windows, and in other ways. The suite of rooms in this pile of building consists, among others, of the Dining-room, admirably furnished, and hung with a fine collection of paintings; the Small Drawing-room, an exquisite Doric apartment, in which, among other Art treasures, are some of the finest existing samples of Snyders, Rembrandt’s masterly portrait of himself, and the grand picture of St. Cecilia, as well as some sumptuous inlaid ivory furniture; the Drawing-room, filled with the choicest of pictures and the most superb of furniture; the Saloon, &c. From the windows of these apartments, looking to the east, lovely views are obtained of the Lawns and Italian Gardens, planted with shrubs and laid out in exquisite taste, with beds of gorgeously coloured flowers; the Lake, with its broad expanse of water, some three miles or more in length, and with a contour well broken by headings; the extent of Deer Park beyond (the central object being the grand old lime-tree shown in a portrait of the old duke); and the belt of gigantic forest trees beyond. Altogether it is a charming scene, and one that shows well the noble character of the scenery by which Welbeck is surrounded.
The “Oxford,” or “Lady Oxford’s” wing, to which another story, as well as new towers and additional rooms in length, has been added by the present duke, forms the south angle of the mansion. The apartments in this wing are chastely beautiful, alike in their decorations, their furnishing, and their appointments. The walls in most cases are in distemper, of a warm roseate tint, and the carved panelling and other decorations are of dead and burnished gold; while the furnishing, whether with furniture of Louis XVI. style, or of gold and figured silk damask, or what not, is, while of costly and sumptuous character, all arranged with the most faultless purity of taste. The chimney-pieces, too, are in good taste; they are mostly of white marble, artistically carved in medallion heads, foliage, &c., by workmen employed at Welbeck. One fine old chimney-piece in the late duchess’s room is a grand example of Wedgwood’s sage-green plaques inlaid in the marble. In this Oxford wing an hydraulic lift, and every other possible appliance and convenience for the comfort of the guests, have been added; indeed, in the whole mansion nothing is left to be desired.
The Libraries are a suite of five superb apartments opening by wide central doorways one into another, thus forming one great whole. It is not usual with us to give dimensions of rooms, but, as this suite has some striking peculiarities connected with it, we in this instance give them. They are, in round numbers, 43 by 38 feet, 59 by 43 feet, 59 by 31 feet, 59 by 31 feet, and 58 by 31 feet. At the side of these runs, on one side, a charming glass-roofed corridor of considerable width, and, on the other, an arched covered corridor of great length. The ceilings of this suite of rooms are geometrically panelled and highly enriched, and the whole is lighted from the top.
Adjoining these is a spacious room 158 feet 10 inches in length by 63 feet 6 inches in width, the ceiling of which is one mass of chaste and beautiful ornamentation. Its ceiling, flat and of geometrical design, is supported on a series of eight wrought-iron girders, each weighing no less than twenty-two tons, and the whole of the light is from the ceiling.
The peculiarity of the construction of these rooms—the library suite and the one last named, some stables, gardening and potting sheds, lodges, &c., as well as others in progress—is that they are entirely underground, and are approached from, and connected with, the rest of the mansion by underground corridors and passages. The ground has been excavated to an enormous depth, and at a princely cost, and these lofty rooms are erected below the surface—a novelty in construction unattained elsewhere, and one that possesses many decided advantages. The light is equal to any to be attained in buildings on the surface, and it has an additional softness that is peculiarly graceful; the drainage is thorough and complete, the ventilation admirable, and the annoyances of wind and of draughts entirely avoided. Verily the fairies, who in their day had their underground palaces, and
“Held their courtly revels Down, down below,”
must have been clever and far-seeing architects, for they thus kept themselves clear from the elements, and could enjoy the summer sun in coolness, and the winter’s wrath in warmth. This feature of Welbeck is, indeed, like fairyland in its novelty and in its inward comforts, and its adoption was a grand conception on the part of its noble owner. And now a few words on other portions of the arrangements at Welbeck.
The Riding School—the finest in existence—is a noble room, measuring in its interior no less than 379 feet in length, by 106 feet in width, and above 50 feet in height. It is covered by a semicircular and highly ornate iron and glass roof, rising from iron columns, which form the side of a charming corridor running round it. This corridor has an open carved timber-work roof, of elegant but massive design. The general idea of the design of this roof has been taken from that of the old Riding-house, but altered in its details, and rendered more elaborate and elegant: the cornice round the main building is chastely decorated with wreaths of foliage, birds, and other objects, arranged with great taste. The room is at night lighted by nearly eight thousand gas jets, and has a strikingly beautiful effect. Near it are the Hunting Stables, unequalled for amplitude of accommodation and for excellence of arrangement, with their accompanying saddle-rooms, offices, and grooms’ barracks. These stables form a quadrangle, the yard being nearly 180 feet square, and contain some six-and-thirty spacious loose boxes and a number of stalls, the planning and arrangement of the whole being perfection itself. Not far from these are the coach-houses and coach-house stabling, and the covered “gallop” and lunging-rooms. These form another marked feature of Welbeck. The gallop is, in its entire interior length, 1,072 feet, and its general central width 33 feet; while the lunging-rooms at either end are about 70 feet in width, and 191 and 293 feet in length respectively. The whole of this immense space is covered with glass, and laid down in tan, &c.; it is believed to be the finest covered gallop in existence. Besides this are outdoor tan gallops, roughing and brood boxes, &c. The Kennels are also very extensive.
The Cowyards, Cowhouses, Sheds, and Dairy are of great extent, and are arranged with every modern appliance. The Dairy, in the centre of which is a crystal sparkling fountain rising from a marble bowl, is unsurpassed anywhere; the floor is of Minton’s encaustic tiles, and the fittings and wall-tiles of chastely beautiful patterns. Near it are the steward’s and other offices, the visitors’ stables, the telegraph office, and many other buildings.
The Gardens of Welbeck are one of its great glories, so extensive, so well arranged, so liberally provided, and so productive are they. Among the special features—arrangements nowhere else on the same principle adopted—are the peach wall, nearly one thousand feet in length, with lean-to glass on Rendle’s patent, but so arranged, with a series of strawberry beds on the other side of the path, that they can be lifted down and run, as on a tramway, to cover the strawberries; thus each division of the lean-to forms a frame to cover a strawberry bed of its exact size. The fruit walls are built with recesses in their backs, in which braziers of fire can be placed, so as to hasten and help the ripening of the fruit. The range of pine-houses is about the same length, as are also the magnificent vineries. A pretty and novel feature, too, is a fruit arcade. This arcade is nearly one thousand feet in length, and is formed of a series of ornamental iron arches, and over the whole of this are trained a number of apple-trees up one side, and pear-trees up the other, and bearing profusely for the whole of this immense length. Then there are the orchard-houses, in which hundreds of standard peach and other trees grow in pots; the potting-houses, the pine-pits, the conservatories, the forcing-houses, the giant mulberry-tree, and a host of other gardening attractions.
Another important part of Welbeck is the series of Workshops and Yards. Here are immense carpenters’ yards and workshops, fitted with every possible kind of machinery and every mechanical appliance—fit for the most extensive contractor; there the extensive stoneyards and masons’ workshops; in another place the painters’ sheds and the forging-sheds; in another the smiths’ and engineers’ shops; and in yet another the powerful steam-engines for driving the various kinds of machinery. Here, too, are extensive gas-works, consisting of no less than four huge gasometers; the fire-engine house, fitted with engines in constant readiness and with gear of every kind; the immensely ponderous traction engines, for which his grace is so justly famous, and of which some six or seven are constantly at work; and many other matters to which we need not allude.
The works now for many years carried on by the Duke of Portland have been, and yet are, of the most stupendous character, and must have been accomplished at a lavish and princely outlay. His grace has, however, done all things “wisely and well,” and if his outlay _has_ been princely, it has been expended in a princely manner, and to the benefit of thousands of his fellow-creatures. It is not for us, in a work like ours, to moralise, but it strikes us that to enter upon and carry out large and important works in a liberal, energetic, and spirited manner is a far better, far higher, and far nobler way of filling a mission on earth than getting rid of capital in some objectionable pursuits. The Duke of Portland is a great benefactor to his race, and by finding employment, as he does, to some two thousand persons or more, the good he does is incalculable.
The collection of pictures at Welbeck is very fine and very extensive, and embraces many paintings, family portraits, and others of note and of matchless value. Among these portraits are several of the celebrated Duke of Newcastle, of his countesses, and of his horses, with views of Welbeck, &c.; a remarkably fine original portrait of the Countess of Shrewsbury, “Bess of Hardwick,” bearing the inscription, “Eliz: Hardwick, Daughter and Coheir of John Hardwick, of Hardwick in the County of Derby, Esq^{re.} Married to her second husband, Sir Wm. Cavendishe of Chatsworth, in the same County. She settled her 3rd son Charles Cavendishe at Welbeck in the County of Nottingham;” a remarkably fine original portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots; an equally fine one of the Lady Arabella Stuart, by Zucchero; portraits of most of the members of the Bentinck family and their alliances, and of the Cavendish, Harley, and Holles families, besides a large number of general subjects. Among them may be named as a few of the more interesting:—Elizabeth Basset, of Blore, first wife of William Cavendish, first Duke of Newcastle, by Mytens, signed “Ætatis suæ 25 anno 1624. D. Mytens fct.;” Sir Charles Cavendish, father of the first Duke of Newcastle, and his wife, Lady Ogle of Ogle, daughter of Cuthbert, Lord Ogle, by Mytens; Sir Charles Cavendish; William Cavendish, first Duke of Newcastle, by Vandyke; Margaret Lucas, Duchess of Newcastle, the gifted authoress, second wife of the first Duke of Newcastle, by Lely; Henry Cavendish, second Duke of Newcastle, by Lely; Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Albemarle and Montague, by Lely; the second Duke of Albemarle, by Lely; Elizabeth Cavendish and her husband, the Earl of Bridgewater, by Lely; Henry Bentinck, Earl of Portland, and Henrietta Cavendish Holles, wife of the second Earl of Oxford, by Kneller; Henrietta Cavendish Harley, Duchess of Portland, by Hudson; Edward Harley, second Earl of Oxford, by Dahl; Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, by Kneller; Duke of Portland, by Sir Joshua Reynolds; Napoleon, by Paul de la Roche; “Angel Contemplation,” by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and bequeathed by him to the then Duke of Portland; Margaret Cavendish Harley, by Michael Dahl; and another of the same, by Charles Jervas; Lucy Harrington, Countess of Bedford; Frances Howard, Countess of Essex, by Vansomer; Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, and his countess, Elizabeth Vernon, by Holbein; Henry, Prince of Wales, by Zucchero; George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, by Jansen; Margaret Wooton, wife of Sir Thomas Grey, and grandmother of Lady Jane Grey, by Holbein; King Edward VI., by Holbein; the bloody-shouldered Arabian horse, sent over from Aleppo by Mr. Nathaniel Harley, with figures of the Turk and his dog, by John Wootton, 1724; Sir Francis Vere, and Edward Vere, Earl of Oxford, by Mark Garrard; Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury; Ben Jonson; Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, by Vandyke; Sir Hugh Myddelton, by Jansen; William Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, by Vandyke; Gervase Holles, son of Freschevelle Holles; Gerard Thomas Fairfax; John Holles, second Earl of Clare; Sir Edward Harley; Denzil Holles, Lord Holles, by Holbein; King Charles II.; James Butler, second Duke of Ormond, by Lely; William III. in his coronation robes, and Queen Mary II., by Kneller; Lord Cornbury and lady, by Lely; Lady Ogle, Duchess of Somerset, by Kneller; William III. when Prince of Orange, given by him to the Earl of Portland; Lady Frances Villiers, by Lely; Catherine Harley, Duchess of Buckingham, by old Zeeman; Matthew Prior, the poet, by Jonathan Richardson, and another, by Rigaud; Charlotte Davis, Viscountess Sundon; and Queen Elizabeth, by Lucas de Heere. These, however, are not a tithe of the rare and excellent pictures contained in this splendid collection, which our limits alone prevent us from enumerating. As an assemblage of historical and family portraits, as well as of rare examples of the best masters, the Welbeck collection takes high rank among the choicest private galleries of the kingdom. The collection also includes some good ivories and a large number of valuable miniatures. Among the treasures here preserved, too, are the original MS. of the Duke of Newcastle’s grand book on “Horsemanship,” already alluded to; a large number of letters from royal, noble, and celebrated personages; several patents of creation; a MS. account of the regalia, jewels, plate, &c., of Henry VIII., signed in several places by that monarch; some curious MS. inventories; and many other matters of historical value.
Welbeck formerly had its share of royal visits, and of these some curious accounts are given in the Duchess of Newcastle’s “Life” of her husband. Thus—“When his Majesty (Charles I.) was going into Scotland to be crowned, he took his way through Nottinghamshire; and lying at Worksopp-Mannor, hardly two miles distant from _Welbeck_, where my Lord then was, my Lord invited His Majesty thither to a Dinner, which he was graciously pleased to accept of: this entertainment cost my Lord between Four and Five thousand pounds; which His Majesty liked so well, that a year after His Return out of _Scotland_, He was pleased to send my Lord word, that Her Majesty the Queen was resolved to make a Progress into the Northern parts, desiring him to prepare the like Entertainment for Her, as he had formerly done for Him: Which my Lord did, and endeavour’d for it with all possible Care and Industry, sparing nothing that might add splendor to that Feast, which both Their Majesties were pleased to honour with their Presence. _Ben Jonson_ he employed in fitting such Scenes and Speeches as he could best devise; and sent for all the Gentry of the Country to come and wait on their Majesties; and in short, did all that ever he could imagine, to render it Great and worthy Their Royal Acceptance. This Entertainment he made at _Bolsover Castle_, in Derbyshire, some five miles distant from _Welbeck_, and resigned _Welbeck_ for Their Majesties Lodging; it cost him in all between Fourteen and Fifteen thousand pounds. Besides these two, there was another small Entertainment which my Lord prepared for His late Majesty, in his own Park at _Welbeck_, when his Majesty came down, with his two Nephews, the now Prince Elector Palatine, and His Brother Prince _Rupert_, into the Forrest at _Sherwood_, which cost him Fifteen hundred pounds. And this I mention not out of a vain-glory, but to declare the great love and Duty my Lord had for His Gracious King and Queen, and to correct the mistakes committed by some Historians, who not being rightly informed of those Entertainments, make the World believe Falsehood for Truth.” The first of Ben Jonson’s masques here alluded to was entitled “Love’s Welcome. The King’s entertainment at Welbeck, in Nottinghamshire, a house of the Right Honourable William, Earl of Newcastle, Viscount Mansfield, Baron of Bothal, Bolsover, &c., at his going into Scotland, 1633.” It was one of the best of Jonson’s masques, and the quintain was introduced and performed by gentlemen of the county in the garb of rustics.
And now it only remains to say a word or two as to the surroundings of Welbeck.
Welbeck Park, and the closely adjoining forest of Sherwood, have ever been noted for their fine venerable trees—oaks that have stood for ages, and bid fair to stand for ages yet to come. Many of the then fine old trees were cut down “by the rebels” when Welbeck became for a time their prey during the civil wars, but many still remained; and those then in their prime have now become more venerable with age. A few of the more noted may just be named. The “Duke’s Walking-stick,” so called from its long straight stem, when described in 1813, and earlier by Major Rooke, who considered it to be unmatched in the kingdom, measured 111 feet 6 inches in height, was estimated to weigh about 11 tons, and contained about 440 solid cubic feet of timber. It no longer exists, but another tree, a “young walking-stick,” we are informed, of nearly a century and a half’s growth, is about 100 feet in height. The “Two Porters,” standing a little distance apart, and named “the Porters” from a gate and fence having formerly stood between them, are described as being about 98 and 88 feet in height, and 38 and 34 feet in circumference; they stand nearly at the north extremity of the park, not far from the south lodge of Worksop Manor, and are marvels of growth and girth.
The “Seven Sisters,” situated about half a mile from the “Two Porters,” is one of the most remarkable trees anywhere in existence. It consisted originally of seven stems springing from one general root, and rising perpendicularly to a great height—no less than 88 feet, the circumference of the common trunk close to the ground being over 30 feet. Some of the sister stems have from time to time been blown down, but the tree is still a noble and interesting one. Near it “a hollow tree, in circumference 20 feet 9 inches, supposed to be three hundred years old, was used as a place of concealment from whence the keeper could aim at the deer.”
The “Ruysdael Oak,” so called because of being in form and condition one of those peculiar trees which that painter delighted to introduce into his pictures, stands on a commanding eminence in the park, not far from the “Seven Sisters,” and forms a striking object from whichever side it is seen. Venerable in its age, lovely in its decay, this “grand old oak” stretches out its weird-like naked branches in every direction, and forms a landmark that cannot be mistaken. From it, and, indeed, from many points on this side of the park, some strikingly beautiful views of the mansion, the lake, and the grounds are obtained.
In the part of the grounds known as “The Wilderness;” in the various drives that intersect the forest; in the remains of “Merrie Sherwood,” which form a part of the estate; and, indeed, in every direction, noble oaks many centuries old, limes of marvellous beauty, and chestnuts of enormous growth are abundant, and give an air of unsurpassed grandeur to the domain. There is also, in another part of the grounds, a fine avenue of aged oaks.
The “Greendale Oak” is, however, of all trees, the most curious, venerable, and interesting. It lies some half a mile south of the Abbey, and is computed to be one of the oldest trees in existence in this country. Throsby, in his “Thoroton,” supposed it to be, when he wrote, “upwards of 1,500 years old,” and Major Rooke, a few years previously, that it was “thought to be above seven hundred years old;” thus opinions of contemporary people varied some eight hundred years in their computations. “In Evelyn’s time it was 33 feet in circumference at the bottom; the breadth of the boughs was 88 feet, covering a space equal to 676 square yards.” In 1724, the opening, from decay, in the stem of the tree was enlarged sufficiently to allow of the passage of an ordinary carriage, or three horsemen abreast. Through this opening one of the noble owners is said, with his bride, to have been driven in a carriage drawn by six horses, on the occasion of his marriage. The tree has been repeatedly engraved, one old plate representing the carriage being driven through the opening, and another representing a horseman passing through it. In 1727 the Countess of Oxford, the then owner of Welbeck, had a cabinet made from a portion of the wood taken out of the opening. It is inlaid with representations of the carriage and six horses passing through the tree, and other designs, and bears the following quotation from Ovid:—
“Sæpe sub hac Dryades festas duxure choreas Sæpe etiam manibus nexis ex ordine trunci, Curcuiere modum mensuraque roboris ulnas. Quinque ter implebat. Nec non et cætera lentum Silva sub hac omnis, quantum fuit herba sub omni;”
and Chaucer’s lines—
“Lo the Oke! that hath so long a norishing Fro the time that it ginneth first to spring, And hath so long a life, as we may see, Yet, at the last, wasted is the tree.”
The Greendale Oak, the “Methuselah of trees,” still stands, and is preserved with religious care. Long may this “brave old oak” remain one of the landmarks of past ages at lordly Welbeck!
Long, too, may the “Parliament Oak,” where Edward I. summoned his Parliament to meet him; the “Shamble Oak,” where Robin Hood and his “merry, merry men, all under the greenwood tree,” hung their deer, but which has lately been nearly destroyed by fire; the “Major Oak,” the “Simon Forester Oak,” and their brethren, be spared to us, and remain as landmarks of history and of tradition!
The neighbourhood of Welbeck is rich in historical associations, in objects of interest, and in places of note. Sherwood Forest, with its hero-lore of Robin Hood; Clipstone, with its grand old Park; Clumber, with its noble mansion; Worksop, with its Manor House, its Abbey Church, its grand old gateway, and its other attractive features; Thoresby, with its palatial Hall; Bolsover, with its grand old Castle; and Steetley, with its Saxon Church: these are but a few, a very few, of the places that lie around and invite a visit; but these we must pass over, and, for a time, bid adieu to Welbeck and its charms.
INDEX.
Abbey of Welbeck, 1326.
Adam, Robert, 1101.
Agincourt, Battle of, 1188.
Albini, Family of, 1003 _et seq._