The neighbourhood of Clumber is rich in places of interest and in lovely localities;[54] and its near proximity to Sherwood Forest—indeed, it is itself a part of that forest reclaimed—to Thoresby, to Hardwick Wood, to Welbeck, to Osberton, to Worksop and its manor, to Bilhagh, to Rufford, and to a score of other inviting localities, renders it one of the pleasantest, most desirable, and most enjoyable of “Homes.”
WELBECK.
WELBECK, which we have chosen as the subject of our present chapter, has a history, a character, an appearance, and an interest that are entirely and peculiarly its own. In its external character it differs very materially in many points from any other mansion yet built; while its internal arrangements and means of access from one part to another are so original, and so entirely distinct from what has anywhere else been adopted, as at once to prove its noble owner, his Grace the Duke of Portland, by whom it has been planned, and is being carried out, to be a man of enlarged mind, of princely ideas, of noble conceptions, of high engineering skill, and of great constructive ability. It is a place, as we have said, entirely to itself, by itself, and of itself; it is a place many of whose features, both in general plan and in minute detail, might with advantage be taken as examples for others to follow. Vying in extent with some of the largest mansions of the kingdom, Welbeck cannot, like them, be all seen on the surface, for many of its noblest and grandest features, and much of the finest and most complicated parts of its constructive skill, are hidden away from the general observer, and only flash upon him as brilliant creations of genius when he is permitted to approach them by descending into the “bowels of the earth;” then, and then only, does the magnificence of the design of the noble owner become apparent, and then only does the vastness of the work become manifest. But of these features we shall speak presently; first let us say a few words upon its past history and the changes it has undergone.
Welbeck, West Front and Oxford Wing.