The earliest views of the mansion of Welbeck are those which occur on the magnificent folio plates which accompany the Duke (at that time Marquis) of Newcastle’s splendid and matchless work on “Horsemanship”[55] in 1658. The plates are all splendidly engraved from Diepenbeck’s drawings, and are among the most valuable illustrations of the period left to us. One of these plates gives a general view of Welbeck (“La Maison de Welbeck appartenant à Monseigneur le Marquis de Newcastle, le quel est dans la Province de Nottingham”), showing an extensive building four stories in height, and partly enclosed with battlemented and other walls; the end having three gables, with a central doorway, and the side of three distinct lengths. The main building, that with the three gables, is four stories in height, with mullioned and transomed windows, hipped windows in the roof, and ornamental clustered chimney-shafts; the next portion three stories high, and three windows in width, with rustic arched doorway, windows of three semicircular-headed lights, and hipped windows in the roof; and the third portion two stories in height, with a noble portico approached by steps, and an outer gateway. Of this we give a carefully reduced engraving.
Part of Welbeck in 1658.
Another plate shows a different part of the mansion—a façade twelve windows in length, and two stories in height; the windows transomed and mullioned, and the whole surmounted by a bold balustrade. Above the building in one part rises a square tower, and in another part a larger and more ornamental tower, with a circular domed flag-turret and tall chimney-shafts. It has simply the name “Welbeck.” A third plate, which is extremely interesting, shows the exterior of the Riding-house (still standing, but now converted to other uses), “Le Manege couert voute de bois large de 40 pieds, longe de 120 pieds,” and “La boutique du Marechall,” or the house of the officer in charge of the horses. Adjoining the Riding-house is a noble sculptured Entrance Gateway. The fourth engraving is the most elaborate, and certainly most interesting of the whole. Over the main portion of the piles of buildings—that to the left, with a central and two side doors, pilastered front, series of windows, domed circular towers, and ornamental cornice—is the inscription, “L’Ecurie voutèe de pierre, les piliers de pierre, la mangeoire de pierre à l’Italienne, et une fontaine qui coule le long de la mangeoire, et se rend dans une voute au dessous ou coule un petit ruisseau. Contre la teste de Chague Cheval il y a une petite cheminèe pour l’haleine du Cheval, la quelle, s’ouvre se ferme, selon a chaleur, ou froideur; Elle est parè de pierre de taille.” Over the next portion, which is four stories high, pilastered, and seven windows in length, is the name “Le Grenier de l’Ecurie.” Next comes the gateway with the noble residence above it, and then the other buildings, bearing above them the inscription, “Il y a d’autres Ecuries pour quatre-vint chevaux.”
Another plate is a fine view of the Park at Welbeck, with a noble avenue of trees in the centre, and abundance of deer, with hunting, shooting, &c. It is entitled “Le Parc de Welbeck appartenant à Monseigneur le Marquis de Newcastle. Le Parc est dans la Province de Nottingham.” A spirited equestrian figure of the Marquis is introduced in the foreground.
The old Riding-house of the Duke of Newcastle still stands, as we have said, but has been denuded of its internal arrangements, and converted to a nobler purpose. The old “bell-boxes” for horses, and the coach-houses, which formerly occupied a considerable part of the interior (leaving the Riding-house “longe de 120 pieds,” as named on the engraving), have been entirely taken away, and the whole building is now one grand room, 177 feet in length by 40 feet in width, and of great and exquisitely proportionable height. It would form one of the finest banqueting halls in existence. It has a massive open-work timber roof of high pitch, and of admirable design. The timber-work has, during the course of the decorations, been all painted white, the roof itself being, with much taste, painted like a natural sky. The walls are to some height wainscoted, and the folding doors at the ends of the apartments, as well as the walls, are, with a marvellous effect, covered with “looking-glass,” glass of the same character adorning the side-walls. By this means a strikingly beautiful vista-like effect is produced, and the whole room is rendered charmingly delightful. From the roof are suspended a series of magnificent crystal-glass chandeliers, and side-lights of the same kind are arranged along the walls. Externally the roof is covered with copper, with admirable effect, while two clock-towers add much to the general contour of the building. These towers contain clocks that are marvels of constructive skill. They are thus spoken of by their maker, Mr. Benson, in his “Time and Time Tellers:”—“In a set of clock-calendars which I some time since provided for his Grace the Duke of Portland, the clock showed the time on four dials five feet-nine inches in diameter, chiming quarters, hours, &c. (the well-known Cambridge chimes), on bells of 12 cwt., repeating the hour after the first, second, and third quarters. The two sides of an adjoining tower show a calendar which indicates on special circles of a large dial, by means of three separate hands, the month of the year, the day of the month, and the day of the week” (needing no correction for the long and short months, nor even for the month of February, with its occasional twenty-nine days). It has also a wind dial, lettered with the four cardinal points and the twelve intermediates; there is also an extra circle on the dial to mark the age of the moon and the equation of time, so that each dial has four circles, besides the circle of the moon, shifted simultaneously at twelve o’clock every night by the complicated and wonderful mechanism of its interior.
Adjoining this noble room is a pile of building of exactly the same size and character, devoted to kitchen and other domestic purposes, with apartments over. The Kitchen is lofty, spacious, and well arranged, and fitted with every possible convenience; the Servants’ Hall, an admirable stone groined apartment, is near; and in the larders and other offices fountains of clear water keep the air admirably cool. From the Kitchen an underground railway with an hydraulic lift is constructed for conveying the comestibles for serving in the dining-rooms.
It is not our intention to follow any regular order in briefly speaking of the different rooms of this noble and unique mansion, but simply to allude to some of them, and then to speak of the Stables, Gardens, and outside arrangements.
The Gothic Hall, a part of the old building, and altered and restored by the Countess of Oxford in 1751, is a noble apartment in the centre of the west front. The ceiling is of pendent fan-tracery of the most elaborate design, and the whole of the decorations are of Gothic character, in keeping with the ceiling. Over the fire-place rises an elaborate Gothic canopy, in three arches, over the arms, with crest, supporters, &c., of the Countess, and the letters
HC
HOM
1751.