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.
Welbeck, from the South-east.
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.