Nor far away is the well-known Sherwood Forest, wherein in the olden
time lived the famous forester and bandit Robin Hood. Roaming among its
spreading oaks with his robber band, he was not infrequently a visitor
to the bordering towns, sometimes for pleasure, but oftener for
"business." Who Robin was, or exactly when he lived, no one seems to
know. He is associated alike with the unsettled times of Kings John and
Richard, with Henry V. and with Jack Cade, but so much mystery surrounds
all reports of him that some do not hesitate to declare Robin Hood a
myth. But whoever he was, his memory and exploits live in many a ballad
sung along the banks of the Trent and in the towns and villages of
Sherwood Forest. His abiding-place is now divided up into magnificent
estates, the most famous of them being known as "The Dukeries." One of
them, near Ollerton, is Thoresby Hall, the splendid home of the Earl of
Manvers, a park that is ten miles in circumference. North of this is the
stately seat of the Duke of Newcastle--Clumber Park--charmingly situated
between Ollerton and Worksop. From the entrance-lodge a carriage-drive
of over a mile through the well-wooded grounds leads up to the elegant
yet homelike mansion. It is of modern construction, having been built in
1770 and received important additions since. Before that time the park
was a tract of wild woodland, but the then Duke of Newcastle improved
it, and constructed an extensive lake, covering ninety acres, at a cost
of $35,000. It was originally intended for a shooting-box, but this was
elaborately extended. In the centre of the west front is a colonnade,
and between the mansion and the lake are fine gardens ornamented by a
large fountain. The owner of Clumber is the lineal representative of the
family of Pelham-Clinton--which first appeared prominently in the reign
of Edward I.--and is Henry Pelham Alexander Pelham-Clinton, sixth Duke
of Newcastle. Clumber is rich in ornaments, among them being four
ancient Roman altars, but the most striking feature is the full-rigged
ship which with a consort rests upon the placid bosom of the lake.
[Illustration: CLUMBER HALL.]
[Illustration: WELBECK ABBEY.]
Adjoining Clumber Park is the most celebrated of "The Dukeries," Welbeck
Abbey, which is one of the remarkable estates of England, a place
peculiar to itself. The mansion is about four miles from Worksop, and
the surrounding park contains a grand display of fine old trees, beneath
which roam extensive herds of deer. Welbeck Abbey of White Canons was
founded in the reign of Henry II., and dedicated to St. James. After the
dissolution it was granted to Richard Whalley, and subsequently passed
into possession of Sir Charles Cavendish, a son of the famous Bess of
Hardwicke, whose grandson converted the abbey into an elaborate mansion,
leaving little of the original religious building standing. The present
house was constructed in the seventeenth century, its old riding-house
being completed in 1623, and William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle, who
built it, was noted as the most accomplished horseman of his time. For
several generations Welbeck remained in possession of the Dukes of
Newcastle, until in the last century an only daughter and the heiress of
the abbey married William Bentinck, the Duke of Portland, thus carrying
the estate over to that family, which now possesses it. The founder of
this ducal house came over from Holland as a page of honor with King
William III. The present owner, who has just succeeded to the title, is
the sixth Duke of Portland. The chief feature of the original Welbeck,
the old riding-house, remains, but is no longer used for that purpose.
It is a grand hall, one hundred and seventy-seven feet long, with a
massive open-work timber roof of admirable design. The mansion is full
of fine apartments, many of them elaborately decorated, but it is not
from these that the estate gets its present fame. The late Duke of
Portland, who was unmarried, was an eccentric man, and he developed a
talent for burrowing underground that made his house one of the most
remarkable in England and consumed enormous sums of money. The libraries
of Welbeck, five superb rooms opening into each other, a spacious hall
adjoining, one hundred and fifty-nine feet long, the stables, large
gardens, hothouses, lodges, and other apartments, are all underground.
They have glass roofs of magnificent design. They are approached from
and connected with the rest of the mansion by subterranean passages,
and, being lofty rooms, the cost of this deep digging and of the
necessary drainage and other adjuncts may be imagined. The new riding
house, the finest in existence, and also underground, but lighted by an
arched glass roof, is three hundred and seventy-nine by one hundred and
six feet, and fifty feet high. It is elaborately ornamented, and at
night is lighted by nearly eight thousand gas-jets. Near it are the
extensive hunting-stables, coach-houses, and that marked feature of
Welbeck, the covered "gallop," one thousand and seventy-two feet long,
with large "hanging rooms" at either end: these too are covered with
glass, so as to get their light from the top. The whole place abounds in
subterranean apartments and passages, while above ground are extensive
gardens and dairies. In the gardens are the peach-wall, one thousand
feet long, a similar range of pine-houses, a fruit-arcade of ornamental
iron arches stretching nearly a quarter of a mile, with apple trees
trained on one side and pear trees on the other, and extensive beds of
flowers and plants. To construct and maintain all this curious
magnificence there are workshops on a grand scale. This eccentric duke,
who practically denied himself to the world, and for years devoted his
time to carrying on these remarkable works at an enormous cost, employed
over two thousand persons in burrowing out the bowels of the earth and
making these grand yet strange apartments. When finished he alone could
enjoy them, for Welbeck was for a long time a sealed book to the outer
world. But the eccentric duke died, as all men must, and his successor
opened Welbeck to view and to the astonishment of all who saw it. A few
months ago the Prince of Wales and a noble company visited the strange
yet magnificent structure, and then for the first time the amazed
assemblage explored this underground palace in Sherwood Forest, and when
their wonder was satisfied they turned on the myriads of gas-jets, and
amid a blaze of artificial light indulged in a ball--an unwonted scene
for the weird old abbey of the eccentric and solitary duke. Like the
fairies and mermaids of old in their underground palaces, the prince and
his friends at Welbeck right merrily
"Held their courtly revels down, down below."
Also in this neighborhood is Newstead Abbey, the ancient seat of the
Byrons. It is about eleven miles from Nottingham, and was founded by the
Augustinians in the time of Henry II. In 1540 it came into possession of
Sir John Byron, and a century later was held for King Charles. The poet
Byron's bedroom remains almost as he left it, and on the lawn is the
monument to his favorite dog, "Boatswain." The abbey also contains
several relics of Livingstone, the African explorer. Near it is Robin
Hood's Cave, and the neighborhood is full of remains of the famous
chieftain, such as his Hill and his Chair, and Fountain Dale where Robin
encountered Friar Tuck.