Welbeck Abbey
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Welbeck Abbey, head abbey of the Premonstratensian order in England, and principal residence of the Dukes of Portland.
[edit] Monastic
The area of land it occupies was first mentioned in the Domesday Book, where it is recorded as belonging to one Hugh FitzBaldric. Thomas de Cuckney founded an abbey on the site in 1140.
It was an abbey of Premonstratensian canons dedicated to St. James. The abbey was enriched by liberal gifts from the Goushills, D’Eyncourts, Bassets, and other families of the county ; and it also received a considerable grant from Edward I. With so much wealth at his disposal, the Abbot of Welbeck was an influential man, and all the houses of the order in England were placed under his care in 1512.
[edit] Abbots of Welbeck Abbey
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[edit] Country house
Upon the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the site was granted by Henry VIII to Richard Whalley, of Screveton. After ownership by a London clothworker, the abbey was purchased from Gilbert, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, by Sir Charles Cavendish, son of Bess of Hardwick. It then passed to Sir Charles's son William Cavendish, later 1st Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne. Members of the Cavendish family converted it into a country residence and added a riding house in the 17th century, though only a few basements and inner walls were retained from the Abbey.
It became the principal family seat of the early Dukes of Newcastle. In the 18th century Welbeck passed through the female line into the Bentinck family, and ultimately became the main seat of the Dukes of Portland.
The 5th Duke of Portland undertook what are considered the most substantial building works at Welbeck.
The kitchen gardens covered 22 acres and were surrounded by high walls with recesses behind them in which braziers could be placed to hasten the ripening of fruit. One of the walls, a peach wall, measured over 1000 feet in length.
An immense new riding house was built which was 396' long, 108' wide and 50' high and which enclosed a tan gallop of 422 yards. It was lit by 4,000 gas jets.
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There was a tunnel over 1000 yards in length leading from the house to the riding school, wide enough for several to walk side by side. Parallel to this tunnel was another, more roughly constructed, which was used by workmen. A longer and more elaborate tunnel (1 and a half miles) intended as a carriage drive broad enough for two carriages, was said to lead towards Worksop. The true extent of this is not clear.
He also excavated underground chambers. One was a great hall, 160 feet long and 63 feet wide originally intended as a chapel, then used as a picture gallery and occasionally as a ballroom. All the rooms were painted pink.
The Duke also made many alterations to the house above ground. A vast amount of plumbing was done with elaborate new bathrooms made and a great many new pipes laid.
New lodges were built at different entrances to the Park.
This work cost prodigious sums and involved the employment of thousands of men - masons, bricklayers, joiners, plumbers, navvies etc.. While there were disputes from time to time (wages, hours, etc) the Duke personally got on very well with his employees and earned the nickname 'the workman's friend'. He created employment in the district both for the skilled and the unskilled.
By 1879 Welbeck was in a state of disrepair. The only rooms habitable were the four or five rooms used by the 5th Duke in the west wing. All the rooms were painted pink, with parquet floors, all bare and without furniture, except that almost every room had a 'convenience' in the corner.
After the Second World War, Welbeck was leased by the Dukes of Portland to the Ministry of Defence and was used as an army training college, 'Welbeck College' until 2005.
[edit] Welbeck today
The descendents of the family still live on the estate in a house called Welbeck Woodhouse and within the abbey itself.
[edit] List of owners and occupiers
- ca 1086 Hugh FitzBaldric
- 1140 - 1538 Premonstratensian canons in the Abbey of St. James
- 1538 - 1558 Richard Whalley of Screveton
- 1558 - 1595 Edward Osborne of London, citizen and clothworker
- 1595 - ???? Robert Booth and Ranulph Catterall
- ???? - 1607 Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury and Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury
- 1607 - 1617 Sir Charles Cavendish
- 1617 - 1676 William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- 1676 - 1691 Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- 1691 - 1711 John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Lady Margaret Cavendish
- 1711 - 1734 Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer and Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles
- 1734 - 1785 William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland and Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland
- 1785 - 1809 William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland
- 1809 - 1854 William Bentinck, 4th Duke of Portland
- 1854 - 1879 William Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland
- 1879 - 1943 William John Arthur Charles James Cavendish-Bentinck, 6th Duke of Portland
- 1943 - 1977 William Arthur Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 7th Duke of Portland
- 1977 - Present Lady Alexandra Margaret Anne Cavendish-Bentinck
- 1943 - 2005 Ministry of Defence (leasing the majority of the abbey from the duke)
- 1992 - Present William Henry Marcello Parente (grandson of the 7th Duke, occupying part of the abbey with his family)
