Clumber Park and House. A Collection of Original Photographs 1894 By Stuart C. Reddish
The Dukeries’ is the name given to a large tract of
Nottinghamshire which formerly contained the estates of five dukes.
This name has been in use since the eighteenth century.
Much of this part of Nottinghamshire was in the private ownership
of enlightened noblemen, and much of what is left of the once
extensive Sherwood Forest has therefore been preserved for the
enjoyment of everyone.
Clumber Park was formerly the home park
of the Nottinghamshire estates of the Dukes of Newcastle, once
extending to 32,500 acres. It is now a property of the National Trust
and open to the public at all times though a charge is made for
motors. It offers 3,800 acres of park farmland, lake, and woodlands,
and Clumber Chapel. Since 1981 a cafeteria provides a full service
and there is a licensed restaurant in the old Muniment Room. The
Clocktower Shop in the Lincoln stable block and a permanent
exhibition of Clumber’s history is open in the Duke’s Study all
close to the site of the great house, now outlined in flagstones.
The house, the former seat of the Dukes
of Newcastle-under-Lyme, was built in the 1770s to designs by Stephen
Bright, who also designed the bridge, temple and lodges. It was
enlarged by Sir Charles Barry, architect of the Houses of Parliament.
Clumber was dismantled in 1938 and many
of its features were sold, including the famous marble staircase, the
magnificent fountain and the half mile of balustrading of the
terraces. The terraces stretched for a quarter of a mile with many
marble statues and sculpted vases. The centrepiece of this elaborate
display was a vast marble fountain hewn from a solid block and
weighing 50 tons. The lower basin was 12 feet 6 inches in diameter,
and the upper, supported by four dolphins, was four feet across.
The interiors of Clumber were richly
endowed and decorated with beautiful things. The State Dining Room
was 60 feet in length and could accommodate 150 guests. On the walls
were pictures by Zuccarelli, Snyders and Weenix. The Grand Hall, 82
feet by 45 feet, contained statuary by Canova and Nollekens and the
works of Rubens, Rembrandt, Poussin, Canaletto and Teniers, hung in
the Drawing Room. Stepping out onto the terraces which descended
gently down to the 200 acre lake, a large, fully rigged model of a
frigate The Lincoln could be spied at anchor.
The Study contained a massive marble
chimneypiece from Fonthill and the great Marble Saloon was typical of
Charles Barry's classical masterpieces in S.W.1. such as Bridgewater
House and Reform Club.
The family's private church, built by
the 7th Duke of Newcastle in 1884 to the designs of G. F. Bodley,
R.A., a distinguished victorian architect.
The pictures below are accompanied by a description published in THE
DUKERIES
Described by R. Murray Gilchrist
in 1913- the text does not correspond with illustrations.
The most impressive approach to Clumber is by way of Normanton Inn, a
red-brick hostelry draped luxuriantly with virginia creeper. At some
slight distance is a magnificent glade of varied greens, with great
patches of blood-coloured bent-grass. In the neighbourhood grow many
fine Spanish chestnuts; when I was last there the ground was littered
with the fallen flowers.
A vast, festooned cloud, grey as the
smoke of
some monstrous fire, drifted from the east; then lightning sported
wickedly amongst the trees, and the rain fell in torrents. Beside the
balustraded bridge the water seemed covered with an army of white
puppets. But it was at the entrance to the Lime Tree Avenue that I
looked upon the greatest wonder of the day.
Behind the shifting veil the
view of that curving road seemed as fantastically unreal as the
background of some ancient Italian masterpiece.
This avenue, three miles in length, has on either side two rows of
limes, and on a hot July midday the fragrance is overpoweringly sweet.
From this the house is not visible,to reach it one must pass down a
private drive to the left. Whilst the present house was being built,
Sir Harbottle Grimston writes on a tour enjoyed in 1768: "From Worksop
Manor to Clumber, Lord Lincoln's, over the heath.
The house is situated
rather low in a very extensive park, near a noble piece of water, over
which is a very handsome bridge on 'cycloidal' arches. The house is not
yet finished, but by its present appearance seems as if it would be
magnificent. There are nineteen windows in front, the middle one a bow,
with two wings projecting forwards." About this time Walpole speaks of
Clumber being "still in leading-strings".
The building was finished
about 1770, and is of white freestone, pleasantly age-coloured, with a
south front that opens to a formal and beautiful Italian garden with
terraced walks and graceful marble fountains. Beyond, reached by stone
staircases, spreads the great lake, which covers eighty-seven acres.
On
this may be seen a gay full-masted frigate, the aspect of which in this
tranquil and richly wooded country strikes a somewhat bizarre note. The
park contains four thousand acres, and in the neighbourhood of the house
may be seen many handsome cedars and yews. The finest view is obtainable
from the opposite bank of the lake, or from near the head, where stands
the home farmstead of Hardwick.
The house, though not one of the most impressive in its exterior aspect,
contains treasures of priceless worth. The pillared entrance hall has
several fine statues, notably one of Napoleon and another of the author
of 'The Seasons'.
All the state chambers are extremely
handsome, and in
the large drawing-room may be seen five ebony cabinets and four
pedestals surmounted with crystal chandeliers, which were brought from
the Doge's Palace. Perhaps the most notable is the dining-room, 60 feet
long, 34 feet wide, and 30 feet high. We are told that it can easily
accommodate one hundred and fifty guests at dinner.
In the smoking-room is to be seen a
remarkable chimney-piece of carved marble, which once stood in Fonthill
Abbey, the house of the author of Vathek. To the antiquarian, perhaps
the most interesting objects are four funeral cysts, dating from two
thousand years ago. There is a fine collection of pictures, chiefly of
old masters of distinction, amongst which may be found portraits by
Holbein, Vandyke, Lely, and Hogarth, of folk intimately associated with
the history of our country.
The library, a fine
room panelled with mahogany, contains many treasures, notably three
Caxtons;_The History of Reynard the Fox, 1481; The Chronicles of
England, 1482; and The Golden Legend, 1493: the first and second
folios of Shakespeare: and many examples, one printed on vellum, of
Froissart's Chronicles. There is also a fifteenth-century manuscript
of Gower's Confessio Amantis.
Near by stands the Church of the Holy Virgin, built by the present Duke
of Newcastle. Its walls and spire are of rich red and yellowish
sandstone, in the fourteenth-century style. This is probably one of the
most ornately beautiful churches in the kingdom, and the view from the
open doorway is surpassingly rich in colour.
The interior contains much
fine carving--the altar-piece is of alabaster, with the Virgin and child
for central figures. The windows are delicately tinted: in spite of the
excess of splendour naught can offend the artistic taste.
The Clinton family, of which the Duke of Newcastle is head, is one of
the oldest and most celebrated in our annals. Geoffrey de Clinton, a
distinguished forbear, Chamberlain and Treasurer to Henry the First, was
the builder of Warwick Castle, and after his day his collateral
descendants devoted their lives to serving the Crown faithfully.
Edward
the First called one his "beloved squire"; others fought with glory in
the French battles. A Clinton was in the deputation that received Anne
of Cleves when she journeyed to meet her spouse. Another assisted in the
suppression of Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion, and was afterwards one of
Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council, being employed in various matters of
high import, notably in the projected marriage of his royal mistress and
the Duke of Anjou.
He died in the fullness of honour, and
was buried in
St. George's Chapel, Windsor. His son was one of the peers at the trial
of Mary Queen of Scots. In the time of George the First another of the
family filled the highest office of state, and died Lord Privy Seal;
whilst the present duke's grandfather, as illustrious as any of his
predecessors, was a celebrated politician of Early Victorian days, and
was, moreover, honoured with the friendship and admiration of the young
Gladstone.
The following pictures are believed to be of the surrounding estate and the Rectors House.
The most impressive approach to Clumber is by way of Normanton Inn, a
red-brick hostelry draped luxuriantly with virginia creeper. At some
slight distance is a magnificent glade of varied greens, with great
patches of blood-coloured bent-grass. In the neighbourhood grow many
fine Spanish chestnuts; when I was last there the ground was littered
with the fallen flowers. 
A vast, festooned cloud, grey as the
smoke of
some monstrous fire, drifted from the east; then lightning sported
wickedly amongst the trees, and the rain fell in torrents. Beside the
balustraded bridge the water seemed covered with an army of white
puppets. But it was at the entrance to the Lime Tree Avenue that I
looked upon the greatest wonder of the day.
Behind the shifting veil the
view of that curving road seemed as fantastically unreal as the
background of some ancient Italian masterpiece.
This avenue, three miles in length, has on either side two rows of
limes, and on a hot July midday the fragrance is overpoweringly sweet.
From this the house is not visible,to reach it one must pass down a
private drive to the left. Whilst the present house was being built,
Sir Harbottle Grimston writes on a tour enjoyed in 1768: "From Worksop
Manor to Clumber, Lord Lincoln's, over the heath.
The house is situated
rather low in a very extensive park, near a noble piece of water, over
which is a very handsome bridge on 'cycloidal' arches. The house is not
yet finished, but by its present appearance seems as if it would be
magnificent. There are nineteen windows in front, the middle one a bow,
with two wings projecting forwards." About this time Walpole speaks of
Clumber being "still in leading-strings".
The building was finished
about 1770, and is of white freestone, pleasantly age-coloured, with a
south front that opens to a formal and beautiful Italian garden with
terraced walks and graceful marble fountains. Beyond, reached by stone
staircases, spreads the great lake, which covers eighty-seven acres.
On
this may be seen a gay full-masted frigate, the aspect of which in this
tranquil and richly wooded country strikes a somewhat bizarre note. The
park contains four thousand acres, and in the neighbourhood of the house
may be seen many handsome cedars and yews. The finest view is obtainable
from the opposite bank of the lake, or from near the head, where stands
the home farmstead of Hardwick.
The house, though not one of the most impressive in its exterior aspect,
contains treasures of priceless worth. The pillared entrance hall has
several fine statues, notably one of Napoleon and another of the author
of 'The Seasons'.
All the state chambers are extremely
handsome, and in
the large drawing-room may be seen five ebony cabinets and four
pedestals surmounted with crystal chandeliers, which were brought from
the Doge's Palace. Perhaps the most notable is the dining-room, 60 feet
long, 34 feet wide, and 30 feet high. We are told that it can easily
accommodate one hundred and fifty guests at dinner.
In the smoking-room is to be seen a
remarkable chimney-piece of carved marble, which once stood in Fonthill
Abbey, the house of the author of Vathek. To the antiquarian, perhaps
the most interesting objects are four funeral cysts, dating from two
thousand years ago. There is a fine collection of pictures, chiefly of
old masters of distinction, amongst which may be found portraits by
Holbein, Vandyke, Lely, and Hogarth, of folk intimately associated with
the history of our country.
The library, a fine
room panelled with mahogany, contains many treasures, notably three
Caxtons;_The History of Reynard the Fox, 1481; The Chronicles of
England, 1482; and The Golden Legend, 1493: the first and second
folios of Shakespeare: and many examples, one printed on vellum, of
Froissart's Chronicles. There is also a fifteenth-century manuscript
of Gower's Confessio Amantis.
Near by stands the Church of the Holy Virgin, built by the present Duke
of Newcastle. Its walls and spire are of rich red and yellowish
sandstone, in the fourteenth-century style. This is probably one of the
most ornately beautiful churches in the kingdom, and the view from the
open doorway is surpassingly rich in colour.
The interior contains much
fine carving--the altar-piece is of alabaster, with the Virgin and child
for central figures. The windows are delicately tinted: in spite of the
excess of splendour naught can offend the artistic taste.
The Clinton family, of which the Duke of Newcastle is head, is one of
the oldest and most celebrated in our annals. Geoffrey de Clinton, a
distinguished forbear, Chamberlain and Treasurer to Henry the First, was
the builder of Warwick Castle, and after his day his collateral
descendants devoted their lives to serving the Crown faithfully.
Edward
the First called one his "beloved squire"; others fought with glory in
the French battles. A Clinton was in the deputation that received Anne
of Cleves when she journeyed to meet her spouse. Another assisted in the
suppression of Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion, and was afterwards one of
Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council, being employed in various matters of
high import, notably in the projected marriage of his royal mistress and
the Duke of Anjou.
He died in the fullness of honour, and
was buried in
St. George's Chapel, Windsor. His son was one of the peers at the trial
of Mary Queen of Scots. In the time of George the First another of the
family filled the highest office of state, and died Lord Privy Seal;
whilst the present duke's grandfather, as illustrious as any of his
predecessors, was a celebrated politician of Early Victorian days, and
was, moreover, honoured with the friendship and admiration of the young
Gladstone.
The following pictures are believed to be of the surrounding estate and the Rectors House.
