Is this the new Bruton? How Nottinghamshire's grandest estate reinvented itself
Welbeck Abbey has been in the Portland family for nearly 300 years. The new generation has turned its once sleepy reputation around.
Sherwood Forest has long been known as the home of Robin Hood and his merry men. It is also the site of one of Britain’s most spectacular homes, Welbeck Abbey, which started life as a 12th-century Premonstratensian parish before coming into the possession of the Bentinck family, Dukes of Portland, in 1734. The 5th Duke, John Bentinck, was an un-merry man himself and built 2 ½ miles of underground tunnels beneath the estate in the 19th century because he was a terrible recluse and wished to move through the demesne unseen.
In the absence of an actual hermitage, the tunnels remained the most interesting thing about Welbeck for a long time. But change is afoot. The estate's current custodians have turned it into something of an artisanal-industrial complex, which, in turn, has helped transform a once-sleepy patch of Nottinghamshire into the East Midlands’ very own version of Bruton.
Across Welbeck’s 15,000 acres — and all within easy reach of Creswell station — are a brewery, distillery, farm shop, bakehouse, and a dairy that specialises in Stichelton, one of the few, if not only raw-milk and traditionally-made blue cheese in the country. Various residential buildings dot the estate, including the recently renovated Cuckney House, whose restoration was led by the architect Rachel McLane.
Tunnel vision: the estate was once better known for its underground corridors than for being a crucible of culture in the east Midlands.
Perhaps most spectacular, however, is the art gallery: home to a collection that has been built over several centuries. The collection dates back to long before the Bentinck family even acquired the land; prior to the arrival of William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland, in 1734, the estate belonged to the Cavendish family, into which the Duke of Portland married. With his lofty alliance to Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, the Duke inherited an enviable collection, spanning works by Van Dyck, Michelangelo, Marcus Gheerhaets and Brueghel the Elder. It would only grow from there.
The pieces on display at The Harley Museum — the name given to the gallery as a nod to the estate's heritage — change every three years, and the latest exhibition, ‘The World’s Mine Oyster: Art, Nature and Collecting the Globe’, was unveiled last Friday to much fanfare among the East Midlands set. The show brings together hitherto untold stories with new research and new text; for several pieces, this marks their very first time going on display. Such is the case for the newly restored ‘A View of Antwerp’, a three-metre wide painting attributed to multiple artists, including Rubens. The gallery is free to visit.
The survival, and indeed success of such estates as Welbeck Abbey is dependent on its owners embracing a modern and business-savvy model that harnesses the potential of the land and its buildings for cultural and educational pursuits. The Portland family have done a nifty job of capturing the mood of the moment and bringing their land into the 21st century through sensitive custodianship, attuned to contemporary qualms. Doing so through art and artisanal practices is just the cherry on the sundae. Next thing we know, they'll be coming for Bruton's crown.
