414 A FOREST WONDEB. [April, 



Passing along one of the underground passages which honeycomb 

 the foundations of the Abbey, the visitor reaches the handsome struc- 

 ture which is generally known as the Duke of Newcastle's riding 

 school. This Duke of Newcastle, a staunch Eoyalist during the 

 Parliamentary struggles, lived to be richly rewarded for his loyalty to 

 the Stuarts, and built a considerable portion of Welbeck, including 

 the riding school referred to. He was esteemed a cavalier sans pcur 

 et sans reproclie, and produced a treatise on horsemanship which was 

 considered a valuable addition to the equine knowledge of that time. 

 The marriage of his granddaughter gave Welbeck to John Holies, 

 Earl of Clare, subsequently created Duke of Newcastle. The only 

 daughter of this nobleman was given in marriage to the second Earl 

 of Oxford and Mortimer, whose only daughter married the second 

 Duke of Portland, and brought the Welbeck estates to the already 

 opulent Bentincks. The riding school with which the Cavendish 

 D a ke of Newcastle was associated, was not constructed on strict lines 

 of architectural beauty, a ad was afterwards converted into a picture 

 gallery 182 feet long and well proportioned. The four great glass 

 chandeliers in this vast apartment, each weighing a ton, are perhaps 

 the most noteworthy features, and it was in this awe-striking room 

 that the last Duke of Portland piled his magnificent collection of 

 paintings, the works of the most celebrated masters of the Flemish 

 and Italian schools, against the wainscoting, to mildew and rot in 

 their undignified oblivion. Beneath the oaken floor immense wine 

 cellars were constracted, with cast iron bins, and subterranean passages 

 to connect the cellars with the principal rooms, and an uuderground 

 railway to complete the display of ingenuity and eccentricity which 

 everywhere abounds. 



Another underground excursion through one of the most ' inviting ' 

 tunnels, if such dark passages can be so termed, ends at the new 

 riding school, built by the ' invisible nobleman ' to supersede the one 

 just described. Externally the edifice presents the appearance of 

 a gigantic public hall, and is of massive and portentous aspect. 

 Undoubtedly the building is the finest riding school in the world, 

 and an internal view is absolutely startling. A perfect forest of 

 columns serves to support the finely arched roof, and the bewildered 

 spectator would immediately come to the conclusion that he had 

 been suddenly transported into a large railway station, if it were not 

 for the artistic features which prevail throughout the interior. The 

 roof is of glass and highly ornamented iron, with cornices beautifully 

 decorated with foliage and fantastic groups of birds and beasts. The 

 school is 379 feet in length by 106 feet in width, and 50 feet in 

 height, so that some idea may be gained of its enormous capacity ; 

 and some fifty horses can easily be exercised within its area. 



