In the village of Welbeck, in the Bassetlaw District of Nottinghamshire, England, sits a large country mansion within an expansive 17,000-acre property. For several generations, the Welbeck Abbey has been owned by the Cavendish-Bentinck family and until the 1990s, it was the residence of the Dukes of Portland.
Welbeck Abbey's origins trace back to the 11th century, but it was under John Bentinck, the 5th Duke of Portland, in the 19th century that the abbey underwent significant building and renovation. John Bentinck was, as author Bill Bryson describes, “one of history's great recluses”, who “went to the most extraordinary lengths to avoid all forms of human contact.” The Welbeck Abbey was where he put his eccentrics to work, making extraordinary architectural additions to the sprawling campus including a vast underground labyrinth of tunnels and secret passageways connecting various rooms—features he himself rarely used.
Photo credit: Tran Quility
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