Clumber Park

 ( Bassetlaw District ) 

In March 1879 a serious fire destroyed much of Clumber House. At the time of the fire the house contained around 500 pictures and around a fifth were destroyed in the fire. Fortunately twenty-four of the best of the collection were on loan to Nottingham Corporation, including The Beggar Boys by Thomas Gainsborough. Serious losses included a portrait of William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke by Anthony van Dyck, portraits of an old man and old woman by Rembrandt, a portrait of a lady by Titian and Virgin and Child by Albrecht Dürer. Henry Pelham-Clinton, 7th Duke of Newcastle, was a minor at the time of the fire and the trustees approved the new plans by Charles Barry in 1880. Work was still going on in 1884 when it was reported that a temporary front had been built pending the erection of two large wings and an entrance hall. The other sides of the houses were completed, including the addition of a billiard room. By 1886 the building was mostly restored although it was reported that part of the west front was yet to be added. One significant improvement was a scheme whereby the sewage which used to go into the lake was diverted to Hardwick Meadows, over a mile away from the house.

Another fire in 1912 caused less damage when a fire broke out in the nursery in the north wing.

The house was closed after the death in 1928 of Henry Pelham-Clinton, 7th Duke of Newcastle owing to death duties. His successor moved into the Parsonage building in the park. The mansion, which, like many other houses during this period, was demolished in 1938 to avoid a tax bill.

Most of the ducal properties and land assets were sold to the London and Fort George Land Company (LFG) in 1927 by the 7th Duke of Newcastle to pay off debts and acquired by the National Trust in 1946.

The bridge remains permanently closed to vehicular traffic. As a training exercise, police divers recovered hundreds of pieces of broken stone knocked into the river. A floating Pontoon bridge to support scaffolding was built and stonemasons started to rebuild the bridge using some original fragments in October 2019. Clumber Park: Vandalised bridge stone recovered BBC News Nottinghamshire, 9 February 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019 Iconic bridge will not reopen to cars again - and here's why Lincolnshire Live, 16 March 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019 Work to restore Clumber Park ornamental bridge starts next week WestBridgfordWire, 12 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019 Pontoon goes up as work starts to restore Clumber Park's historic Ornamental Bridge Nottingham Post, 16 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019 The bridge was re-opened to foot-traffic only in July 2020 after extensive restorative stonework. Clumber Park bridge lovingly restored two years after vandal attack- what it looks like now Worksop guardian, 30 June 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020 Clumber Park's 'iconic' bridge restored more than two years after it was vandalised Nottingham Post, 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020 The final stage of the restoration aims to install protective bollards in the shape of Clumber Spaniels to stand guard over the bridge and protect it for future generations.

Just over a week after the bridge damage, a waste-bin, a National Trust van and a barn known as The Bunk House were set alight in an arson attack. Two months later in May, six engraved brass plaques containing the names of men who had died in wars were stolen from nearby Hardwick Village War Memorial. The memorial is a Grade-II listed structure and the plaques were 100 years old.

The walled kitchen garden east of the cricket pitch has a glasshouse long and containing Pelargoniums, grapevines and a Butia capitata palm. It was once heated by an underfloor system, fired by local coal, allowing exotic plants to be grown all year round. The pipework is in place beneath the ornate metal floor grates. The garden is divided by pathways and contains vegetables, herbs, fruit, flowers and an ornate rose garden. The garden hosts the National Collection of apple varieties from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Yorkshire with more than 101 varieties of apple including the 'Sisson's Worksop Newton' apple. The garden also has the National Collection of rhubarb, numbering over 135 edible varieties - the second largest collection in the world - as well as locally derived varieties of vegetables such as the 'Clayworth Prize Pink' celery. The lower end of the garden is reached by an iron gate to Cedar Avenue allowing colder air and moisture to move out of the garden avoiding the creation of frost pockets which could damage tender plants or reduce the growing season. National Trust page for Clumber Park