Richard Whalley obtained a grant of Welbeck from the King about 1539,
and in succeeding generations others who held it were Osborne, Booth and
Catterall, till it was purchased by Sir Charles Cavendish.
This was at the beginning of the reign of James I., and Cavendish
inheriting the predilections of his mother, Bess of Hardwick, set to
work pulling down the old walls and transforming a house of religion
into one for the pleasure of the Dukes that were to come of his family.
In 1619, King James paid a visit to Welbeck, and Charles I. was
entertained there, when "there was such excess in feasting as had
scarcely ever been known in England," and Ben Jonson was present at the
invitation of the Duke to enliven the festivities with his wit.
The main portions of the abbey and the abbey church became merged in the
new structure; but there are legendary stories that the bodies of the
Cuckneys and the abbots remain entombed upon the site, and that their
stone coffins form part of massive walls and hidden foundations.
The remains of the ancient Abbey of St.
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