Clumber appears in the Domesday Book as Clumbre and was farmed by a Norman tenant as two manors. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII granted ‘the lands at Clumbre’ to Roger and Robert Taverner and their heirs at ’11s per annum’. John Holles, fourth Earl of Clare, created 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (second creation) in 1694, petitioned Queen Anne in 1709 for ‘a licence to make a Park in the Forest of Sherwood in the County of Nottingham for her Majesties Service during her life to contain at Least 3000 Acres of his Own lands of Inheritance’.

In 1710, the Duke bought Wimpole Park in Cambridgeshire and the Manor of Marylebone.  The Duke died in 1711 from injuries received after falling from a horse and left his Cavendish estates to his son-in-law, Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Mortimer who was married to his daughter Lady Henrietta. The Earl named Holles Street in Marylebone in his memory. The remainder of the Duke’s property, including Clumber, was left to his nephew, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (third creation). The Duke was Prime Minister of Great Britain on two occasions. In 1756, the Duke also made himself 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne – he was commonly known as the Duke of Newcastle.

In 1761, the 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, commissioned Stephen Wright to build a house around the original hunting lodge. A Lake was formed by damming the River Poulter, and Wright designed Clumber Bridge over the lake and the grotto. A garden temple with a Doric portico was designed by John Simpson in c 1784. It’s possible that Simpson also designed the Greek Temple on the south side of the lake.

The Walled Garden was also built for the 1st Duke in 1772. Spanning 4 acres, it is divided internally with a bisecting peach wall and two garden rooms. The gardens now have a mixture of productive and ornamental plantings and is home to two national collections of Rhubarb and Apple.

As the Duke had no children, the title of the Dukes of Newcastle-upon-Tyne became extinct on his death in 1768 while the estate at Clumber and the title of the Duke of Newcastle-upon-Lyne were inherited by his sister’s son, Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton.

The 4th Duke inherited the estate at the age of ten. The Duke was a keen collector and filled Clumber House with many paintings including works by Gainsborough, Van Dyke, Poussin and Rembrandt as well as an extensive collection of rare books with a Book of Hours, a first folio Shakespeare and three Caxtons.

The 5th Duke made several alterations to the gardens and pleasure grounds. It is not known who designed the terraces and parterres to the south of the stable block  – possible contenders are William Sawrey Gilpin, Sydney Smirke, William Andrews Nesfield and Sir Charles Barry. The Boat Dock at the east end of the Terrace was designed by Nesfield in 1837. It was built for miniature sailing boats and there was originally a boathouse here.

The pleasure grounds were laid out in 1860s and are also attributed to Nesfield.

The 5th Duke commissioned the village of Hardwick at the east end of the lake to house the estate workers. He also laid out the double avenue of lime trees. At three miles long, they are the longest in Europe.