THE CASTLES AND ABBEYS YOEKSHIRE: ilSTOKICAL AND DESCEIPTIVE ACCOUNT f |i Pijst Ctlebrate!ir f mns in % Crantj, WILLIAM GRAINGE, AUTHOR OP THE BATTLES AND BATTLE-FIELDS OF YORKSHIRE.' YOEK: JOHN SAMPSON, §00K una "^xmt-^dkx, 'gihxnxmn, nnb ^tatiotwr, 13, Coney-Street. WHITTAKER AND CO. LONDON. 1855. 4>t PREFACE. In a work of this kind, originality can hardly be expected. Objects of such general interest as the Castles and Abbeys of Yorkshire, have so frequently employed the pen of the historian and antiquary, that little more can be added to what has been already told : and as the events of ancient times must be learned from previously existing documents, a work of great novelty cannot be expected on this subject. Indeed, my aim, in the following work, has not been to lengthen accounts already diffuse ; but rather to compress the matter already known, and render it more accessible to the general reader. Though the subject has been handled before by able writers, — such as Whitaker, Drake, and Hunter ; yet their works are so scarce and expensive, as to be hardly accessible to the rich and learned few ; whilst the many, — whose curiosity and thirst for knowledge is equally deserving of gratification, — are totally debar- red from their perusal. Besides, the works of the writers above mentioned, relate only to parts of the subject ; are limited to some particular district or locality ; and can only be procured at a cost which VI PREFACE. yery few can afford. Such being the case, I presume that a compendious account of the most interesting of the monastic and baronial remains in this county, mil not be unacceptable to the general reader, nor to the Yorkshireman in particular. My first intention was, to arrange the matter in the form of excursions by railway, or journeys through the county ; but that plan had its difficulties, and was abandoned. The idea next presented itself, of treat- ing the subjects according to the priority of their foundation ; but this was also found impracticable. So, I finally determined to begin with the most south- erly ; and, proceeding northward, taking them indis- criminately as they occurred, without any regard to the classification of the different kinds of buildings : — " On yon bold brow a lordly tower, In that soft vale a lady's bower ; In yonder meadow far away, The turrets of a cloister gray." In this manner I have proceeded with my subject ; from the genial vale in which the castle of Tickhill stands, near to the borders of Nottinghamshire ; to the bleak and wild ridge crowned by the Norman tower of Bowes, not far from the confines of West- moreland. To give variety to the subject, short accounts of some of the ceremonies and dresses of the different monastic orders are given. And to add a little freshness and individuality to the descriptions of the PREFACE. Vll various objects, I have visited, during the last two years, — with one or two exceptions, — every castle and abbey described in the course of the work ; though some of them were only reached after long and toil- some journeys on foot. If the reader derives as much pleasure from the accounts here presented to him, as I did in exploring and examining the different ruins, I shall be satisfied that my labours have not been in vain. Accounts of the most interesting ruins only, will be found in this work. Though the articles are more than forty in number, yet walls, foundations, and well ascertained sites exist, of at least as many more ; though such small fragments remain, and such slender associations are connected with them, that the tourist will hardly be tempted to turn aside to explore them. The favour with which my former work on " The Battles and Battle-Fields of Yorkshire,'^ was received by the public, was part of my inducement for under- taking this ; — which carries on the subject first pro- posed to myself ; viz. — An Account of the Historical Lands of Yorkshire, — but does not complete it ; as many places yet remain, which have been rendered famous by great actions, and are equally deserving of mention with those already recorded ; and which, should the reading public say go on, may form the subject of some future publication. — W. G. July 1855. CONTENTS. PAGE. TicKHiLL Castle 1 Roche Abbey 11 CONISBOROUGH CaSTLE . PONTEFRACT CaSTLE . . Sandal Castle . . . Selby Abbey . . . . Cawood Castle . . . KiKKSTALL Abbey . . Harewood Castle . . Spofforth Castle . , Knaresborough Castle. . 19 . 33 . 50 . 55 . 66 . 71 . 86 . 100 . 105 Fountains Abbey 117 Bolton Priory 139 Barden Tower 153 Skipton Castle 157 Sawley Abbey 170 St. Mary's Abbey . . . .183 York Castle 196 Wressil Castle 208 Watton Abbey 215 Bridlington Priory. . . .222 KiRKHAM Priory 231 Sheriff-Hutton Castle Slingsby Castle . Craike Castle Byland Abbey . EiEVAux Abbey . Helmsley Castle Pickering Castle Scarborough Castle Whitby Abbey . . Mulgrave Castle GuisBOROUGH Priory Mount- Grace Priort Jervaux Abbey . CovERHAM Abbey. Middleham Castle Bolton Castle Richmond Castle. The Grey Friars Easby Abbey . . Ravensworth Castle Eggleston Abbey Bowes Castle ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE . 237 . 243 . 247 . 250 . 258 . 266 . 272 . 280 . 290 . 301 . 306 . 313 . 322 . 328 . 832 . 341 . 348 . 357 . 360 . 366 . 371 . 374 Guisborough Priory (fi'ontispiecej Fountains Abbey 117 Bridlington Priory .... 222 Kirkham Priory 231 Rievaux Abbey 258 Whitby Abbey (Exterior) . . 290 (Interior) . . 296 The Grey Friars . . . .357 THE CASTLES AND ABBEYS OP YORKSHIRE. The most southerly of the Yorkshire castles, is that of Tickhill ; "'' being about three miles north from the border of Nottinghamshire, four miles west of Bawtrj, and seven miles nearly south of Doncaster. This fortress, when in its complete state, bore a striking resemblance to the neighbouring castle of Conisborough. In both buildings, advantage was taken of a natural * Respecting the etymology of tliis place, nothing at all satisfactory has ever been mentioned. The story that it is derived from the Dutch word Tichel, signifying a brick, is deserving of no regard. And Gale's supposition that it was anciently Ictthill, is very uncertain. The historian of the district endeavours to account for it thus : " Wich was the word by which, in the language of the common people, such a fortified mount as that of Tickhill was designated. Hence, The wich hill; this would become TJi* wick hill^ and, by an easy contraction, Tickhill." — Huxter's South Yorkshire, vol. I. p. 222. B Z TICKHILL CASTLE liill, round the base of which a moat was drawn ; on the summit, an eUiptical area was fenced in by a wall placed on a mound of earth, which in its circuit met a tumulus bearing a circular keep. To the areas of both there was but one entrance, and that strictly defended ; but the entrance at Tickhill, instead of being by a winding ancl somewhat intricate passage, was directly through a gateway tower, which was defended by four doors and a portcullis. Both are of uncertain antiquity, nor is there any direct record who was the founder of either ; both were fortresses of great strength, and both were of great consequence in the early feudal ages. But in variety of fortune and historical incident, Tickhill exceeds Conisborough, as much as the latter exceeds the former in bulk of remains and picturesque appearance. Nothing is known of Tickhill until the period of the Conquest, when we find the principal property in this neighbourhood in the possession of Roger de Busli, who either enlarged or built a castle here. The time of this warrior's decease is not exactly known, but he was certainly dead in 1098. Robert de Belesme, soon after his death, obtained from Wilham Rufus the possessions of Roger de Busli, (who was his kinsman,) for a great sum of money ; and it appears that he stepped in between the property and some persons who had a nearer claim : as, at a subsequent period, w^e find tw^o families each preferring a claim to this castle and honour, on the ground of a disturbance, at this period, of the natural course of descent. In the TICKHILL CASTLE. 3 succeeding reign, all the estates of Robert de Belesme were resumed by Henry L, who kept possession of Tickhill during the whole of his reign. In the reign of Stephen, the earl of Eu laid claim to the castle and honour of Tickhill, which was then held by William de Clairfait, supported by the power of Stephen. For a short time during the same reign, it was possessed by Randolf earl of Chester.'''" When Henry II. ascended the throne, he entered also into full possession of the castle and honour of Tickhill. His queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, must have held the castle in dower, for she was the foundress of the royal chapel of St. Nicholas, within its walls. From Henry, it descended to Richard I. ; during whose absence in Palestine, fighting against the infi- dels, discord arose between his brother prince John, and the persons to whom Richard had committed the administration of government during his absence ; and the castles of Tickhill and Nottingham were given up to the prince, while the other party were engaged besieging the castle of Lincoln. But soon after, a treaty was entered into, one of the stipulations of which was, that John should restore the castles of Tickhill and Nottingham to the king's ofiicers ; the former to be held by WiUiam de Wendwall, the latter by William Marshall, till the king's return, or certain intelligence of his death. This treaty was not ful- filled, and a considerable army was soon raised in Yorkshire by the friends of Richard, which assembled * Ddgdale's Baronage, vol. I. p. 39. 4 TICKHILL CASTLE. at Doncaster, under the command of Hugli Pudsay, bishop of Durham, and thence proceeded to besiege the castle of Tickhill. Just at this juncture, intelli- gence was received of PJchard, not only that he was alive, but that he had returned to England. Of all the fortresses in the kingdom, only the castles of [N'ot- tingham and Tickhill held out against the king. The garrisons affected to disbelieve the news of his return, and defended themselves with obstinate resolution ; especially the garrison of Tickhill, under the command of Robert de la Mare. They were however compelled to surrender ; and many of the perfidious persons who had delivered the castle to John were hanged on a gibbet by Roger de Laci, to whom the command of the castle had been first confided by king Richard. Towards the close of the reign of John, the family of de Busli revived their claims to the castle and honour of Tickhill, which claims were only suffered to sleep when the crown was sufficiently strong to maintain that right, which at first it appears to have usurped. John entered into a treaty with Ralph de Isondon, earl of Eu, in whom the claim of one of the branches of De Busli vested ; that, for assistance against the king of France, he would restore to him the castles of Tickhill and Hastings with the appurtenances, and all rights of the house of Eu in England. In pursuance of this treaty, a royal writ was issued to John de Bassingl3urn, to deliver the castle of Tickhill to the said earl. But in those times, the issuing of a royal mandate, and its execution, were two different TICK HILL CASTLE. things : a large portion of the baronage of England were in open opposition to the kingly authority, and one of the most potent and active of the discontented barons was Robert de Vipont, who also claimed descent from the house of Busli ; either by force of law, or force of arms he obtained possession of the castle, and held it till the first year of Henry III., when a royal writ was issued to him to deliver the castle of Tickhill to the earl of Eu, in fulfilment of the treaty made by king John. Vipont, however, persisted in maintaining his right. After a long law-suit, the claims of the earl of Eu were confirmed, excepting the six knights' fees and a half in Maltby, Sandbeck, and Kimberworth. The earl died in the third of Henry III., and his countess, Alice, forfeited this honour to the crown.''' Again at the king's disposal, the castle and honour of Tickhill was put in dov/er to Eleanor, the wife of prince Edward, eldest son, and heir apparent to the king. This was in 1245. In the reign of Edward L, the struggle was revived between the crown and the representatives of De Busli, for the enjoyment of this great fee. But after a solemn hearing in parliament, it was determined that the earl of Eu was an alien ; and all private claims upon this castle and honour were now finally cleared away, and henceforth the possession was in the crown, or in parties to whom it was assigned. In the rising of the barons against the favourites of king Edward IL, in 1321, the castle of Tickhill was * Dugdale's Baronage, voL I. p. 137. b TICKHILL CASTLE. attacked by a party of the insurgents : the first assault seems to have been made about the beginning of February ; and for three weeks the siege was carried on. It was defended for the king by WilHam de Anne. Many persons were sLiin ; and the earl of Lancaster haying failed to defend the passage of the riyer at Burton-upon-Trent, was obliged to retreat northward, and the siege of the castle was raised. The castle and honour of Tickhill were settled by Edward III. on his queen Philhpa. She died in 1369 ; and three years afterwards the king assigned them to John of Gaunt, with many other lands, in exchange for the earldom of Richmond, which he surrendered to the crown. In the eighteenth 3^ear of that reign, the castle of Tickhill was appointed for the residence of the duchess of Bretaigne ; and five marks a week were to be paid to WilHam Frank, the constable, for the expenses this would occasion. In the fifth of Richard IL, the duke of Lancaster granted to Catherine Swinford an annuity of 200 marks, payable out of the receipts of this honour, in recompense of her care in educating his daughter. The castle and honour of Tickhill having thus become a part of the appanage of the duke of Lancaster, was included in the act passed in the first of Henry IV., by which the dukedom of Lancaster was declared to be no part of the royal demesne, but to remain as heretofore, with all its rights and libei'ties, as if the duke of Lancaster had not succeeded to tlie crown of England. TICKHILL CASTLE. 7 Assignments have, from time to time, been made of this castle and honour for temporary purposes, or in favour of different members of the royal house ; but these it is not necessary to particularize. After the battle of Marston Moor, and the surrender of York to the arms of the parliament, the earl of Manchester sent colonel Lilburn to reduce this castle. The garrison, consisting of eighty musketeers and thirty horse, were extremely oppressive to the in- habitants of the surrounding country. After a siege of two days, Major Monkton, the governor, desired a parley, and the garrison agreed to surrender them- selves prisoners of war. There was only one piece of cannon mounted in the castle ; but there were one hundred muskets and some powder and match. As the royalists here in garrison had plundered the country around, they were better supplied with pro- visions than with military stores. There were found above one hundred quarters of corn, many barrels of salt butter, great store of cheese and powdered beef, besides live cattle and sheep. On the 13th of April, 1646, the parliament issued an order, commanding that this castle, with several others, should be dismantled, and rejidered untenable. The circular keep was in consequence demolished ; but the foundations may still be traced, fragments of thick walls yet rising above ground. The gateway is the only part of the ancient castle which has not fallen into decay, although it is now roofless, and has otherwise suffered from the spoiler's hand. Over the entrance 8 TICKHILL CASTLE. there is a handsome chamber, with a large window towards the area, to which there was admission only from within the walls. The grooves of the portcullis yet remain, and one half of the moat yet contains water, the other half is choked up with rubbish. The area, defended by a single wall, and a moat of great breadth and depth, was of much greater extent than that at Conisborough. The exact space of the whole hill, including the area, the ascent, and the moat, is six acres, three roods, and thirteen perches. Within this area was Eleanor's chapel, and several edifices intended for the residence of the persons connected with the castle, and sometimes of the royal and noble owners, who did not inhabit the keep, except during the straitness of a siege. Of the chapel, if anything remains, it is an old doorway, over which are the words, The northern part of the castle buildings, ^\ith some modern additions and repairs, forms a commodious and picturesque mansion. A great part of the lower ground within the walls is converted into gardens and shrub- beries, and the steep acclivity of the mound is formed into winding walks, leading by an easy ascent to the summit finely shaded with pendant wood, and command- manding a delightful view of the gardens and the town below; as well as many distant objects, among which are the churches of Doncaster, Blyth, and Laughten-en-le- Morthen. Tlie large and lofty trees, ^Yhich skirt the TICKHILL CASTLE. 9 surrounding ditch and wall at the base of the hill, contribute to give a venerable aspect to this interesting I'elic of the feudal ages. The town of Tickhill is but small ; the streets are disposed in the form of a cross, by the roads from Worksop to Don caster, and from Bawtry to Eother- ham/^ The church, built in the reign of Richard II., is an elegant, spacious, and substantial edifice ; con- sisting of a nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a beautiful square tower at the west end. In the interior are many ancient monuments ; one of which is a splen- did altar tomb of alabaster, bearing the effigies of Sir Richard Fitzwilliam and his lady, said to have been removed here from the church of the Augustine priory. In the chancel, the monuments of the Estefields are particularly deserving of attention ; as is the whole fabric both externally and internall}^ The environs of Tickhill are pleasant, and in most parts fertile. The vale, which extends north and south from the town, and the lower parts of the slopes on each side, produce abundant crops of corn. About a quarter of a mile w^est of the town, shaded by a grove of walnut trees, are the remains of Clarel Hall, anciently occupied by the family of Clarel, who held part of the manor under the lords of the fee. In a retired valley, about 200 yards distant from the remains of this house, stood a priory of Augustine Friars, founded by the ancestors * In the twenty-third of Edward L, this town w'as summoned to send two burgesses to parlianicnt, when it returned John Bate and Richard fitz Richard de Eastfield. 10 TICKHILL CASTLE. of the Clarel family, who, as well as their descendants the Fitzwilliams, used the priory chapel as a place of sepulture ; but all monuments of them are gone, except a few shields of arms in the desecrated walls, and the splendid altar tomb now in the parish church. This house was surrendered in 1537, and there were at that time a prior and eight brethren. About the house were ninety fothers of lead, six bells, and sixteen ounces of plate. Part of the ruins are worked up in the outbuildings of the adjacent house ; but the stable door, in the wall of what was the chapel, is very per- fect, with a pointed arch, and double row of quatrefoils. The environs of Tickhill are beautiful and interesting, and the town is well worth a visit from the passing tourist. 11 ml^t %hk^,* The remains of this abbey are situate in the pictur- esque valley which extends from the hamlet of Stone to the village of Maltby, about three miles south west of the town of Tickhill, and close to the magnificent domain of Sandbeck Park, the seat of the earl of Scarborough. The foundation of this abbey was the most splendid act of piety of the early lords of Maltby and Hooten. But, though they were accounted the founders, because they gave the site, the monks must have done much for themselves, and had other great benefactors. A natural phenomenon, probably heightened by art, contributed to induce the monks to make choice of this spot. Among the accidental forms which portions of the fractured limestone had assumed, there was dis- covered something which bore the resemblance of our Saviour upon the .cross. This image was held in considerable reverence during the whole period of the * The name of this monastery has no connection with Roche, the Lombardy saint, who devoted himself to the pious care of the sick ; as all the Cistercian houses were dedicated to the Virgin, and were distinguished from each other by some addition, as de Fontibits, de Hvpe, when they were not near any place which had previously acquired a name. The Roche, or the Rocher, still designates a place not unlike the site of this abbey, on the banks of the Loxley, near Sheffield. 12 ROCHE ABBEY. existence of tlie monastery, and devotees were accus- tomed to come in pilgrimage to " Our Saviour of the Hoche." On the arrival of the monks, in or about the year 1147, they were welcomed by two lords of the soil on which they had settled themselves, Richard de Busli the lord of Maltby, and Richard the son of Turgis, called also Richard de Wickersley. To be the founder of a house of religion was a distinction of which even princes were ambitious ; and the two lords of Maltby and Hooten doubtless rejoiced in the opportunity w^hich seemed to be afforded them, of connecting their names for ever with such a founda- tion. By the light which the early charters afford, we discover that there was a friendly rivalry between the two families, who should first take the monks into their protection, and give them, for their absolute use, ground necessary for their holy purposes. It was finally settled in a manner which must have been highly satisfactory to the monks. The two lords were to convey to them a considerable portion of their territory, in which was included the rock from which they took their designation. The lord of Maltby's original donation is thus described : — The whole w^ood, as the middle way goes from Eilrichethorpe to Lowthwaite, and so far as the water which divides Maltby and Hooten ; also two sarts which were GammuFs, with a great culture adjacent, and common of pasture for a hundred sheep, six score to the hundred in socJiogia de Malthy, ROCHE ABBEY. lo The lord of Hooten gave the whole land from the borders of Eilrichethorpe as far as the brow of the hill beyond the rivulet which runs from Fogswell, and so to a heap of stones which lies in the sart of Elsi, and so beyond the road as far as the Wolf-pit, and so by the head of the culture of Hartshow, to the borders of Slade Hooten. All land and wood within these boun- daries he gave, with common of pasture through all his lands, and fifty carectas, perhaps loads of wood, in his wood of Wickersley. The whole of the ground comprehended in these two donations is described in Pope Urban's confirma- tion, A.D. 1186, as locum ipsum in quo abhatia sitaest^ Neither of these deeds has a date ; but the year 1147 was assigned as the date of its foundation, by the uniform tradition of the house. The architecture of the portions of the building which remain may be referred to that era. There is such an exact con- formity with the style of Kirkstall, that the church of Eoche evidently belongs to the same age ; and Mr. Hunter says, it may almost be affirmed that it was built upon a plan sketched by the same architect.! It is evident, therefore, that the monks, as soon as they received the grant of the soil, set themselves about erecting their church, and apartments for their resi- dence. Their church was built upon an extensive and * Hunter, vol. I., p. 267. f " South Yorkshire ; " a valuable work, to which we have been indebted for much information concerning the castles and abbeys of this part of the county. 14 ROCHE ABBF.Y. magnificent scale ; and it cannot be supposed that the burden of its erection rested solely on the lords who gave the land, though they would without doubt be forward in the pious design. It is, indeed, one of the great difficulties attending our monastic antiquities, to account for the command of labour, which must have been vested somewhere, directed for the preparation of so many noble houses of religion as arose during the twelfth century, while England was distracted by foreign and intestine war. The wdiole was completed before 118G, and in that interval the monks had found many liberal benefactors. Durandus was the first abbot. His presidency extended from June 1147 to 1159. From 1184 to 1223, Osmund was abbot. He had been cellarer of Fountains abbey. In his time, king Richard I. released the house from a debt of 1300 marks to the Jew^s ; perhaps not very honestly. John Wakefield was abbot in 1438. In his time, Maud, countess of Cambridge, made her will at this monastery, and directed that her remains should be interred there. Henry Cundall was the last abbot ; who, with seven- teen monks, surrendered the monastery, 23rd June, A.D. 1539 ; and he had conferred upon him an annual pension of £33 6s. 8d., which he still enjoyed in 1553; and of the seventeen monks, eleven were also alive at that time. On the abbot's departure, he was allowed to take his books, and the fourth part of the plate, cattle, and household stuff, a chalice, a vestment, and ROCHE ABBEY. 15 £30 in money, together with a convenient portion of corn. Every monk had a half-year's pension in ad- vance, and £20 towards his apparel ; and to each servant was granted a reward of half a year's wages. The stock of the abbey, at the period of the disso- lution, consisted of four score oxen, kine, and young beasts, five cart horses, two mares, one foal, one stag, six score sheep ; there were also twelve feather beds, and four score quarters of wheat and malt. The plate was very moderate. According to Dugdale, the clear yearly revenues were £224 ; and the gross amount, according to Speed, was £271 19s. 4d. The site was granted 38th of Henry VIII., to William Ramsden and Thomas Yavasour ; it now belongs, with the adjacent demesne of Sandbeck Park, to the earl of Scarborough. Of the fabric of the abbey only a building placed at the entrance of the precincts on the side towards Maltby, and some beautiful fragments of the transepts remain. The first mentioned building is placed close to the rock, and consists of two aisles, with groined arches above, and is of later architecture than the church; indeed so late, and standing at such a distance from the monastery, that it might be taken for part of the novum hospitiwn, mentioned in the account of the abbey property, and which w^as doubtless erected by the monks for the convenience of persons resorting to the abbey, and especially of the pilgrims who came in veneration of the image found in the rock. It also formed a gateway to the abbey on that side. A 16 ROCHE ABBEY. carriage way yet passes directly through it. When complete it has evidently had another story, as well as extended further towards the brook. Northward, and above the gateway and hospitium, the narrow valley is closed in by bold, perpendicular rocks, of considerable height, uneven, broken, rugged, and highly picturesque ; the dwarf oak and yew cling to the crevices, and give variety to the face of the cliff ; tall elms rise from the level ground in front, and the whole valley is hid in the most complete and delicious seclusion. Passing the remains of the gate- house, the high rock on the left is thickly fringed with yew ; suddenly the valley widens, and bends to the eastward, and we obtain our first view of the remains of the magnificent church. The richly wooded bank on the other side opening out, with the waters of the brook sleeping in a broad canal at its foot, presents a picture of exquisite beauty. The narrow valley east of the abbey, with a fine sheet of water running nearly down the centre, and the woods rising on each side, bears a great resemblance to the valley of the Skell, at Fountain's abbey, yet of a wilder and less artificial character. A large mass of stonework, at a distance west- ward from the principal portion which remains of the church, is evidently the base of one side of the great western entrance. This admitted to the nave, flanked by side aisles, the whole of which, with the exception of the base of one or two columns has disappeared. Advancing eastward, we arrive at the columns which ROCDE ABBEY. 17 supported the tower that rose at the intersection of the naye, choir, and transept. Much of these remains. The eastern walls of the transept still exist, and enough of the inner work to show, that in each were two small chapels, to which the entrance was from the open part of the transept, and the light admitted from windows looking eastward. In this we perceive a close resem- blance in design to the church at Kirkstall, as there is also the closest resemblance in some of the minuter dec- orations. The difference is, that at Kirkstall there are three of these chapels in each transept. The north wall must have arisen almost in contact with the per- pendicular rock ; and, indeed, the whole of the northern side of the church must have been darkened by that rock, which rises as high as the walls of the abbey themselves. Between these side chapels, and ex- tending considerably beyond them, was the principal choir, with lights at the east end, and on the north and south. And with this the church appears to have terminated, as there is nothing to indicate that there was any lady choir, or other building beyond. On the north side of the choir may be discerned the remains of some rich tabernacle work, consisting of crocketted canopies terminated in finials, a part of which has been painted of a red colour. This has the appearance of having been canopies over seats, or more probably over tombs. On the other side, the piscina of an altar yet remains in the wall. The ponds in which the monks were accustomed to keep their fish, and the mill at which they ground their corn, are still 18 ROCHE ABBEY. existing. The ruins stand at a short distance from the western extremity of Sandbeck Park, and the grounds were greatly improved by the late earl of Scarborough. They are hidden by a steep woody cliff towards the south, and by large rocks towards the north and north- west. To the east is a large reservoir of water, formed by the collected stream of a rivulet which runs close to the ruins. The banks on each side of this water are steep and clothed in wood, interspersed with rocks and fragments of ruins. Stately trees are growing among the walls of the church, which, with the lake in the valley, and the bold contiguous scenery, present a picture inexpressibly charming ; especially when viewed with the light and shade they receive from a western sun, ID CoNiNGSBOROUGH, OF Coiiisborougii castle, is one of those ancient structures which have given rise to much controversy among antiquaries ; some asserting it to be of Saxon origin; others contending, with more proba- bihty, for its erection by the Norman earls of Warren ; while Mr. King, in his " Munimenta Antiqua,'' refers the keep to the Britons of the days of Cartismandua, and to artists working on Phoenician and Phrygian models. The earliest proprietor of this domain, of whom we have any authentic record, was Harold, son of earl Godwin, who succeeded Edward the Confessor as king of England. At the time of the Domesday survey, Conisborough belonged to William de Warren, the son- in-law of the Conqueror, and the first earl of Warren and Surry. It was given to him with the fee entire, as Harold had possessed it. The second earl, of Warren enjoyed the honours and possessions of the family nearly fifty years, dying in 1138. * This place v,'as called by the Britons Cae?- Conan; by the Saxons Conanhurgli ; and by Robert of Gloucester, the monkish historian, Borough Conan. One of the principal scenes in Sir AValter Scott's romance of Ivanhoe is laid in this castle. And the old Saxon general, Hengist, is said by GeoiFrey of Monmouth, to have been slain in a great battle and buried here. 20 CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. The third earl sided sometimes with king Stephen^ and sometimes with the empress Matilda. He held the Warren lands about nine years, and was slain in Palestine, in 1147. He left an only daughter, who was first married to William de Blois, one of the sons of Stephen, who died without issue in 1159. She was afterw^ards given by Henry 11. to his half brother, Hameline, an illegitimate son of Greoffrey earl of Anjou, for whom an ample provision was thus made. He was earl of Warren and Surry till his death in 1 202. The most probable supposition is, that the keep of the castle was erected by this earl. Certain it is, that he endowed a chapel within the castle. " The terms of the charter/' says Mr. Hunter, " imply that it was a first endowment, not an augmentation of revenue ; whence it may be inferred, that he foimded as w^ell as endowed it." Hameline's son and heir, William, succeeded. He enjoyed the honours and lands for nearly forty years. He married the eldest of the sisters and heirs of the Mareschals, earls of Pembroke. She was the widow of Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk. To this lady the staff of marshal of England was delivered by the king, as her right of inheritance. The custody of the castle of Conisborough was committed to her care in 26th of Henry III. ; which was during the minority of her son. The possession of Conisborough was in earl William and his two successors, both named John, with a slight interruption from an accidental cause, through the long jspace of 140 years. CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. 21 John, the seventh earl Warren, married Alice, sister, by the mother's side, to king Henry III., to whose party he occasionally adhered, and at other times sided with the barons against him. John, the eighth, and last earl of Warren, was the grandson of the former, his father having been killed in a tournament in 1286. He was about eighteen at the death of his grandfather, in 1304, and at his death, in 1347, there was an end of the connexion of the name of Warren with Conisborough. To this earl, Edward I. gave his grand-daughter, Joan de Bar, in marriage. The union was issueless and not a happy one. In 1268, in a dispute about a pasture, the Warrens and the Lacies, lords of Ponte- fract, had each armed their retainers, and prepared for one of those lawless encounters, of which there are several instances in our baronial history, but were prevented by the king. Alice de Laci, the heiress of Pontefract, was of about the same age with the eighth earl of Warren. She was given in marriage to Thomas, earl of Lancaster, grandson to king Henry III. ; she lived, for the most part, at her castle of Pontefract. This lady, on the Monday before ascension day, in 1317, was carried off by violence, and conveyed to a castle of the earl of Warren, at Keigate, in Surry. She was divorced by her indignant husband, and the earl of Lancaster proceeded to avenge himself by laying siege to the castles in Yorkshire belonging to the earl of Warren, one of which was Conisborough. A writ was issued from the king, dated November 22 CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. 13th, 1317, commanding him to cease from doing so ; and in the following year, the earl of Lancaster engaged to pardon every one all trespasses and felonies done against him, with the exception of the trespasses and felonies of the earl of Warren. About the same time, the earl of Lancaster obtained possession of the manor of Wakefield and the castle of Conisborough, thus banishing his rival entirely from the north. In 1322, when the earl of Lancaster, in rebellion against king Edward II., was defeated and taken prisoner at the battle of Boroughbridge, among the peers present in the castle of Pontefract, when sentence of death was passed upon him, and he was led forth to die, was the earl of Warren. On the death of the earl of Lancaster, this fee escheated to the crown. The grant of his Yorkshire lands to the earl of Lancaster had been made by the earl of Warren, only for the term of his life. He therefore surrendered his manors into the king's hands, for the purpose of making a disposition of his estates after his death : they were re-conveyed to him by the king for his life, with remainder to Maud de Nerford, a lady with whom he had cohabited after separation from his wife ; remainder to John de Warren, son to the said Maud, and the heirs male of his body ; remainder to Thomas de Warren, another son of the said Maud, and the heirs male of his body ; remainder to the heirs of the earl lawfully begotten ; and, in the event of the extinction of these parties, to revert to the king. This extraordinary disposition did not take CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. 23 effect ; for the two sons died before the earl, without leaving issue ; and he also survived Maud de Nerford. By virtue of this will, the inheritance of the earl of Warren's lands, lying north of Trent, came to the crown. On the 6th of August, 1347, only seven and thirty days after the death of the earl, a royal patent was signed at Reading, by which all the possessions of the deceased earl were settled on Edmund of Langley, a younger son of the king, and the heirs male of his body. He was created, by his father, earl of Cambridge ; and, in the ninth year of Richard II., he was advanced to the illustrious title of duke of York. He died in 1401. Edward, the elder of the two sons of Edmund, became, after his father s death, duke of York. He adhered closely to the house of Lancaster, and was much trusted by them. He accompanied Henry V. in his great expedition into France, and lost his life in the battle of Agincourt. Richard of Conisborough was the younger of the two sons of Edmund of Langley ; he married Ann Mortimer, the daughter of Roger earl of March and Phillipa, the daughter and heiress to Lionel, duke of Clarence. This marriage brought the claim to the crown to the house of York ; for her brother, Edward Mortimer, the last of the Mortimers, earls of March, died without leaving issue. Richard, duke of York, entered into possession of Conisborough in 1446, on the death of the countess of Cambridge. He was slain in the battle of Wakefield Green, December 24th, 1460. 24 CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. Edward, earl of March, inlierited his father's claim to the crown ; and in the year after his father's death was fought the great battle of Towton, in which the fortunes of the house of York prevailed, and the earl became seated on the throne as king Edward IV. Conisborough now was kept as a private fief of the crown, and as such it was continued till the marriage of Henry VII. with Elizabeth of York, when the ancient rivalry of the red and white rose became extinct ; and, there being no probability of the right of succession of the issue being questioned, the whole of what had been settled on Edmund of Langley was declared by parliament to be resumed, and for ever annexed to the crown. From this time we may begin to date the gradual decay of the edifice which formed the residence of the Warrens, and the early princes of the house of York. Leland says very little respecting this castle. He " saw no notable thing at Cunesborow'" but the castel, standing on a rokket of stone, and diched. The walls have been strong and full of towres. Dunus flu alluit mllam!' Ko garrison was placed in it during the civil wars, and it is not mentioned with Sheffield, Tickhill, and Sandal, in the order of the house of commons for dismantling the northern castles in 1646. In the third year of queen Elizabeth, the site of the castle, the demesne lands, and the feudal rights over a * Such is the manner in which the name is pronounced by many people in that neighbourhoocl at present. CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. 25 portion of the ancient honour of Conisborough, were granted by patent to her relative, Henry Carey, then lately created baron Hunsdon. It continued in that family until the extinction of the male line, when it passed with other great estates to lady Mary Carey, who married William Heveningham, Esq., of Heven- ingham, one of king Charles' judges. This lady died very rich, in 1696, when her property descended to her grand-daughter and heiress, Carey Newton, who married Edward Coke, Esq., of Holkham, in Norfolk. Conisborough became the property of a younger son, Edward Coke, Esq., of Longford ; who died in the prime of life, 1733. In 1737, the castle of Conisborough, &c., was sold, pursuant to directions contained in the will of Edward Coke, Esq. The purchaser was Thomas, the fourth duke of Leeds, one of whose principal seats was at Kiveton, an ancient member of the soke of Conisborough. From him it has descended to his grandson, George William Frederick, duke of Leeds, the present noble owner. The site of the castle is a natural eminence, of which the upper part, a level area of three roods and two perches, is completely encircled by the outer wall. It is overlooked by a stiU higher hill, on which is the town and church, towards the west, but at too great a distance to be annoyed by such missiles as were in use when the castle was built. The valley between the two eminences was a deep ravine, made deeper by art ; across it a draw-bridge appears to have been thrown ; and this led to the onl v entrance to the 26 CONISBOROUGII CASTLE. castle. The north side of the hill is very steep, and even precipitous ; and the walls of the castle are placed so exactly on the verge, that before the forma- tion of the modern path, it would be difficult to walk round the walls on that side. At a short distance from the foot of the hill glides the river Don. On the south and east, ditches have been cut round the base of the hill, which appear to have been originally intended to contain water. They are now nearly filled by portions of the outer wall which have fallen into them. The sides of the hill, and the area within the walls, have been planted with elm and ash ; the trees have attained a great size, and certainly add to the picturesque beauty, as well as solemnity of the scene. The entrance to the area of the castle is by a wdnding way, about ten feet wide, made in such a manner as to be easily defended from the walls and towers above, and of very difficult and dangerous access to an enemy. At the northern extremity of the area rises in severe and simple majesty the keep ; devoid of all external ornament, and of a form calcu- lated for almost eternal duration. It is eighty-six feet in height, of a cylindrical form, with six square but- tresses extending the whole height. These buttresses are widest close to the main wall, diminishing a little outwardly, and are of the same age and masonry as the rest of the tower. In the lower part, both walls and buttresses diverge from the perpendicular, be- coming wider, as if to take a firmer hold on the earth, CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. 27 as we sometimes see the lordly oak grapple itself to the soil bj a broad and solid base. The outer wall, which has been strengthened by several round towers, is now broken down in many places ; on the north side, where the wall is yet of considerable height, have been several apartments. But there appears, with the exception of the keep, to have been no accommodation for a considerable garrison, or even any apartments at all fitted for the lodging of the lord and his family. When once the area was gained, there w^as nothing to prevent the progress of an enemy to the foot of the keep. The masonry of the keep differs materially from that of the other parts of the castle, which is more modern, and of an inferior kind, both as regards materials and workmanship. The stones of the keep are nicely squared, smooth, and accurately joined, with the courses distinct and regular ; a fine specimen of ancient workmanship. To the interior there is only one entrance, which is by a small door facing the south-west, considerably above the ground, at the top of a flight of thirty-three stone steps. This door opens through the cylindrical part of the wall, which is here fifteen feet thick. Over this door is a semicircular arch, also a transom beam, the stones of which latter are neatly and curiously notched, or dovetailed into each other. The passage through the wall has a circular coved roof; on the right is a flight of wide steps, which leads to the next story. This apart- ment is of a circular form, twenty- two feet in diameter, 28 COJ^ISBOROUGH CASTLE. and occupies the entire breadth of the keep ; it has no window, or fire-place, nor any other contrivance for hght and warmth, that can be discerned. We look through a circular aperture in the centre of the floor, about six feet in diameter, and see beneath the room in which we stand, a place which maj be truly called a den of darkness. This room is in that part of the castle where the walls diverge from the perpendicular, and has no other entrance than the aperture just mentioned. This cellar, dungeon, or whatever it may have been, is spacious, and has a vaulted stone roof. In the centre of the floor is a well, about three feet in diameter, neatly walled with stone, of considerable depth ; now destitute of water. By the flight of steps, on the right of the entrance, which follows the curva- ture of the wall, without any intermediate landing place, we reach the next apartment. The steps are of solid stone, the roof vaulted, and the passage five or six feet in width. Light" is admitted by loop holes. The door of the upper apartment is gone, as is all the wood work in every part of the keep ; but the staples for the hinges and bolts remain. The door has opened outwards, and we enter the apartment down one step. This room is circular, like the others below; the diameter is about two feet longer ; the apartments widening as we ascend, by the setting in of the walls for the convenience of laying the floors ; there are stone trusses all round the walls, to support the ends of the beams of timber on which the floor was laid. No part of the timber has been let into the wall ; so CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. 29 that, though all the wood work had been destroyed by fire, the shell of the building would have suffered little damage. This apartment has a noble fire-place, eight or nine feet wide, with a triple pillar on each side, having Norman capitals. The chimney piece, tv^elve feet long, has a flat surface, and is composed of several stones, fitted into each other by a kind of zigzag or dovetail work, like the transom above the outer entrance. On one side of this room is a door- way, which opens to a flight of six steps, from which a short and winding passage conducts to a retiring closet, formed in one of the buttresses. Further on is a little recess, or small chamber formed in the circular part of the wall, and immediately over the door of entrance. This recess is open to the circular apart- ment, and a stone bench runs round three of its sides. Here is the largest window in the whole structure, though small indeed, yet it affords a pleasant look-out towards Crookhill and Clifton. This window has a contrivance for sliding a massive beam before it. It was the only entrance for light, into what appears to have been the principal apartment. The ascent to the next story is by a flight of thirty- four steps, with one loophole light in the ascent, and another at the landing place. The apartment we now arrive at is like the last, but wider, for the reasons before given. It has a fire-place, recess, and lavatory, differing but little from those in the room below, except that the recess is smaller. The door of egress is again placed nearly opposite to the entrance, and 30 CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. the access to it was by crossing the apartment ; it is now by passing along the lenching. Walking along this ledge we arrive at a doorway leading to one of the most interesting parts of this curious fabric, — a chapel, or oratory, formed in the thickness of the wall, and one of the buttresses. This apartment is an irregular hexagon, in length twelve feet, its breadth in the middle is eight feet, and at each end six feet. In the roof are two pairs of cross arches, springing from six circular columns, having Norman capitals. Though slightly differing in the style of its architecture, this room is an integral part of the original design, and has evidently been devoted to the uses of Christian worship, as the lavatory and the piscina of an altar yet remain. A doorway on the left of the entrance to the chapel leads to a small room, lighted by a loop- hole, which appears to have been a kind of vestry. Here is nothing to be seen but a niche with a trefoil head. In the passage from the circular chamber, just described, is a winding irregular way to a second closet. The steps of this flight are narrow and in- convenient, the walls at this elevation being much reduced in thickness, by the widening of the apart- ments. At the head of this flight has been a circular room, like those below ; but the circular parts of the wall are broken down, and all which remains are the tops of the six buttresses, rising to the height of about nine feet above the level of the floor. In each of tliese buttresses is a hollow place, not unlike an oven. In one of these are twelve small apertures, which may CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. 31 have been intended for throwing down boiKng water, or molten lead upon the besiegers. Over the alcove, in one of the buttresses, has evidently been a small room, a portion of its window still remaining ; and in another a flight of steps, which may be supposed to have led to a Avatchman's station in this, the highest part of the castle. No trace of any roof remains. Such is this far famed keep, which has given rise to more conjecture, and been more frequently the subject of the pen and the pencil, than perhaps any other ruin of its kind in the kingdom. Whatever may be thought of the era of its erection, there can be no doubt respecting the purpose it was intended to serve, which was evidently as a last retreat for the inhabitants of the castle ; who here, if anywhere, must have found a fortress that was impregnable. The view from the top, though not very extensive, is varied and highly beautiful, extending over the richly wooded valley of the Don, a broad and navig- able stream ; overlooking its confluence with the Dearne, a smaller stream from the moorlands of the west, above Barnsley. The South Yorkshire Railway runs along the valley just below the ruin, and then dives by a short tunnel under a wooded hill, and though not quite in character with the solemnity that always hovers over a venerable ruin, enlivens the scene, and gives us an opportunity of comparing the present with the past. The country around is beauti- fully varied by hills and valleys, and generally thickly 32 CONISBOROUGH CASTLE. wooded, the oak and ash being the prevaihng trees ; the dark, solemn yew is also a common tree in the hedges. The village of Conisborough is well built and hand- some ; pleasantly situated, on the top and sides of a hill, with the Sheffield and Doncaster turnpike road on one side, and the South Yorkshire Railway and Don Navigation on the other.* The church is a spacious and lofty edifice, consisting of a nave, side aisles, and chancel, with a tower at the west end. On the south side is a porch, having a circular doorway, with chevron mouldings. The aisles are evidently of the same age with the body of the church ; and are each separated from it by three circular arches, springing from low, cylindrical columns. The capitals of these columns are variously orna- mented ; in some of them the Norman volute and foilage appear. A single glance is sufficient to show that this church belongs to an early era of churcli architecture. Conisborough is five miles distant from Doncaster, and seven from Rotherham, from which places it is easily accessible by means of the South Yorkshire Railway. * " In the immediate neighbourhood of Conisborough are six market towns, 121 villages, three stone bridges, forty water mills, six noblemen's seats, sixty seats of gentlemen, fifty parks, and two navigable rivers." — Baines' Yoi'k shire. 33 ^0tttcfrad Castle. ^ The castle of Pontefract is one of the most cele- brated in English history. The origin of the town is unknown, and the etymology of its name has been a matter of dispute. Camden says, that in the Saxon times the name of the town was Kirkby, which was changed by the Normans to Pontefract, because of a broken bridge that was there. It appears to have been a burgh in the time of Edward the Confessor ; but how long it had enjoyed that privilege is un- certain. At that period, the manor is supposed to have belonged to the king, as no Saxon proprietor is mentioned in Domesday book. After the Conquest, this manor, with one hundred and fifty others in Yorkshire, besides ten in Nottinghamshire, and four in Lincolnshire, were given by William, to Hildebert, or Ilbert de Lacy, one of his Norman followers. This powerful baron undertook the stupendous work of erecting Pontefract castle, which he commenced early in the reign of king William, and completed in the year 1080. This castle was built on an elevated rock, commanding a most extensive and picturesque view of the surrounding country. Its situation contributed greatly to its strength, and rendered it almost im- pregnable. It was not commanded by any contiguous D 34 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. hill, and the only way it could be taken was by blockade. In its perfect condition, the state rooms of the castle were large, and accommodated with offices suited to the residence of a prince. The first member of the castle which merits notice is the barbacan ; ""^ this was situate on the west side of the outer yard, and formed the entrance into the castle called the west gate house. A similar tower, with a drawbridge, stood near the Booths, and formed the entrance on the east, and was called the east gate house. The third gate was called the south gate, and opened into the road leading to Darrington and Doncaster, at the bottom of what is now called the castle garth. This gate led to another in the centre of the wall, which runs across the area from the east to the west gate, and was called the middle gate. The north side of this area was formed by the south wall of the ballium, or great castle yard, in the centre of which was the porter's lodge — the grand entrance into the yard of the castle. All these gates might be, and frequently were, used as watch towers. The whole of this area was sometimes called the barbacan, and within it stood the king's stables and a large barn. Near the barbacan, and close to the west entrance, was the main guard, a place of considerable magnitude and strength. A deep moat or ditch was cut on the west side of the castle, extending from the west gate, round the great tower to the north ; and another on * Bootiiroyd's Pontefract, p. 163. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 35 the east, extending from the constable's tower along to the east gate. The wall of the ballium, or great castle yard, was high, and flanked with seven towers, called the round tower, the red tower, Treasurer's or pix tower, Swil- lington tower. Queen's tower. King's tower, and Con- stable's tower. The walls of the balliura had a parapet, and the merlons were pierced with long chinks ending in eyelets. Within the ballium were the lodgings and barracks for the garrison and artificers, the Chapel of St. Clement, and the magazine. On an eminence at the western extremity of the ballium stood the keep, here called the round tower. This was the citadel, or last retreat of the garrison. It was generally, in large castles, a tower five or six stories in height, having turrets at each angle ; and here there were six, three large and three small ones. Such was this renowned fortress in its day of prosperity, at once a palace and a prison. We now turn to the history of its princely lords, and to the catalogue of crime and bloodshed by which it has been distinguished. Ilbert de Lacy was succeeded in his possessions here by his son Robert, commonly called Robert of Ponte- fract, from the circumstance of his being born at this town. Robert enjoyed his vast possessions in peace during the reign of William Rufus ; but after the accession of Henry I., he imprudently joined with Robert duke of Normandy, the king's brother, who claimed the crown of England. In consequence of this transaction, Robert de Lacy was banished the 30 rONTEFRACT CASTLE. realm ; and the castle and honour of Pontefract were giv^en b}^ the king to Henry Traverse, and afterward to Henry Delaval. The history of the Lacys is in this part somewhat obscure ; but it appears that Robert was restored to his paternal domains after a few years' exile ; and dying in the latter part of the reign of Henry I., left two sons, Ilbert and Henry, the first of whom inherited his vast estates. Ilbert, dying without issue, was succeeded by his brother Henry, who left his possessions to his son Kobert. This Robert dying without issue in 1193, the estate and honour of Ponte- fract devolved on his uterine sister, Aubrey de Lisours, who carried these estates of the Lacys by marriage to Richard Fitz Eustace, constable of Chester. The estates of both these noble families descended to John Fitz Eustace, who accompanied Richard I. in his crusade, and is said to have died at Tyre in Palestine. Roger, his eldest son, who was also engaged in that expedition, succeeded to his honours and estates. He continued with Richard, and was present at the memorable siege of Acre, where he greatly contributed to the success of the christian arms. After his return to England, he rendered himself terrible to the hardy mountaineers of Wales, whose incursions he often and vigorously repelled. He was the first of this family that took the name of Lacy. The estate and honour of Pontefract continued in that illustrious name till the year 1310, when Henry de Lacy, through default of male issue, left his possessions to his daughter and heiress, Alice, who was married to Thomas earl of PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 37 Lancaster ; and in case of a failure of male issue from that marriage, he entailed them on the king and his heirs. The earl of Lancaster was one of the chief opponents of Piers Gavestone, the favourite of Edward IL, and was one of the chief instruments in compassing his death : he was afterwards at the head of the con- federated barons opposed to the younger Spenser, another favourite of the weak Edward. His army was defeated, and himself taken prisoner at the battle of Boroughbridge, March 16th, 1322. He was brought to the castle of Pontefract, treated with great indignity, and exposed to the insults of the soldiery. He was there imprisoned in a tower which " he had newly made towards the abbey."''^' It is probable that this was Swillington tower, which seems to have been designed as a place of close confinement. This tower was square, its walls of great strength, being ten feet and a half thick ; nor was there ever any entrance into the interior, except by a hole, or trap-door in the floor of the turret ; so that the prisoner must have been let down into this abode of darkness, from whence there could be no possible way of escape.f A few days after, the king being at Pontefract, ordered him to be arraigned in the hall of the castle, before a small number of peers, among whom were the Sponsors, his mortal enemies. The result of his trial was such as might have been expected. The earl was condemned * Leland. t Boothroyd's Pontefract, p. 96. 38 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. to be hanged, drawn, and quartered ; but through respect to his royal blood the sentence was changed to decapitation. After judgment was passed, he said, " Shall I die without answer 1 '' He was not, however, permitted to speak in his own defence ; but a Gascon took him away, and having put an old hood over his head, set him on a lean mare, without a bridle. Being- attended by a Dominican friar as his confessor, he was carried out of the town amidst the insults of the soldiers. Having reached the hill where he was to suffer, he kneeled down, and the executioner severed his head from his body. The prior and monks having begged his remains of the king, buried them near the high altar of the neighbouring priory. Thus fell Thomas earl of Lancaster, first prince of the blood, being uncle to Edward II., who condemned him to death. His fate involved that of many others. On the day of his execution, several lords, his adherents, were hanged at Pontefract ; and on the day following, others were executed at York. The earl perished amidst the insults of a military rabble, and was branded with the odious name of traitor. But the people, who regarded him as the martyr of liberty, venerated him as a saint. It was even pretended that miracles were wrought at his tomb, and he was afterwards canonised at the request of Edward III., the son of the monarch who put him to death. The next royal blood which stained Pontefract castle, was that of Richard II., who, in 1399, was deposed, and afterwards murdered in the castle here. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 39 Various opinions are, however, entertained relative to his death. Some historians assert that he was in- humanly starved to death ; whilst others tell us, that Sir Piers Exton, one of the domestics of Henry IV., was sent down with eight ruffians to murder him ; w^hich it is said w^as executed in the following manner : they entered his chamber when he was alone, and unarmed, and attempted to lay hold on him ; but perceiving their deadly errand, he snatched a pole axe from one of his assailants, and so furiously attacked them, that he laid four of them dead at his feet. Whilst combatting with the rest of the murderers, Exton mounted on a chair behind him, and struck him down with the blow of a pole axe. In the succeeding reign of Henry IV., Richard Scrope, archbishop of York, who was in arms against the king, after being insidiously taken prisoner by the earl of Westmorland, at Shipton, near York, was in this castle condemned to death. The sentence was executed near Bishopthorpe, June 8th, 1405. In 1483, Anthony Woodville, earl Rivers, Richard lord Grey, Sir Thomas Vaughan, and Sir Richard Hawte, were committed to this castle by the mandate of Richard, duke of Gloucester; and shortly afterwards, in order to clear his way to the throne, basely murdered without any legal trial. ' ' Rest, gentle Rivers ! and ill-fated Grey ! A flower, or tear oft strews your humble grave; Whom envy slew to pave ambition's way, And whom a monarch wept in A'ain to save." 40 ' rONTEFRACT CASTLE. During the "Pilgrimage of Grace/' in '1536, this castle was besieged by the insurgents under the com- mand of the famous Robert Aske. The archbishop of York, and lord Darcy, had thrown themselves into the fortress, but secretly fayouring the cause of the rebels, the castle was soon surrendered, and the prelate and nobleman, seeming to yield to the force imposed on them, joined the rebels. From this time to the reign of Charles I. few matters of importance occur in the history of Ponte- fract. At the commencement of dissension between the king and parliament, the castle was garrisoned by the royalists ; nor was it till after the victory on Marston Moor, and the surrender of York to the arms of the parliament, that any attempt was made to reduce it, when detachments were sent out to besiege the castles occupied by the king's forces, and amongst the rest that of Pontefract. The command of the detachment sent to this place was given to Colonel Sands, who in the month of August, 1644, fell in with a party of the enemy sent out to protect some cattle, routed them, took all the cattle, and made several prisoners. Colonel Sands for some time watched the motions of the enemy, and endeavoured to cut off their foraging parties, rather than form a regular siege ; and indeed the strength of the place, and the courage and prudence of the royalists, rendered necessary a much greater force than he possessed. The success, however, of the parliamentary generals, had now set many of the troops at liberty, and they soon marched to the PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 41 assistance of Colonel Sands. Sir Thomas Fairfax, as the superior officer, took the command ; and in the beginning of December, he drove in the garrison, possessed himself of the town, and on Christmas day closely besieged the castle.'" Some of the royalists, protected by the fire of their friends from the castle, kept for a few days possession of the low-church. The enemy sensible of the im- portance of this position, prepared to dislodge them ; and on the 29th of December commenced their attack. The royalists defended the church for some time with bravery and resolution ; all their efforts were, however, unavailing, for their opponents obliged them to retreat, and obtained possession of the church. In this action, the royalists lost captain Waterhouse, of Netherton, three privates, and eleven wounded. The loss of the enemy, though victorious, was much greater. They are said to have had sixty killed and forty wounded. On the 19th of January, 1645, after an incessant cannonade against the walls of the castle, the pix tower gave way, and, by its fall, carried part of the walls along with it, by which a breach was made : but whilst the castle was thus assailed, its defenders were not inactive. A shot from the castle struck a match belonging to the enemy, and, some sparks falling into the gunpowder, it exploded, and killed twenty-seven men. By a well-directed fire of musketry, the beseiged obliged their enemy * Whitelock, p. 102. 42 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. to keep their distance, and frequently did considerable execution.'"' The breach above alluded to having been effected, the besiegers hoped that the castle would be surren- dered. On the 21st of January, colonel Forbes sent a drum to the gate of the castle, which beat a parley. The governor, colonel Lowther, and his brave garrison, rejected the proposals of the enemy for a surrender, and resolved to defend the place to the last €xtremity. The parliamentary general not deeming it practicable to enter by the breach, ordered mines to be sprung, to blow up the walls and the towers ; but on the discovery of this attempt, the besieged began to countermine, and sunk within the castle, or close to its walls, more than a hundred pits, from whence they commenced their mines. The operations of the siege, however, went regularly on, till the garrison was reduced to great distress for want of provisions. At this period, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, one of the royalist generals, making a rapid march from Oxford at the head of 2,000 horse, arrived at Pontefract, and attacked the besiegers, who were then commanded by colonels Lambert and Forbes. The garrison, at the same time, made a vigorous sortie ; and the parlia- mentarians, being defeated after an obstinate engage- ment, retired in disorder and with a considerable loss to Ferrybridge, and from thence towards Sherburn and Tadcaster, being closely pursued by the royalists. After obtaining this signal victory, and obliging the * BooTHROYD's roiitefract, p. 175. PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 43 enemy to raise the siege, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, having refreshed his men for a few days, retired to Doncaster, and from thence to Newark. After general Langdale's departure, the parha- mentarian troops again collected, and the royalists in Pontefract castle had to sustain a second siege. On the 21st of March, 1645, the enemy took possession of the town ; and after four months of incessant cannonades, attacks, and sorties, the garrison, being reduced to a state of famine, surrendered the castle by an honourable capitulation, on the 20th of July. Sir Thomas Fairfax was appointed governor ; but as he was sufficiently employed in the field, he placed colonel Cotterel in the castle as his substitute. As the royal party seemed now subdued, and the war drawing near to a conclusion, only one hundred men were left with Cotterel in garrison. The king's friends, therefore, formed a scheme for regaining that fortress, of which they well knew the importance. On the 6th of June, 1648, the governor having given orders for bringing some beds and provisions out of the country, colonel Morrice being commissioned by general Langdale, and accompanied by nine officers, disguised like peasants, having arms concealed beneath their garments, appeared at the castle gates, with carts laden with beds, provisions, &c. On their arrival the draw-bridge was let down, and the beds, &c., being- delivered to the main guard, money was given to some of the soldiers to fetch ale. Scarcely had these departed, when Morrice and his party attacked and 44 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. mastered the main guard, and made way for their con- federates to enter. Captain WilHam Paulden, and some others, then went to the apartment of the deputy governor, whom they made prisoner, after a determined resistance. Having now made themselves masters of the castle, they were soon joined by thirty horse and five hundred foot, part of the king's scattered troops, and Sir John Digby was made governor. In the month of October, 1648, the third siege of Pontefract commenced. General Rainsborough was appointed to the command of the army ; but sub- sequently Oliver Cromwell undertook, in person, to conduct the siege. Having remained a month before this fortress, without being able to make any impres- sion on its massy walls, Cromwell found it necessary to join the grand army, under Fairfax ; and general Lambert being appointed commander of the forces before the castle, arrived in Pontefract on the 4th of December. This able general formed new w^orks, made regular approaches, and pushed the siege with the greatest vigour. The besieged, how^ever, were not discouraged by his efforts. On the 30th of January, 1649, the king was beheaded ; and the news of this event no sooner reached Pontefract, than the garrison proclaimed his son Charles XL, and made a vigorous and destructive sally against their enemies. But, notwithstanding the sorties of the garrison, and the losses which the be- siegers sustained, the prudence, perseverance, and activity of Lambert deprived the royalists of all hope PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 45 of deliverance. On the 25tli of March, 1649, the garrison being reduced from between five and six hundred men to one hundred, and some of these unfit for duty, surrendered by capitulation. Only six per- sons being excepted from mercy, who, however, con- trived to escape. For the space of many centuries this magnificent and formidable castle was the ornament and terror of the surrounding country ; but now, its stubborn re- sistance was conquered, and the period of its humilia- tion come. The tremendous effects of artillery had shattered its walls ; and its demolition was com- pleted by order of parliament. Within two months after its reduction, the buildings were unroofed, and all the valuable materials sold ; and the princely fortress, wdiich had long been considered the glory and pride of Pontefract, reduced to a heap of ruins. At this day little even of these ruins remain ; but when they shall have disappeared, the vast and solid mound will still continue to mark the spot, and excite serious reflections on the instability of human greatness. The principal, and highest part remaining is a frag- ment of the keep, situate on the western side of the area, and consisting of the remains of two massive round towers, with some connecting walls. The first glance at the ruins of the once proud fortress of Pontefract is any- thing but prepossessing ; presenting to the eye the ap- pearance of a vast mass of rubbish ; however, on nearing it, we find that it is a pile of masonry, worn, and shattered by time and violence ; but yet sufficient to 46 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. convey an idea of what it had been when in its perfect state. After passing what was once the inner ditch, now filled up, and converted into garden grounds, with feelings in no ordinary degree excited by the history of this blood-stained pile, we approach the principal entrance, which is by a wide flight of steps, passing in an indirect manner through the wall. Passing this entrance we are in the area of the castle, and turning to the left we reach another flight of steps, after ascending which we are in the basement story of the keep, which has been considerably raised by artificial means above any other portion of the castle. It is a circle, about 64 feet in diameter ; with three or four passages leading from it to singular and myste- rious places within its walls. Descending along one of them, we come to the outside of the castle, by a low sally port ; returning by the same broken stair, we find a passage branching off" on the left hand, which cannot be explored without a light, which having provided, we follow its windings downward, until the passage becomes choked up, and our further progress arrested. Tradition says, that this passage led under the moat and came out on the hill in the park, nearly a mile distant. Another turn of the same passage appears to have led to a well. These holes and pas- sages are all within the round tower next the entrance, which, but for these openings, is one solid mass of masonry. In the other round tower is a small square room, probably designed for a dungeon, for we cannot imagine it adapted for any other purpose. A little PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 47 beyond tliis, on the right hand, are remains of a great staircase, leading up to the state apartments above, which are now all destroyed. There does not appear to have been any openings for the admission of light and air into the lower apartments of the keep, except by the door. While looking into the deep, mysterious dens, and exploring the narrow, dark passages of this " bloody prison," the mind instinctively recalls the murderous deeds which have been enacted within these walls, and a thrill of horror runs through the frame. On the right of the steps leading up into the keep, a loophole pierces the wall, and lets us see its immense thickness. Fronting the foot of the stairs, at a little distance, is a square hole like the mouth of a well, which has either been the entrance of a most horrid dungeon, or the inward mouth of some very singular subterraneous sally port. It is very deep, but quite dry ; the sides are neatly lined with stone, and on that which is nearest the foot of the stairs, on looking down, appears, at a great depth, a very high arch, leading to some vault or passage. Passing along the north-west side of the area, we come to a low chamber, arched with rough stones, formed in the thickness of the wall, about fourteen feet wide and nine feet high in the middle. Tradition points this out as the place where king Richard II. was confined and murdered ; but the smallness of the room hardly agrees with what is related of the manner of his death, by the blow of a pole axe from Sir Piers Exton. Yet it would be quite a fitting place where 48 PONTEFRACT CASTLE. he might be starved to death ; and such was the state- ment made by archbishop Scrope and the confederate lords soon after the event. Another singular underground place, near the centre of the area is called the powder magazine. It is cut out of the solid rock, and is 27 feet below the surface of the ground ; the descent to it is by a passage four feet wide, down a flight of 43 steps. The entrance at the bottom is through a low, round-headed arch ; on the right of the entrance are two small semi-circular recesses in the wall, about a foot deep and two feet wide each. On the back of the second, among other names cut on the stone is T. Elliott, 1647. The main body of the place is eighteen feet in length, by about ten in breadth, with four cavities, or cells, on the one side, and two on the other. These are simply hewn out of the rock, with a kind of rude pillar in front. Light is admitted by a square hole, like a well, from above. At the seventeenth step on the right hand, was the entrance into a large dungeon, which is now walled up. Many names are cut upon the soft stone on the sides of the passage ; some with dates. The following three, which are easy to see, were officers in the castle during the last sieges ; — 1648 John Smith 16 Geo. 48 John Grant 1648 Beale The whole area occupied by this stupendous fortress has been about seven acres, which is now converted into orchards and garden ground ; much of it being devoted to the raising of liquorice, a plant which thrives PONTEFRACT CASTLE. 49 exceedingly in this neighbourhood. The view of the town and country from the highest part of the castle is at once extensive, interesting, and highly beautiful. Towards the west and north-west, the eye glances over Houghton and Castleford, along the fruitful val- leys watered by the rivers Aire and Calder ; over towns and villages, woods and plantations, including the parks and mansions of Methley and Temple New- sam, and the country as far as the hills of Craven. To the north, and north-east the view is equally ex- tensive, though not marked by such picturesque and interesting features ; the home landscape is varied and beautiful, and the towers of York minster are seen rising from the level plain, with the eastern moorlands far in the dim horizon. Towards the east, the eye follows the course of the Aire, reposes with pleasure upon the woods around Fryston, marks the twin mounts of Brayton Barf and Hambleton Heugh, near the course of the Ouse, and rests upon the blue out- line of the Yorkshire Wolds, which limit the vision in that direction. On the south-east, the prospect em- braces the county of York on that side, with parts of the adjoining counties of Lincoln and Nottingham. The south, and south-west prospect overlooks rich home scenery, and is closed by the hills of Derbyshire. At hand, the town lies almost beneath our feet, with its railways, villas, churches, gardens, streets, and houses. 50 S antral Castle. The manor of Wakefield, of which Sandal is a member, formed part of the great Warren fee, of which Conisborough castle was the capital. John, the eighth and last earl of Warren, succeeded his grand- father in the barony, in the year 1304; his father having been killed in a tournament, in 1286. To this earl, Edward I. gave his grand- daughter, Joan de Barr, in marriage. The marriage was issueless, and not a happy one. Both parties earnestly sued for a divorce ; but the law of the Church was uncom- promising. It could not, however, prevent the earl from estranging himself from her, and she lived on a revenue derived from the Warren estates. Separated from his wife, he cohabited with one Maud de Nerford, a lady of rank, in the county of Norfolk ; and if either of his pleas, proximity of blood, and precontract with Maud, would have been allowed, to enable him to obtain a divorce from Joan de Barr, it appears she would have become countess of Warren. She had produced him two sons, who were called John de Warren, and Thomas de Warren ; and on these sons, it was the desire and design of the earl, that Conisborough, and all his other property north of Trent should descend. SANDAL CASTLE. 51 As a residence for this favourite mistress, the earl built the castle or manor house of Sandal, about the year 1320. Surviving both the lady and the two sons she bore him, on his death in 1347, his estates came into the possession of the crown. In the reign of Edward III., John Baliol resided for some time in this castle, until an army was raised to establish him on the throne of Scotland. In 1446, Richard, duke of York, entered into pos- session of Sandal, on the death of the countess of Cambridge ; and before its walls, on the 24th of December, 1460, he was slain in battle. Having laid claim to the crown during the reign of the imbecile Henry VL, after many battles, and much bloodshed, an agreement was made, that Henry should enjoy the crown during his life, and that Eichard, duke of York, should be his successor. The king appeared satisfied with this arrangement ; but the queen was not so passive. Seeing her son, the prince of Wales, deprived of his succession to the throne, she exerted herself so successfully with the northern barons, as to draw together an army of 22,000 men. The duke was soon informed that she was endeavouring to levy an army, but did not know that she had made such great progress. Thinking to interrupt, or prevent her designs, he departed from London on the 20th of December, with only 4000 or 5000 men, giving orders to his son Edward, earl of March, to join him with the rest of his army. In advancing northward he received the news of the queen's success in levying troops. 52 SANDAL CASTLE. When in the vicinity of Wakefield, he heard that she was advancing against him with greatly superior numbers. On this he resolved to retire to his castle of Sandal, till his son should join him with the rest of his army. The queen provoked to see her hated enemy thus secure from attack, used every means to induce him to leave his strong post ; and after placing an ambush on each side of Wakefield Green, appeared before the walls of Sandal with the main body of her army, led by the dukes of Somerset and Exeter ; and by menaces, defiances, and insults, endeavoured to provoke her enemy to battle. Unfortunately for himself, the duke suffered his courage to get the better of his prudence ; he marched out of the castle, and drew up his forces on Wakefield Green, December 24th, 1460. He had no sooner arranged his little army, than he was attacked by the queen's troops in front, and the ambuscades on each flank, being at once surrounded, and his retreat to the castle cut off. In less than half an hour his whole army was routed, and himself slain, while fighting valiantly hand to hand with his enemies. His second son, the earl of Rutland, a youth of seventeen years of age, flying from the sanguinary scene, was overtaken by lord Clifford, who plunged his dagger into his breast, notwithstanding the earnest entreaties of his tutor to spare his life. Lord Clifford afterwards finding the duke of York's body, cut off the head, and crowning it with a paper crown, fixed it on the point of his lance, and SANDAL CASTLE. 53 presented it, an acceptable gift, to queen Margaret, who ordered it to be carried to York, and placed over Micklegate Bar, with the face toward the city. Near 3,000 Yorkists were slain in this battle. This castle was for some time the residence of Richard, duke of Gloucester, afterwards king of England. From its erection to its destruction, this castle was the court, or manor house of the extensive fee of Wakefield ; and here the Saviles of Thornhill, in whom the ofiice of Steward was almost hereditary, occasion- ally resided, and always transacted the business of the courts. The last event in the history of this castle, is the siege it sustained during the civil war between Charles I. and the parliament ; when it was held for the king by Colonel Bonivant, and surrendered to the arms of parliament, in October, 1645. In the follow- ing year, in accordance with an order of parliament, it was dismantled, and the monument of earl Warren's love for Maud Nerford became a heap of ruins. The remains of the castle are very insignificant ; what from the destroying hand of man, and the mouldering effects • of time, the fortress has disap- peared, and a diminutive ruin marks the place where it stood. No lofty gateway, no grim and massive keep, with frowning battlements, overlooks the vale below ; no remains of banquetting hall, where the feudal noble displayed his little less than regal splen- dour, are to be seen ; all gone, all vanished. Some small fragments of grout work, from which the out- 64 SANDAL CASTLE. side face of hewn stone has been stripped, remain, serving to show the thickness of the walls ; while the whole area where the castle stood is covered with hillocks of rubbish. The moat which surrounded the edifice in its pristine strength, yet remains, wide and deep ; in some places fifteen yards below the level of the rubbish mounds above ; and, true to its first purpose, parts of it yet contain water. The site is of a circular form, overgrown with grass, and partly with trees, some of the latter, especially near the bottom of the moat, being of great height and age. The situation is high, and strong, commanding an extensive prospect over the surrounding country, including the town of Wakefield and the vale of Calder, to the west, a most luxuriant landscape, studded at intervals with towns and villages, busy hives of manufacturing industry. Wakefield, close to which is Sandal castle, is one of the most interesting towns in the county, being placed in a delightful situation, on a gently rising ground, on the north bank of the Calder. The chapel upon the bridge is a gem of architectural beauty, unsurpassed, if equalled, by any of similar building in England. 55 ^dh^ i^tkg. Of the abbey of Selby we have but inconsiderable remains left, with the exception of the church ; but that is of such beauty, and in such a state of repair, that we little regret the loss of the other conventual buildings. After the dissolution of the monastery, it was converted into a parish church,'" and to this we owe the preservation of one of the most elegant eccle- siastical fabrics in the county ; and, with ordinary care it will continue for ages yet to come, a splendid monu- ment of monastic piety and skill in architecture. This abbey was founded by William the Conqueror, in the year 1069, for monks of the order of St. Bene- dict ; and dedicated to the honour of St. Mary and St. Germanus, who suppressed what was called the Pelagian heresy. In the following year, that monarch, coming to Selby to settle the endowment, his queen, by whom he was accompanied, was here delivered of her youngest son Henry, afterwards king of England. And it was probably on that account that this abbey * What a pity it is that a few more of the splendid abbey churches were not made parochial. Among the few thus preserved in Yorkshire, besides that of Selby, we can only enumerate those of Bolton, Old Malton, Bridling- ton, (of the two latter, parts of the nave only are preserved, the rest in ruin or removed,) and St. Mary's, Scarborough (not entire) ; so that Selby may be called the only complete specimen remaining. 56 * SELBY ABBEY. was favoured by the succeeding kings, his descendants, with great privileges, as well as adorned with magnifi- cent buildings. The Conqueror freed the monks from all exactions, and gave them all such customs as the cathedral at York then enjoyed ; he also granted them a court with sac, soc, team, and infangtheof/^ Pope Alexander II., A.D. 1076, granted to the abbot and his successors for ever, the privilege of using the ring,t mitre, pastoral staff, dalmatic coat, gloves, and sandals ; of blessing the palls of the altar, and other ecclesiastical ornaments ; and of conferring the first tonsures : all of which were on the 30th of March, 1808, confirmed by William Greenfield, archbishop, and by the dean and chapter of York. It may here * jSac. — A privilege wliicli a lord of a manor claims to have in his court, of holding pleas in causes of trespass arising among his tenants, and of imposing fines and amerciments touching the same. Soc. — A power or liberty to minister justice and execute laws ; also the circuit or territory wherein such power is exercised. Team, or Theam, signifies a royalty granted by the king's charter to the lord of the manor, for the having, restrahiing, and judging bondmen, neifs, and villains, with their children, goods, and chattels, within his court. InJ-cmgthcof. — The power of judging thieves or robbers, when found within the liberty or jurisdiction of the manor or territory. t The dalmatic or seamless coat of Christ, signified holy and immaculate piety ; the mitre was emblematical of Christ, the head of the church, whose figure bishops bore ; the crosier, or pastoral staflf, their pastoral care ; the gloves, because occasionally worn or laid aside, typified the concealment of good works for shunning vanity, and the demonstration of them for edification ; the ring, that as Christ was the spouse of the church, and scripture mysteries were to be sealed from unbelievers, and revealed to the church ; and the sandals, because, as the foot was neither covered nor naked, so the gospels should neither be concealed nor rest upon earthly benefits.— Fosbkoke's British Monach., chap. viii. SELBY ABBEY. 57 be observed, that the abbots of Selby, and of St. Mary's at York, were the only two mitred abbots in England, north of the river Trent. ''^ The patronage of this house was conferred by king William Rufus upon Thomas, archbishop of York, in Heu of the archbishop's claim over that part of Lincoln- shire called Lindsey ; but shortly afterwards that prelate re-granted the church, and made the monks free from all custom, and quit of the consent and common council of the clergy, except for Christianity's sake ; and, on the occurrence of vacancies, the monks had Hcence from the crown to elect their own abbot. Kings Henry I., Stephen, John, and Henry HI., exempted the monks from danegeld, and various other exactions. By the charter of Edward ILL, the abbey was exempted from all impositions, even of aids for marry- ing the king's daughter, or knighting his eldest son. Thomas de Whalley, who was abbot of this monas- tery in 1280, was deprived in that year ; for on June 8th, 1279, the archbishop of York visited this abbey, and finding him guilty of many omissions of his duty : not observing the rule of St. Benedict, of not singing mass, of neglecting preaching, of but rarely coming to the chapter, or rarely eating in the refectory, never lodging in the dormitory, seldom coming into the choir, seldom hearing matins out of bed, neglecting visiting the sick, and principally eating flesh before the laity * Burton's Monast., p. 406. 58 SELBY ABBEY. in the manors and elsewhere ; and also of fornication with the lady of Quenby, and with the daughter of one Bedeman, who lived at the abbey gates, by whom he had issue ; and for alienating the manor of Chattle- flower, or Chelleflower, and Stainton, where they had fourteen carucates of land ; and by his negligence lost the farms of Medford and Stainton, and the tithes of Agrum and Gunby, and his liberties within the town of Snayth. The church of Snaith was given by Gerald, arch- bishop of York, to this monastery, about the year 1100 ; to which it was appropriated as a cell for two monks, on the 14th of May, 1110. Besides the churches of Snaith and Selby,'"' this house possessed in Yorkshire, the churches of Whitgift, Adlingfleet, Bray- ton, Carlton, and Kirk Ella, afterwards exchanged with Altemprice. There was an hospital at Glanford Brigg, in Lincolnshire, subordinate to this abbey, to which one of the monks was generally appointed master. This abbey flourished in great splendour and opu- lence till the time of the dissolution ; when, Dec. 6th, 1539, Thomas Selby, alias Rogers, the last abbot, surrendered into the king's hands the fabric with all its revenues ; amounting, according to Speed, to the gross annual sum of £819. 2s. 6d., and according to Dugdale, of £729. 12s. lO^d. net. * The parish church, in which service was performed before the dissolution of the monasteries, was on the east side of the river. Its site can yet be traced. SELBY ABBEY. 59 Two years after its surrender, the site of the abbey was granted to Sir Ralph Sadler, knight, in considera- tion of £736. paid down, and a rent of £3. 10s. 8d. per annum. In the year following, Sir Ralph had licence to alienate the site, together with the little park and manor of Selby, with its appurtenances, to Leonard Beckwith and his heirs. It afterwards des- cended to the Walmsleys, of Dunkehalgh, in Lan- cashire ; and, by marrying the heiress, it came into the family of the Petres, with whom it continued until 1854, when it was purchased by the earl of Londes- borough, the present noble owner. The principal monastic buildings were on the west and south side of the church. The barn and granary are yet remaining, but the great gateway was pulled down in 1806. Over this gateway was the abbot's court house, and two rooms on the sides for the jury and witnesses. On each side of the gate were porters^ lodges, and a room to serve the poor. At the south- west corner of the church, was a building, in which it was pretended Henry I. was born ; but it was of a much later date, and is now entirely removed. The barn in which the. produce of the abbey lands and tithes were deposited, is one of the most remarkable buildings of its kind ; it is 313 feet in length, and 29 feet wide, with walls three feet in thickness, supported by buttresses ; and is yet in good repair, and used as a barn and stable, the corn being thrashed on the upper floor. The beams and pillars in the interior are of the most massive kind, and all of oak ; from the solidity 60 SELBY ABBEY. of its construction, and the goodness of the materials, though it may have stood six or seven hundred years, it shows no symptoms of decay, and may endure as many more. The remains of the abbey church"'^ shew it to have been a most noble building, erected at different times, and in different styles of architecture. Its entire length is 276 feet, the breadth 50 feet, and the length of the transept 100 feet ; the east and west ends being at equal distance from the pillars sup- porting the tower ; the height of the tower was no doubt in proportion, and must have rendered it a very conspicuous object in so level a country. This tower fell down on Sunday, the 30th of March, 1690, about six o'clock in the morning ; and by its fall destroyed a part of the church, particularly the south end of the transept, and the roof of the western part of the south aisle. The traces of this calamity, from the nature of the repairs which followed, may yet be too distinctly traced. The magnificence, yet comparative simplicity of the west front, render it deserving of particular notice, as its proportion and decorations merit remark from their singularity and elegance. It appears to have been the original intention of the architect to place two towers on this front ; not only from the external preparations made for such a work, but by the massive piers now * On the 20th of March, 1618, this church was made parochial by royal letters patent, and a minister was appointed by the archbishop of York. The Petre family has, however, for many years exercised the right of presentation to the perpetual curacy of Selby. SELBY ABBEY. 61 remaining internally. The design was never carried into execution, but the angles terminated with lofty and well-proportioned pinnacles. The entrance is by a large, richly ornamented Norman doorway. The ornaments are chevrons, double chevrons, and enriched and angular fret work, supported on each side by six columns, with simply ornamented capitals. The triple arches above the doorway are in the pointed style, and the decorations partake in character, like many found in the north and west doorways, and internal parts of the church. The centre arch forms the west window, being con- siderably wider than those at the sides, and filled with tracery. The walls of the nave and north transept are Norman, though few arches and ornaments remain on the exterior of that character, being mostly replaced by windows, &c., in the pointed style, at different periods. The most striking feature on the north side is the porch, in that mixed style which prevailed soon after the formation of the pointed arch, having circular and pointed arches indiscriminately introduced, com- posed of the same mouldings. Under it is a Norman doorway, less enriched, having only four mouldings, but more elegantly proportioned than that at the west end.'^ To the simple and massy Norman nave is con- trasted the beautiful choir, a perfect and splendid example of the decorated style of building when in its height of perfection, in the reign of Edward III. The * Gentleman's Magazine, 1815, vol. ii. p. 105. 62 SELBY ABBEY. proportions are extremely elegant, and the ornaments rich, and disposed with correct taste ; forming one of the most chaste and magnificent designs in the kingdom. The present tower, probably re-built about 1702, is in a style by no means corresponding with the original. The chapter house is a beautiful building, attached to the south side of the choir ; the room used for that purpose (now the vestry) appears, by its style and simplicity, to be of an earlier date. Over it is a room, now used as a school. The internal architecture of the nave is magnificent and massive, and the ornaments of the most elaborate and beautiful kind. The middle is divided from the side aisles, by eight circular arches, resting on cylindri- cal and enriched columns (one of them reticulated), with the archivolts adorned with chevrons, &;c. Above these is the triforium arcade, with arches of the same span as the principals below, resting on pillars of every possible kind ; as if the architect had given the rein to his fancy to see what he could produce by way of variety. One column has twelve isolated dwarf pillars surrounding the principal. Above is the clerestory arcade, consisting of pointed arches. All of which appears to belong to the Anglo-Norman period. The windows of the side aisles are of a later date, partaking of the character of the decorated style. The groining of the south aisle, which was broken down by the fall of the tower, has not been restored. The four Norman arches at the intersection of the great cross aisles, are composed of few mouldings and SELBY ABBEY. 63 ornaments, and please by their simple and massive grandeur. The choir is in the more light and elegant deco- rated style, and is divided from the side aisles by seven pointed arches, resting on beautifully clustered columns; the whole of the blank wall being adorned with statues, &c. But the object which attracts most attention is the east window ; the proportions of all its parts, the beauty of its tracery, and the slender, lofty mullions, unsupported by transoms, cannot be exceeded. The priests' stalls (of stone) are on the south side of the choir. A number of wooden stalls also remain, many of the seats of which have been robbed of their fantastic and beautiful carving. "When this part of the church is cleaned and restored, and the windows again filled with stained glass, it will be a scene of rich and exquisite beauty. The organ, which is said to be a fine-toned and powerful instrument, was erected in 1825, by Messrs. Renn and Boston, of Manchester, at a cost of about 400 guineas. At the north end of the transept is a chantry chapel, erected since the building of the nave or choir. In different parts of the floor of the church will be seen monumental slabs over the abbots and monks of the ancient establishment ; many of them have had marginal inscriptions upon them, and many are so defaced that they are no longer legible. Near the altar-table are two slabs, on which are represented 64 SELBY ABBEY. full length figures of abbots, with the following in- scriptions : — f it jarrf f MOTtiiis Mil pantom i\W6 IjitjttH iMim^terii pi 0teit Mw fvrientr. |i|rilis, mm M. milk ammi atjtts mm |r0prietar §mL $mm. I^ato tegito juat ]|it tellro |0|es. |0nm. §artoit. 0|e Mk M. % Vmu mm fastar limkbilt nmrtis '' mrngk Bit ptote pto q. Mil ii. M'. |i}jI anm M. The following are some of the inscriptions over the monks, and it is a remarkable fact that the date is always omitted. In the north aisle of the nave, at the west end, we find ; — fir juat |0|ites. ire |0ittefr^tt0 Mm mmmimi mmm\m m}m um. ^^^mi gnti ^mni Near the chantry door ; — Jit jmt fxuttx '''' utm mmuttxix mmt\m mjm mm. ptitt. §tm. $mm. In the south aisle, near the altar ; — Jit jaat MulUx C0ttiitgtoit| panirm maitadpts ' isfets m0itiisterii. twj. un. ijjciet. |eits. To transcribe the epitaphs on the floor and against the walls, ancient and modern, would require a volume ; we, however, give that of Robert Anby, draper, a man beloved both for his honesty, and the good he had done to this town, who gave and consecrated to God, and his country, a Ring of Bells to the church of St. Germans in Selby, in the year of our Lord 1614. It is against the wall, at the west corner of the north transept. * Words obliterated. SELBY ABBEY. . 65 \^m 0pW ujjtime merited m limmm §n tt mxmmkm \\xjn mlm $m\dx §m\m h Selbj, |0r rbBsinm tintiimntatam ^m tt ptriij t% mtm m t^mm ¥itM, tt iit ler^jrfmtm 0itMrabit. 1614/' On the left of the west entrance, just within the doorway, is the burial-place of the family of Morritt, formerly of Cawood, now of Rokeby. In the choir are some elegant mural monuments to the memory of the Petre family. This noble church is the glory and pride of Selby, and great exertions have been lately made to beautify and preserve it. The whole of the west front was thoroughly cleaned and repaired in 1748; and in 1828 the approaches were cleared, and the churchyard en- closed with iron palisades, at a cost of £600. Many judicious repairs have been made in and about the fabric ; but much yet remains to be done before this memorial of men, manners, and institutions, which have long since disappeared, can be said to challenge admiration in all the glories of its pristine beauty. 60 Of this castle, once the abode of archiepiscopal wealth and magnificence, the remains are but small, and our materials for its history are equally scanty. The earliest account of this castle states that it was erected by king Atheist an, about the year 920. Fifteen years afterwards, archbishop Wulstan obtained it of that king, for the see of York, and it remained attached to it, as an archiepiscopal palace,"' until the time of its demolition. In the reign of Richard IL, this was the favourite residence of archbishop Alexander Neville, who, for his attachment to that unfortunate prince, was obliged to flee from his country, and died in 1392, an exile at Louvain, in extreme poverty. In the reign of Henry VL, archbishop Bowett re- built the castle or palace here ; and his successor, in the see, John Kempe, built the gateway tower, which is yet remaining. Kempe was a man of humble parent- age, a native of Kent ; he was translated from York to Canterbury, became lord high chancellor of England, * In addition to this palace and that at Bishopthorpe, the archbishop of York had mansions at Sherburn, Eipon, Beverley, and Otley, in this county ; also Southwell in Nottinghamshire, with Whitehall and York-place in Lon- don, and Battersea in the county of Surry. CAWOOD CASTLE. (}7 and a cardinal of the see of Rome ; died in 1451. Archbishop Rotherham died here, May 29th, 1500. During the reign of Henry VIII., the celebrated cardinal Wolsey resided at this castle a whole summer, and part of the winter, when he was preparing to be publicly enthroned at York. But he had lost the favour of the capricious tyrant whom he had too faith- fully served, and his abode here was during the period of his disgrace, and the time of his death was fast hastening. The earl of Northumberland was sent down to arrest him at this place, with instructions to deliver his prisoner to the earl of Shrewsbury. On Sunday, the 6th of November, 1529, he left Cawood, and pass- ing through Pontefract and Doncaster, arrived at Shef- field on the 8th. The fallen cardinal was received at the manor, with every mark of respect, by the earl of Shrewsbury and his family, who stood without the gates to welcome his arrival, and treated him more as a guest than a prisoner. He remained at the manor sixteen days, in a state of deep dejection. He was there seized with a mortal malady, and his physicians declared that he could not survive more than four or five days. Notwithstanding his illness, he was hurried towards London to take his trial, mounted on a mule. The first night after leaving Shefiield, he slept at Hardwick Hall ; the next at Nottingham ; and on the third, he arrived at Leicester abbey. "Here,'' says Cavendish, his gentleman usher^ " he was welcomed with great reverence by the abbot and all the convent, to whome my lord, the cardinal, said, ' Father abbote, 68 CAWOOD CASTLE. I am come hether to leave my bones among you/ As soon as lie was in his chamber, he went incontinent to his bed very sick. This was upon Satterday at nighte, and then continued he sicker and sicker, till on Monday he died ; '' uttering the memorable exclamation, a warning to courtiers, "Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies." The celebrated extempore preacher, Tobias Matthew, died here, March 29th, 1628. Archbishop Montaigne, who was a native of Cawood, the son of a poor farmer, also died in this castle, November 6th, 1628. He was buried in the church, where is a monument to his memory. In 1642, this castle was garrisoned for the king. In July, 1643, the garrison from this place made a bold attempt to cut off the retreat of the Fairfaxes to Hull, with the shattered remains of their army, after the disastrous battle of Adderton Moor, by attacking them while crossing the ferry at Selby ; but after a sharp action, in which Sir Thomas Fairfax was wounded, they were beaten back to the fortress. In 1644, the castle was surrendered to Sir John Meldrum, for the use of the parliament ; and two years afterwards, was dismantled and rendered untenable. Of the appearance of this castle, when in its com- plete state, we have no account : Leland says, " Cawood, a very fair castle, longith to the archbishops of York, and there is a preati village." CAWOOD CASTLE. 69 The gateway tower alone remains, with a large chapel built of brick, now used as a barn. The tower is square, built of limestone, and three stories in height, with buttresses at the angles. The entrance consists of two archways ; the one for carriages is now used as a cartshed ; the other forms the entrance into the farm-yard. Above the outer arch, which encloses the others, on a broad filliting, are cut upon the stone eleven shields. Above these, in the second story, is a projecting window of three lights ; the top, on the out- side, ornamented with finials : looking into the fold- yard, is a neat oriel window. This room is fitted up with benches and a table, and here the arch- bishop's courts leet are held twice a year, for the manor of Cawood. The next story has a window of two trefoil-headed lights, under a square canopy. This room is now used as a pigeon cote. An octagonal turret crowns the north-west corner. A modern farm- house joins the tower on the left ; and on the right, is a long building of brick, formerly a chapel, now a barn, the south wall of which is flanked by six but- tresses, and pierced by as many narrow windows with sixfoil heads. A succession of green mounds, depressions, and hollows containing water, in the field to the east, point out the situation of the gardens and fishponds. The time-worn trunk of a gigantic chesnut tree, on the oppo- site side of the castle field, is said to have been planted by the hands of cardinal Wolsey ; it is the only living thing around, that saw the castle in its perfect state, 70 CAWOOD CASTLE, and could it relate the scenes it has witnessed from its youth, until its now decaying old age, it would be far the best historian of the place. The chief buildings of the castle have extended northward to the river, where a portion of wall yet remains. The stone of the ruined edifice was carried hence by water to Bishopthorpe, and employed in enlarging the palace there, by arch- bishop Drummond, who held the see of York from 1761 to 1776. In 1788, the vaults and foundations were dug up, and the site is now occupied as a farm- yard. How are the mighty fallen ! The palace of the proud Wolsey has become a dunghill. The situation of Cawood is low, close to the river Ouse, over which there is a ferry. The country, for a considerable distance around, is flat and woody. The town is small, tolerably well built with narrow streets, and used to have a weekly market on Wednesday. The church is a neat fabric, almost close to the river ; and the green yet retains its maypole. It is distant five miles from Selby and ten from York. 71 irkslall %hht^. KiRKSTALL Abbey is one of the most attractive and interesting objects of antiquity in the neighbourhood of Leeds ; from which it is three miles distant, and about half a mile from the village of Kirkstall. No ruin is better known, or has more exercised the skill of the antiquary and artist than this ; so that the subject may be said to be exhausted, and all said about it that can be said. Henry de Lacy, the great baron of Pontefract, was afflicted, some time previous to the year 1147, with a dangerous illness, which lasted for many days ; and while thus suffering, he felt such compunction for his past sins, that he made a vow, if spared, to erect an abbey for monks of the Cistercian order. Shortly after recovering, he called to him the abbot of Fountains ; told him the business on which he had required his attendance, and the vow he had made ; and, in order to carry it into effect, assigned and confirmed to the abbot, by charter, the village of Bernoldswick in Craven, with its appendages, for the erection of the proposed monastery. The abbot returned to Fountains with the oblation, and despatched some of the lay brothers to take possession of the place, and raise the necessary offices for the reception of a suitable colony 72 KIRKSTALL ABBEY. of monks. Henry de Lacy met them himself, on their arrival ; and having, with a train of followers, peram- bulated in person the boundaries between Bernolds- wick and Pendle forest, delivered the former place into the hands of his religious friends. Henry Murdac, then archbishop of York, and who had himself been abbot of Fountains, likewise confirmed to them, by his pontifical authority, the whole grant, with its appurte- nances, and also the ancient church of Bernoldswick. The preparations for receiving the brethren were soon completed; and in June, 1147, Alexander, a prior of Fountains, with twelve monks and ten lay brothers, took up their residence at the new establishment, changing the name from Bernoldswick to Mount St. Mary. Quarrelling with the inhabitants of the district, whom they had unjustly treated ; and harassed by the Scots, who made incursions on their lands ; the abbot and his brethren soon found that Bernoldswick was not the place for them to grow fat and live at ease : so they resolved to find out a more agreeable' site, for a permanent establishment. While the abbot was thus meditating a change of residence, he had occasion to travel some distance on the business of the house ; and in prosecuting the journey, happened to pass through Airedale ; where he discovered a delicious retreat, surrounded by woods, and inhabited by a fraternity of poor and laborious hermits. The contrast between this situation and his own bleak and barren abode instantly struck him ; the possibility of taking these simple men out of the exclusive possession of the place, KIRKSTALL ABBEY. 73 probably occurred to him at the same instant ; and he began with much address to enquire into their way of Hfe, their native country, their rule, and lastly, their title to the place. Alexander now repaired to his patron, Henry de Lacy, and laid before him the present state of their house, their poverty and distress; informing him of the desirable spot he had found at Kirkstall, and the great benefits the order would derive from their removal thither. The abbot's elo- quence was not exercised in vain ; and Henry de Lacy not only gave his consent to the removal, but also, by his interest, obtained from William Poictou, the owner of Kirkstall, his grant of the place and its appurte- nances, for the translation of the monastery. This being settled, the abbot found no great difficulty in getting rid of the hermits ; some of them he persuaded to become monks, and of the rest he purchased their habitations for a small sum of money. William of Poictoii accordingly granted and con- firmed by charter to the monks of Mount St. Mary, in perpetuity, at an annual rent of five marks, the whole of the chosen site ; with the use of the water, and of the adjacent wood, within certain boundaries. The river formed the southern limit of the place thus assigned, nor had the monks at first any possessions beyond it ; as the Aire divided the fee of William of Poictou on the north, from that of William de Rame- ville on the south. Alexander, having secured a commodious situation to which his colony could be translated, forthwith 74 KIRKSTALL ABBEY. erected on the auspicious spot a temporary church ; and in the year 1153, the whole stock of monks and lay brothers left Bernoldswick, and settled in their new habitation. The former place, which had been occu- pied six years before the translation, was in conse- quence converted into a grange, for the use and supply of the monastery. Except wood and stone, the neighbourhood of Kirk- stall is said to have produced nothing useful to man ; but the smiling aspect of the valley, shaded and sheltered, as it still remains, with luxuriant groves of oak, indicated, to the intelligent eye of the abbot, a fruitful scene of lasting comfort. The first exertions of the monks were, therefore, devoted to clear an ade- quate space for future buildings, by cutting down a portion of the timber and underwood which encum- bered the ground. The favour and fervour of the founder, Henry de Lacy, meanwhile, remained unabated. He supplied the monks with corn and money, in proportion to their exigencies ; and not only assisted in providing them with suitable dwellings in their new abode, but laid the foundation of the church with his own hands, and completed at his exclusive expense, the whole of the sacred edifice, and of the appurtenant buildings. Besides some of the best estates attached to the institution having been acquired by Alexander, he finished the whole of the buildings at Kirkstall, all of which were roofed in the best manner with slates. He also planned, perhaps perfected, the buildings of the KIRKSTALL ABBEY. 75 several granges belonging to the foundation ; and ordained all things, both external and internal, with profound wisdom. Having presided over the house during a period of thirty-five years, with equal pru- dence and success, full of years and honours he was gathered to the grave ; and with his patron, Henry de Lacy, who died about the same time, buried in the monastery, which the munificence of the one and the industry of the other had contributed to raise. During the disputes of the royal family in Henry II.^s time, Roger de Mowbray was one of the barons who espoused queen Eleanor's quarrel. In revenge for this defection, Henry siezed the grange of Mickle- thwaite, as a forfeiture of its rebellious lord, dispossess- ed the monks, and gave the property, together with the fee of Collingham and Bardsey, to Ada Brus, in exchange for the castle of Danby, of which Brus had been previously dispelled by the king. The abbot was not only blamed for the loss of this grange, but was charged with having robbed the house of some sacred vessels, in consequence of having given a golden chalice and a text of the gospels to bribe the king, and recover the grange This abbot's name was Ralph Hageth. During the rule of this abbot, the aff"airs of the monastery fell into disorder, and poverty and debt were the portion of the establishment. At length, the increasing difiiculties of the house, and the cunning of the monks, suggested their dispersion through neigh- bouring monasteries, as a means of immediate relief, 76 KIRKSTALL ABBEY. and of working effectually upon the compassion of the king. The abbot adopted the advice of his brethren, and moderated the expenses in proportion to the revenues of the establishment. During the supremacy of Lambert, who succeeded Hageth, a certain knight called Richard de Eland claimed from the monastery the grange of Clivacher, as his property. On inquiry, the abbot discovered the claim to be well founded ; but still avoided its recognition, and secured compensation for the loss of the place, by resigning the grange into the hands of Robert de Lacy, from whom it had been shortly before received. The latter, in consequence, bestowed the village of Akaring- ton upon the monks, to make good his former gift. Lambert, following the habitual practice of his holy brethren, immediately on obtaining possession, banished the inhabitants from their ancient abodes and posses- sions, and converted the whole into a grange for the use of the monastery, under the superintendence of some of the lay brothers of the establishment. The pious historian of Kirkstall informs us, that "some wicked neighbouring inhabitants, whose predecessors had formerly been possessed of Akarington, by the instigation of the devil, burnt the grange, with all its furniture ; and cruelly murdered three lay brothers, Norman, Umfredus, and Robert, who managed the farm." The abbot, awed at this untoward event, recommended the souls of the deceased to God, and committed their bodies to the grave. He then re- paired to Robert de Lacy, his patron, and related to KIRKSTALL ABBEY. 77 him the misfortune. The baron waxed wroth, on hearing of the great presumption eyinced by the people against their usurpers ; and not only banished the malefactors who were guilty of the firing and murder, but all their relations. These proceedings soon brought the unfortunate sufferers to their senses ; when they fell at the abbot's feet, and, by permission of De Lacy, " made satisfaction to God and the breth- ren for so enormous a sin ; they also swore to abjure the above grange for themselves and successors, resign- ing to God and the monks all right they had therein, and giving money over and above for the damage they had done ! " The establishment had for some time been sinking under a load of debt ; and, on the succession of Hugh Grimstone to the abbacy, in 1284, the following in- ventory of the liabilities of the house was taken : "Imprimis : draught oxen 16, cows 84, yearling and young bullocks 16, asses 21, sheep none. The debts which are certainly due, by recognizance made before the barons of the exchequer, £4402. 12s. 7d. Besides the writings, lying in the custody of James de Fistolis, of 500 marks ; besides one writing in the hands of the abbot of Fountains, of the abbot Henry, of 50 marks ; besides 59 sacks of wool, and nine marks, due to Bernard Talde ; and besides the acquit- tances in the hands of John Scalden, for 340 marks. In testimony whereof, we the brothers, and Henry, called abbot of Fountains, have affixed our seal to these presents." 78 ' KIRKSTALL ABBEY. It thus appears, that the sum of all the debts at the above date was £5248. 15s. 7d., besides 59 sacks of wool. The exertions of abbot Grimston so far suc- ceeded in retrieving the affairs of the monastery, that, in the year 1301, the following return is given, of the state of the establishment : "Imprimis : draught oxen 216, cows 160, yearlings and bullocks 152, calves 90, sheep and lambs 4,000. The debts of the house £160. In the testimony hereof, Richard abbot of Fountains affixeth his seal.'' The house appears to have possessed the churches of Middleton in Pickering Lythe, Burstwick, Paul, Withernsea, Owthorne, Aldborough in Holderness, Gil- kirk, and Bracewell. John Ripley, alias Brown, was the last abbot. He was elected in the year 1509, and surrendered the abbey on the 22nd of November, 1540 ; upon which an annual pension was assigned him, of £66. 13s. 4d. The gross annual value was then £512. 13s. 4d., and the net £329. 2s. lid. Of the fate of the buildings the only facts known are, that the roof was taken off the church, the bells removed from the tower, and the other buildings deprived of the lead and timber em- ployed to render them habitable ; all of which were sold for the benefit of the crown. The site of the monastery, together with some of its circumjacent estates, was granted in the thirty-fourth of Henry VIII., and first and fourth of Edward VI., in exchange to archbishop Cranmer and his heirs ; and were by that prelate settled on a person named Peter Hammond, in KIRKSTALL ABBEY. 79 trust for his grace's younger son. It is not supposed that the archbishop himself, in the midst of his arduous undertakings, ever visited this part of his acquisitions ; nor is it recorded how the whole soon afterwards passed out of his family. That this did happen, how- ever, is certain ; for, in the twenty-sixth Elizabeth, we find the property granted by her majesty to Edmund Downynge and Peter Ashton, and their heirs for ever. At a later period, but at what precise time neither Dr. Whitaker nor other writers on the subject have ascer- tained, the site and demesnes of Kirkstall, together with the adjoining manor of Bramley, were purchased by the Savilles of Howley ; and since then, they have passed by marriage, vv^ith the other estates of that family, through the duke of Montague, to the Brude- nels, earls of Cardigan, in whose immediate possession the ruins, and a part of the annexed grounds, yet continue. In the long interval between the dissolution and the present time, Kirkstall abbey has had the singular fortune to escape the covetous rapacity which seems to hover over every considerable building, almost before it is uninhabited, and never quits the carcase till dilapidation be complete. It had, indeed, been seized upon for purposes of prey, as early as queen Elizabeth's time ; for an entry in the churchwardens' books of Leeds, in 1583, mentions the employment of labourers at sixpence per day, in removing the materials of " Christall abbaye," to apply them to works then erecting in that town. 80 * KIRKSTALL ABBF.Y. This ruin is situate in a beautiful recess of Airedale ; and the contrast presented between its sweet, spirit- soothing seclusion, and the gloom and bustle of Leeds, is most surprising and delightful. The view, suddenly opened, happily combines and displays the general charms of the landscape, hallowed by the remains of the abbey. From, the inn at Kirkstall bridge, the whole range before the eye presents a picture of rural beauty. At the distance of a small field, the Aire is seen gliding past the foot of the lawn on which the ruin stands, and afterwards flowing over a dam. The chancel end of the ancient church, surmounted by relics of its shat- tered tower, is visible ; as well as the remains of several buildings south of the cloisters, now hung with ivy, and canopied with elms and other trees, which have grown to maturity among its roofless walls. Beyond the abbey the ground naturally rises into a high and extensive screen of natural wood, which after spreading to the north and east, bends down to the river on the west, and then stretches for miles in that direction, to meet a ridge of wild hills in the distance. Up the dale, on the other side of the river, every fea- ture submissively harmonizes with the bolder scenery of the opposite bank ; the one seemingly designed for productiveness, the other to afford protecting shelter. These ruins occupy a considerable space ; the length from north to south measuring 340 feet, and from east to west 445 feet ; and a quadrangle of 115 feet by 143 feet is enclosed within the walls. At a distance of about 300 feet north-west of the church, stands what KIRKSTALL ABBEY. 81 was once the chief gateway of the monastery. The western front of the church is rich in ornament ; the doorway is highly embelHshed ; above which are two conjoined windows ; still higher, a single window once lighted the roof On the sides of the front are but- tresses, which, with the pediment, terminate in em- bellished turrets. The church is in the form of a cross ; the body is divided into a nave and two side aisles, by a double row of massy clustered columns, with square pedestals, the side of each pedestal measuring six feet. These columns support pointed arches, above which is a range of windows, with semicircular arches ; and as both these have evidently been built at the same time, they serve to strengthen the hypothesis, that the semicircular and pointed arches were for awhile striving for the victory, and that the former for some time kept their ground after the invention of the latter. An imprudent superstructure on the original tower (said by Dr. Burton to have been built in the time of Henry YII.,) which rose but little above the acute angled roof of the church, overweighted one of the four great columns at the intersection, which, after giving warning, for several years, of its approaching fall, was crushed by the vast super- incumbent pile on Wednesday night, Jan. 27th, 1799, and brought down in its ruin more than two thirds of the tower. Considered merely as a ruin, the effect of the church was certainly improved by this catastrophe.* The roof between the tower and * Dr. Whitaker. 82 KIRKSTALL ABBEY. east end, where the high altar stood, was adorned with fretwork and arches. There is not the least trace of a monument within this church, neither is it loaded with that profusion of trifling ornament so common in some buildings, but is justly admired for its elegant simplicity. It is obseryable that it does not point due east and west. The west end is in fine preservation, and the very grand mass of ivy which covers the north side of it, rising from the ground to the summit of the lantern, is uncommonly beautiful. The east window is pointed, but its beauty is much injured by inju- dicious repairs. Here is, as usual, a story of a subter- raneous passage, entering at the south-east corner of the ruins. The cloister court, which self-interest pre- serves from intrusion as an orchard, was the cemetery, not only of the society, but of the wealthy laity of the neighbourhood ; where two yards of consecrated ground were often purchased by as many oxgangs of productive land. Here a few fragments of crosses and gravestones remain ; but there is only one rem- nant of an inscription, on which little more is legible than the word ^^itlltir. The lavatory, near the south-east corner, has been richly adorned : westward from this was the refectory, a groined and not very spacious apartment. The great kitchen, together with a suit of apartments extending eastward from the south-east corner of the quadrangle, towards the foun- dations of the abbot's lodgings, is of much later date than the rest. The chapter-house is an oblong, divided into two portions by double arches. That KIRKSTALL ABBEY. 83 portion contiguous to the cloisters, has the remnant of a cluster of columns in the centre, supporting two divisions of groins ; and so strongly is the masonry united, that notwithstanding all the columns are gone, except the centre one, the capitals belonging to them, and the springing of the groins, yet retain their positions, to the astonishment of all beholders. The second portion eastward is without a centre cluster of columns, the groins springing from angle to angle. The windows are large, and around are seats intended for the religious when seated in council. In 1825, the person entrusted with the care of the ruin, in cleaning out one of the arched passages near the chapter-house, met with a number of small square tiles, of different colours, glazed, and figured on one side. They were firmly cemented together, and form- ed apparently a seat, or perhaps the bottom of a cistern, about two feet above the level of the floor. About 1826, the foundation story of the corn mill used by the monks, was partially dug out of the earth and rubbish which had covered it. Here the chiselled blocks of stone, forming the passage for the water and the placing of the wheel, were found as they had been laid down seven centuries before. The goit through which the water had been conducted to this mill, commenced at Horsforth, and still turns a wheel for part of the iron works at Kirkstall forge, where it now returns to the Aire. On the 13th of April, 1826, some boys, while amusing themselves in the chapter house, detected an 84 KIRKSTALL ABBEY. opening near one of the stones inserted in its walls, and, with the success usually attendant on such mis- chievous undertakings, removed the outer slab ; there then appeared some of the bones, including part of the skull and jaws of the body, which had been deposited in this rude, but imperishable species of coffin, together with a quantity of dust, the remains of what had once been quick with life. No inscription was discernible upon any part of the flags forming this mortal receptacle ; but it is probable that the person buried in this distinguished manner, was either one of the most noted of the abbots, or perhaps of the patrons and benefactors of the monastery. The tenant of the tomb must have been of a good old age, for though the teeth in the under jaw were mostly sound, they were considerably worn. " It is to the neglect of two centuries and a half, the unregarded growth of iv}^, and the maturity of vast elms and other forest trees which have been suffered to spring up among the walls, that Kirkstall is become, as a single object, the most picturesque and beautiful ruin in the kingdom. Add to all this the mellowing hand of time, which by rounding angles, breaking lines, and softening down the glare of recent colouring, may be regarded as the first of all landscape painters.""'^ After having appropriated to our own use the labours of Whitaker, Wood, and other writers on Kirkstall, we cannot resist the temptation of filching * Whitakee. KIRKSTALL ABBEY. 85 a choice morsel from Professor Phillips as a con- clusion. " Since the day when Henry de Lacy brought the Cistercians to this sweet retreat, how changed are the scenes which the river looks upon ! Then, from the high rocks of Malham and the pastures of Craven, to Loidis in Elmete, the deer, wild boar, and white bull, were wandering in unfrequented woods, or wading in untainted waters, or roaming over boundless heaths. Now, hundreds of thousands of men of many races, have extirpated the wood, dyed the waters with tints derived from other lands, turned the heaths into fertile fields, and filled the valley with mills and looms, water- wheels and engine chimneys ! Yet, is not all the beauty of Airedale lost ; nor should the thoughtful mind which now regards the busy stream of the Aire lament the change. The quiet spinner is happier than the rude and violent hunter ; the spirit of true religion fills these populous villages, as well as once it filled these cloistered walls ; the woods are gone, and in their place the iron road ; but the road conducts the intelligent lover of beauty to other hills and dales, where art has had no contest with nature, and, by enabling him to compare one region with another, corrects his judgment, heightens his enjoyment, and deepens his sympathy with man.''''^ * Rivers, Mountains, and Sea Coast of Yorkshire, p. 94. 86 A MORE interesting spot can hardly be found in Yorkshire than Harewood. Dr. Whitaker styles it " a fortunate place, blessed with much natural beauty and fertility, possessed of one of the most beautiful villages in the county, a nearly entire, though dismantled castle, a modern palace surrounded by a wide extent of pleasure grounds and plantations, and a parish church filled with unmutilated sculptures of the four- teenth and fifteenth centuries/^ Though the castle be the only object which falls immediately within the plan of this work, we shall not leaye this place without noticing its other, and per- haps more attractive features. At the time of the Domesday, survey, Harewood was part of the king's demesne, and Tor, Sprot, and Grim, were here possessed of ten carucates of land to be taxed, five of which were arable ; it was then valued at forty shillings. Afterwards, Harewood, with the honor of Skipton, and other great estates in Yorkshire, came by the Conqueror's gift into the possession of Robert de Romilie ; whose only daughter, Cecily, married William de Meschines, earl of Chester, who became lord of this manor. Cecily had by her husband two sons, who HARE WOOD CASTLE. 87 died without issue ; and two daughters, co-heiresses. Alice, who had the honor of Skipton, married Fitz Duncan, earl of Murray, in Scotland, nephew of Malcom, king of that kingdom. Avice married William de Curci, steward of the household of Henry I.; she had for her moiety the manor of Harewood, and other considerable estates. To Avice de Romilie succeeded William Curci, her son ; whose only daughter, Alice, married Warine Fitzgerald, of Stoke Curry, in Somer- setshire, chamberlain of king John, and lord, in right of his wife, of this manor ; he obtained from king John a charter for a fair and weekly market at this place. His only daughter, Margery, married first Baldwin de Redvers, eldest son of William de Eedvers, earl of Devonshire, who died in his father's lifetime ; and secondly, Fulk de Brent, who having resided in the Isle of Wight, where the family had great possessions, was denominated De Insula, or Lisle ; and was ancestor of lord Lisle, of Rugemont. This lady, while residing at Harewood, granted to the nuns of Arthington the tithe of her household expenses here. To Margery de Redvers succeeded Baldwin, earl of Devonshire, her son ; during his minority, the king committed the manor of Harewood to Walter de Gray, archbishop of York. Baldwin had issue, a daughter, Isabel, who married William de Fortibus, earl of Albemarle. WiUiam, earl of Albemarle, rebelled against Henry IL, and manned his castles ; but being overpowered, was forced to submit. He had only one daughter, married to Edward Crouchback, earl of 88 HAREWOOD CASTLE. Lancaster, son of king Henry III., who died without issue, in 1296. Upon the death of this lady, many of their estates were seized by the crown, particularly the Isle of Wight, and the honors of Holderness and Skipton ; but Harewood descended to her relation, lord Lisle, of Rugemont. Robert, lord Lisle, was succeeded by John, his son, who in 1336, that he might be the better enabled to serve the king in his wars, obtained from his father a grant of the manor of Harewood, then valued at 400 marks per annum, to be held during his life. He died in the year 1356, being succeeded by his son and heir, Robert, lord Lisle, whose only daughter, Elizabeth, married Sir William Aldburgh, of Aldburgh, in Richmondshire ; who having obtained this manor, seems to have made it his chief residence ; and though there was a castle here prior to the reign of king John, yet, by the arms of the Aldburghs, cut in stone over the principal entrance, and in several parts of the chapel, we may infer that Sir William de Aldburgh erected the principal part of the castle as it now stands, in the reign of Edward HI. He had two daughters, co-heiresses ; EKzabeth married first to Sir Brian Stapleton, of Carlton, and secondly to Sir Richard Redman, of Redman and Levens, in Westmor- land ; and Sybil, to Sir William Ryther, of Ryther ; between whom all his estates were divided. These estates thus descending to co-heiresses, each family held them in undivided moities ; but the Redmans seem to have made the castle their principal residence, HAREWOOD CASTLE. 89 till the reign of queen Elizabeth, in the 21st year of whose reign, both these families disposed of their property in this place. The Gascoignes of Gawthorpe appear to have been the next owners of Hare wood. William Gascoigne, knight, obtained a license to enclose two parks here ; the first to contain 240 acres of land in Gawthorpe, Wardley, and Hare wood ; the second to contain 1700 acres, in Henhouse, Lofthouse, Wardley, Harewood, ^.--niid Wyke. William Gascoigne, Esq., the last of this line, had an only daughter, Margaret, who married Thomas Went- worth, of Wentworth Woodhouse, Esq., whose son, William, father of Thomas, earl of Strafford, was seized of this and several other manors in the vicinity. The unfortunate earl resided at Gawthorpe during the gathering of that storm which at length proved so fatal to him, as appears by many of his letters dated from thence. His son, William, second earl of Strafford, sold the estate during Cromwell's protectorate ; and also that at Ledstone. Sir John Cutler was afterwards owner of Harewood, a man of very penurious habits, who resided at Gawthorpe Hall, having reduced the ancient castle of Harewood to ruin, for the sake of the timber. Pope has immortalized him in the follow- ing lines ; — " Cutler saw tenants break and houses fall ; For very want he could not build a wall. His only daughter in a stranger's power ; For very want ho could not pay a dower. 90 HAREWOOD CASTLE. A few grey hairs his reverend temples crow'd ; 'Twas very want that sold tliem for two pound I What ! e'en denied a cordial at his end, Banish'd the doctor, and expell'd the friend ? What, hut a want — which you perhaps think mad, Yet numbers feel — ^the want of what he had ! " He left, his estates to his only daughter, Elizabeth, countess of Radnor ; with remainder, in case of failure of issue, to his relation, John Boulter, Esq., who, on his death, in 1696, accordingly inherited it ; and from the heirs of this gentleman, it was purchased by Henry Lascelles, Esq., about the year 1721. This gentleman died in 1753, and was succeeded by Edwin, his eldest son, who, in 1790, was created baron Harewood, of Harewood. His lordship died in 1795, when his cousin Edward succeeded to the estates, and was created baron Harewood, June 18th, 1796, and was advanced to the dignity of earl of Harewood and viscount Lascelles, August 15th, 1812. He survived his eldest son, Edward, six years ; and at his death, on the 4th of June, 1814, was succeeded by his second son, Henry, the second, and late earl ; whose death took place in December, 1841, very suddenly, when in the fields, following his favourite exercise, the chase. He was succeeded in his estates and titles by his eldest son, the present earl. On the declivity of the hill, on the southern side of the vale of Wharfe, stands the castle of Harewood, founded soon after the conquest ; and rebuilt, as already mentioned, by Sir William Aldburgh, in the reign of Edward III. HARE WOOD CASTLE. 91 It may be styled a large square tower, or rather series of towers, without baily, moat, or other out- works ; trusting for defence entirely to the height and thickness of its walls. The ground on which it stands slopes rapidly down to the north ; and the rooms in the interior are accommodated to the nature of the ground. The walls are yet nearly of their original height, of fine freestone, and of good masonry. It is of a parallelogramic form, the north and south fronts being 64 and 67 feet respectively in length, and the east and west fronts 111 and 123 feet. The walls are about seven feet in thickness. The north face is plain, without any projecting towers, three stories in height, the two lower being lighted only by narrow loopholes, and the uppermost by large square windows, which have been each divided by a mullion and a transom, and into which no missiles then used in war could be thrown, to do much damage. In a projecting square tower, on the eastern side, is the grand entrance, high enough to admit a man on horseback. The groove for the portcullis is yet to be seen in the wall. On the outside of this tower, above a square headed window, which has lighted- the private chapel, upon a stone label, flanked by the rampant lion on the shield of Aldburgh, on the one side, and the orle on that of Baliol, on the other, is the predestinarian motto of the founder, in bold, black letters, — The arms of Baliol appearing here are supposed to 92 ' HAREWOOD CASTLE. be a compliment paid to him by Aldburgh, who enter- tained him here, when driven from the throne of Scotland, in the reign of Edward III. A small apart- ment over the space between the outer and inner doorway of this tower, has been the domestic oratory, and is richly adorned with shields of arms, twelve being yet visible to those who take sufficient pains to look for them ; they have been ascribed to the families of Sutton, Aldburgh, Baliol, Thweng, Bordesly or Grauncester, Constable, Ross, and Vipont. Close to this tower, on the north, a winding staircase, yet nearly complete, ascends to the top of the castle. The western front is somewhat different from the eastern, having an entrance, but not through a tower, into the great hall. The southern front is far the highest part of the building, partly from its situation on the highest ground, and partly from the lofty watch towers at its corners. These towers project about half their breadth from the main wall, and are now clad to the very summit in a thick mass of ivy. Entering on the western side, we are at once in the great hall ; turning to the right, we enter the basement story of the south- western tower, which is but of small dimensions, being about 11 feet by nine ; there appears to have been four floors above this story, forming as many small rooms, each of which has had a fire-place, the top being finished with a watch tower. In the hall, between this tower and a similar one at the south- eastern corner,^4s a large fire-place, nine feet wide, which has been much used. A circular staircase, of HAREWOOD CASTLE. 93 large dimensions, has ascended from the hall, at the south-eastern corner to the state apartments above. The windows into the hall are mere loophole lights, which must have made it very dark ; but the most singular circumstance about this room, is a recess, near the upper end of the west wall, which has almost every appearance of a tomb contemporary with the building ;* and a tomb it has been repeatedly affirmed to be. But of whom ? Of the founder, assuredly, if it were a tomb at all. Yet Sir William de Aldburgh is known to have been interred in the parish church. Besides, whoever dreamed in those days of being buried in unconsecrated earth '? Or what heir would have per- mitted so incongruous a circumstance in a scene of conviviality 1 Besides, the original slab has been removed, and, instead of a stone coffin, nothing ap- peared but a mass of solid grout work ; while, instead of kneeling figures of priests, or children, beneath appears, on a sort of friese, a light and elegant enrich- ment of vine leaves and grapes. From this last circumstance, combined with its situation near the head of the high table, it is most probable that it was nothing more than an ancient sideboard. This open- ing, for whatever purpose it may have been, is fi.YG feet six inches in length, and three feet five inches in depth ; the arch above is circular, ornamented on the face, with florid decorations ; a pointed crochetted canopy, surmounted by a finial, rises above ; the whole being finished with a square canopy. * Whitaker. 94 HAREWOOD CASTLE. Besides the hall and towers already mentioned, there are other two divisions on the north, separated from each other by strong party walls. The lower rooms of these have been occupied by offices, kitchen, and bakehouse, as may be seen by the much used fire-place and oven yet remaining. There is no dun- geon, unless a part of the most northern division may have been such ; it has apparently been arched, and the descent into it from a small square tower on the western side is by fifteen steps. This castle does not appear to have been dismantled by violence, or ever to have been exposed to hostile force ; few of its parts, except the battlements, have been thrown down ; and from the stability of its walls it is calculated to ornament this lovely valley for ages yet to come. Few sights can be more beautiful than a view ot one of the glorious sunsets of the valley of the Wharfe, from the top of this ruined monument of feudal greatness ; the richly wooded scenery on both sides of the fertile valley below ; the long and silvery reaches of the river glitter in the levelled sunbeams ; the beautifully varied hills to the westward, and the combined beauties of nature and art, produce a picture which once seen will not be readily forgotten. Among the more conspicuous objects included in the view, may be mentioned the village of Kirkby Overblow, crowning the hill directly to the north ; further west, rising abruptly above the village of Eegton, is seen the rugged gritstone mass of Almes Cliff, Rifia Wood, Weeton, and the magnificent viaduct of the Leeds HAREWOOD CASTLE. 95 Northern Railway, spanning the valley of the Wharfe. Beyond, are the woods of Lindley ; Farnley Hall, long the seat of the family of Fawkes ; the town of Otley, nestled beneath the wood-crested ridge of Chevin ; Weston, the home of the Vavasours ; and Denton, ennobled by the name of Fairfax ; Ilkley, with its famous health-restoring springs, the site of the Roman Olicana, backed by the dark form of Rumbles Moor; while the distant hills of Craven close the prospect in that direction. The village of Harewood is certainly one of the most handsome in the county ; the houses are uniformly built of stone, and form two streets, one running north and south, the other east and west ; the last forms a regular approach to the gateway leading to Harewood House. The cottages have more the appearance of gentlemen's houses than the homes of labouring men ; they are placed back from the street, with gardens fenced with iron palisades in front. Half a mile from the village is the church, an ancient and venerable pile, surrounded by a thick grove of trees, whose close embowering shade gives a pleasing addition to the solemnity of the place. The west end is beautifully mantled with ivy. This church was founded by William de Curci, in the reign of Henry I., and finished about the year 1116. It belonged to the patronage of the lords of the manor, till the 14th March, 1353, when John de Insula, lord of Rugemont, knight, obtained the apostolic letters, whereb}^ he got it appropriated to the prior 96 HAREWOOD CASTLE. and convent of Bolton in Craven, to which monastery he granted the right of patronage thereof, in regard to his ancestors, to which house they had been benefactors * In the number and perfect preservation of the tombs of its lords, this church probably surpasses every parish church in the county ; and as virtue and honest patriotism are almost on all occasions held up to us as models deserving our imitation, this place has been pointed out by all historians as most sacred, for it contains the relics of the virtuous judge. Sir William Gascoigne, of Gawthorpe, who was, while trying one of the prince of "Wales' favourites, insulted upon the bench by the prince himself, afterwards king Henry V. The judge resolutely committed him, declaring he would have the laws respected. This upright judge discovered equally his resolution and integrity, in refusing to try archbishop Scrope, for high treason, an office which another judge, who was not so scrupulous, assumed, and pursued to a fatal point for that prelate. Among the monuments in this church, the following deserve particular notice : — The first consists of an altar tomb, with the ex- tended effigies of Sir William Gascoigne and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter, and co-heiress of Sir William Mowbray, of Kirklington. On a brass filleting about this tomb was the following inscription, said to have been torn away in the civil wars. fit jaat Will-nm^ iastmgite m^ : €^l |«stit, k §an0 J^iiria mi^. regis Jingliae part d (tlr^M^ \mx t^u, * Burton's Monasticon Eboraceiise. HAREWOOD CASTLE. 97 Dfii ptkm liJIl-imts sM bit gmirimra f f Mt gmnttera Jiniw gm. il«€€d in the chuich of Fountains, before the high altar. A. 1). 1315. FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 121 ment were of vast extent ; embracing the country from the foot of Pennigent to the boundaries of St. Wilfrid, of Ripon, an uninterrupted space of more than thirty miles. Besides many other wide domains, the lands in Craven contained in a ring fence, were one hundred square miles, or 60,000 acres, on a moderate computa- tion. After obtaining a high reputation for sanctity, and the possession of great power and almost boundless w^ealth, the monastery was surrendered by Marmaduke Bradley, the thirty-eighth and last abbot, November 26th, 1539. The annual revenues, at that time, amount- ed to £998. 6s. 8^d., according to Dugdale's account ; and to £1073. Os. 7 id., according to that of Speed ; while Dr. Burton, on the authority of an ancient MS., estimates the income at £1125. 18s. Ifd. At the same time, the plate was valued at £708. 5s. 9d. They also had in possession 2356 horned cattle, 1326 sheep, 86 horses, 79 swine, 117 quarters of wheat, 12 qrs. of rye, 90 qrs. of barley and malt, and 2 qrs. of oats. A pension was assigned to Bradley of £100. per annum, and annual allowances to the monks of from £5. to £8. each After the surrender of the abbey, the buildings escaped immediate violence ; and generally speaking, little more than the roofs, the glass, internal fittings, and furniture, were removed. On the 1st of October, 1540, the king granted the site of the house, with a part of the lands belonging to it, the site of Swine abbey, and the monastery of Nunkeeling, with theii- 122 FOUNTAINS ABBEY. churches and hells, to Sir Richard Gresham, for the sum of £1163. In 1596, William Gresham, Esq., sold this estate to Stephen, afterwards Sir Stephen Proctor, of Warsal, in the parish of Ripon, for £4500. Who being attracted by the beauty of the situation, resolved to ^x his residence here ; and accordingly, in 1611, built Fountains hall, about 200 yards west of the abbey, having pulled down the abbot's lodging for the sake of supplying materials. In 1627, the abbey was in possession of Richard Ewens, Esq., of South Cowton, whose daughter and sole heiress married John Messenger, Esq.j of Newsham. This estate remained in the Messenger family till the year 1767, when John Michael Messenger, Esq., sold it to William Aislabie, Esq., of Studley, for £18,000. He at once joined the abbey to his pleasure-grounds, cleared out the trees which were growing within it, removed the rubbish, and laid down smooth and level lawns around it. From that time to the present, the venerable walls have never been subjected to wanton spoliation, and even time has laid his mouldering hand gently upon them ; nothing has been pulled down, and nothing added ; fragments that have occasionally fallen down have been rebuilt, and a most careful conservation exercised over the whole. On the demise of the late proprietress, Mrs. EKzabeth Sophia Lawrence, in July, 1845, the park and grounds of Studley Royal came into possession of the Earl de Grey, the present owner; who, since then, has caused the accumulated rubbish to be excavated from the abbot's house, and FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 123 otherwise altered and improved the approaches to the abbey. The buildings of this monastery, when complete, are said to have covered twelve acres of ground, the ruins now occupy about two acres. Above the great western entrance of the church, is a large window, of which the tracery is gone ; above it is a niche, supported by the carved figure of a bird, perched on a bow, with a label inscribed, derne, and the date 1494. Entering the church, the eye rests on the long and sombre vista of the nave, which is of heavy Norman architecture, and the oldest remaining portion of the building. Round and lofty pillars, six- teen feet in circumference, divide the nave from the side aisles ; the pointed arches above, chamfered in several gradations, are an early and interesting speci- men of the transition from the original Norman semi- circle. They are surmounted only by a row of plain, flanning, round-headed lights, over which the string is continued in a label moulding. The aisles of the nave are groined in quadrilateral bays, without ribs, which are supported and divided by broad flat arches, spring- ing from the capitals of shafts attached to the massive columns — to brackets in the exterior wall. At the west end of the south aisle, are communications with the dormitory, the cemetery, and the cloister. The whole length of the interior is 358 feet 3 inches, and its width 67 feet 3 inches. The tesselated pavement of the high altar has been carefully relaid ; the simple patterns divided in the upper platform into three chief 124 FOUNTAINS ABBEY. compartments, are formed of single tesserae of red, yellow, black, and grey. It is a truly beautiful and highly interesting relic of antiquity, as it is probably part of the painted floor which was bestowed on the church by John de Cancia, who sat from 1219 to 1246. The table which was used for thehigh altar, on prin- cipal days, had three images of silver gilt, and was ornamented with silver, and in some parts with gold, set with precious stones, and valued, in the money of Henry VIIFs time, at £90. or £94. Not far from the north horn of the altar is a stone coffin, six feet four inches long, sunk beneath the sward, which is said to have contained the remains of Henry de Percy, who died in 1315. At the eastern extremity of the church, under the great window, is a gallery of modern erection, supported by twelve marble pillars. The view from this gallery, westward, unfolds the long spacious aisles of the church, in regular and beautiful perspective ; while eastward, the scene is one of romantic lovliness and tranquil repose. The tracery of the great east window is gone, and of the screen or rood loft, not a fragment remains. The tower, a majestic and beautiful specimen of the perpendicular style, is placed at the end of the north transept, and harmonizes more with the style of the eastern transepts than any other portion of the build- ing. Its walls are remarkably fresh, and its details of mouldings, niches, canopies, detached pinnacles, and open embrasures, are nearly perfect, and merit the FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 125 closest examination. With the exception of the several chambers, glass, and tracery of a single window, which fell out many years ago, the structure remains as perfect, fresh, and stable, as when the builders left it. The height of this elegant structure is one hundred and sixty-six feet nine inches, and its area, at the base, twenty-four feet square. On the fillets, above and below the belfrey windows, are inscribed, in the Tudor black letter, boldly relieved, — On east side. Benediccio et caritas et sapiencia graciarum accio honor. SoU deo i' hu x'po honor et gl'ia in s'cla s'clor. North side. Et virtus et fortitude deo nostro in secula seculorum. Amen. West side. Regi autem seculorum immortali invisili'. Soli deo i'hu x' po honor et gFia in s'cla s'clor. South side. Soli deo honor et gloria in secula seculorum. Amen. Above the lowermost west window is an angel, standing on the canopy of a vacant niche, holding a shield, on which is .carved a mitre and croiser, and the letters M. H., the initials of Marmaduke Huby. The date 1494, the year in which he was elected to the abbacy, i^ on the bracket of a niche above the base- ment window on the east side. In another niche, over the lowermost north window, is a crowned figure, holding a pen in his right, and a book in his left hand. 126 FOUNTAINS ABBEY. The eastern transept of the church, called the sanctum sanctorum, or holy place, to which none but the principal persons of the abbey were admitted, extends one hundred and fifty feet in length, and presents a fine specimen of early Enghsh architecture ; plain, and somewhat massive in its general appear- ance, but with many well proportioned details. The great east window and adjoining buttresses display the magnificence and beauty of the latest style of Gothic architecture, which is here indicated by the remains of perpendicular muUions, flying but- tresses, and crocketed pinnacles. The great window has apparently had nine lights and a transom, and been sixty-three feet in height by twenty-three feet four inches in width. The other windows of this front, twelve in number, are narrow, pointed, and sup- ported by slender shafts. Between them are semi- octangular buttresses, and the keystone of the upper window, at the north end, has a head entwined with snakes carved on the exterior ; and in the inside, the same stone forms the resemblance of an angel, vdth a scroll inscribed, Anno Domini, 1483. The keystone of another window, at the south end, has on the outside a rebus of the founder, and abbot Darnton's name, a thrush, and beneath, an angel holding a ton, on which is inscribed the syllable Derne. In the interior, the same stone forms a mitred head, and the figure of a pilgrim, standing on a serpent, the emblem of eternity. The length of the interior of this part of the church, sometimes called the lady chapel, is one hundred and FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 127 thirty feet, and the breadth thirty-five feet. The marble shafts, sharply pointed arches, and other details, merit close attention ; but the principal grandeur of this portion results from the stately arches, which are supported midway by octagonal pillars, eight feet in circumference. These have formerly been enriched with marble shafts at each angle, composing a clustered column, the elegance of which may be readily con- ceived from the imposing effect of what remains. The whole of this chapel, and the adjoining parts of the choir, are marked by simplicity and loftiness of style, alike removed from the castle-like gloom of the ^N'orman buildings, and that laboured richness and elaborate ornament, which, at a later period, was often obtained at the expense of chaste beauty and simple elegance. On each side of the choir are two chantry chapels. In the one to the north, under an arch in the wall, lies a cross-legged figure, in link mail, usually attributed to Roger de Mowbray, who died in 1297. His shield bears a lion rampant. On a stone over the entrance into the chapel is inscribed, altare michaelis arch. At the entrance to one of the south chapels, under a bush, is a fragment of the monumental slab of one of the abbots, richly sculptured in low rehef ; it bears a mitred figure, holding in one hand a croiser. Round the edges is part of an inscription in black letter, now illegible. From a door at the south-east corner of the nave, a few steps descend to the quadrangular court, now 128 FOUNTAINS ABBEY. preserved as an ornamental shrubbery. This area is one hundred and twenty-five feet square, and is sur- rounded by the buildings of the monastery. The chapter-house, over v^hicli was the scriptorium and library, was the place of public confession, and of many observances of the severe monastic discipline imposed by the Cistercian rule. It was divided from the south transept by a narrow vestry. It had three aisles, divided by marble columns, of which five alone remain. The area is eighty-four feet seven inches, by forty-one feet. Dr. Burton learned from the records of the abbey, that nineteen of the abbots were buried here ; which information led to the clearance of the apartment in 1791, when fragments of the tombstones of fifteen were discovered, and the following inscrip- tions are yet legible. Hi reqiescit : dompnvs Joh's X. Abbas de Fontibv. QVJ. OBIJT. VIII. DeCEMBRIS. This abbot, John de Ebor, who began to rebuild the choir, died on the 8th of December, 1210. By his side lies appropriately John of Kent, the twelfth abbot, who finished it, and died 25th November, 1246, with this brief memorial ; — H^ REQIESCIT : DOMPNVS Joh's : XII : Abbas de Fontib' : Q^ OBIJT XXV : ISTOVEMBRIS. A plain ridged gravestone, on the south side of the above, covers the remains of the fourteenth abbot, William de AUerton, who died December 1st, 1258. The stone never appears to have had any inscription. On a fragment is Adam XIIV. abbas. FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 129 This belongs to the fifteenth abbot, who died a few months after his election, on the 30th of April, 1259. Another fragment, on a broken sandstone near the middle of the room, commemorates Reginald, the seventeenth abbot, who died on the 25th of October, 1274. Henry de Otteley, the twenty-first abbot, who died December 24th, 1290, was buried in the entrance to the-chapter house, and a flat monumental flag, near the centre doorway, may be supposed to cover his remains. South of the chapter-house are some ruins, over which, it is supposed, has been a set of lodging rooms. Four thick shafts are standing, along what appears to have been the area of an apartment; these have corbels opposite to them in the wall. On clearing away some rubbish from this part, a small brass basin, and some apothecaries^ weights were found, near one of the pillars. The rude effigy of a monk, with a book in his hand, is placed against the north wall. The kitchen has been subdivided into two apart- ments, and one of the singular flat-arched chimneys has been walled up. The fire-place is sixteen feet three inches wide, six feet seven inches high, and six feet nine inches deep. The provisions were served hence into the refectory, through hatchways in the wall. Above the kitchen is the court-room, an apart- ment forty-two feet seven inches long, and twenty-two feet seven inches wide. The ribs of the groined roof K 130 FOUNTAINS ABBEY. meet in a pillar, without capital or base. The court for the liberty of Fountains was, until lately, held in this room. On entering the refectory, it is impossible to avoid admiring the beauty of its proportions, and the simple and graceful architecture of its walls. In the arcade, which flanks its deeply recessed portal, were placed the cisterns, where the monks washed previous to their meals. This noble apartment, which measures one hundred and nine feet by forty-six and a half, was lighted by twenty lights, and has been divided by a row of marble columns, similar to those of the chapter-house. On the west side is the gallery, whence a portion of Scripture was read during the repast. The reader's desk is broken down, but its bracket remains, in the shape of an expanded flower. The gloomy vault of the cloisters forms a double arcade, stretching, sombre and dark, three hundred feet in length, divided by nineteen octagonal pillars, each five feet two inches in circumference, without capitals. The windows towards the south end are pointed ; the rest are round headed, exhibiting that close union of the Norman and early English archi- tecture which prevails throughout the structure, and corresponds with the period when one style was gradu- ally giving way to the other. The south end of the cloisters is built over the Skell, the running waters of which add a romantic charm to the venerable gloom of this seat of meditation and FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 131 retirement. A circular stone Basin, six feet eight inches in diameter, stands in one of the aisles, which has been originally a lavatory, since converted into a cyder mill. Above the cloisters was the dormitory, apportioned into about forty cells. It is still approached from the outside by a spacious flight of stairs, winding over the porter's lodge. The infirmary built over the Skell, has been cleared by a late excavation. Westward of the cloisters are the ruins of the alms- house, where the poor were fed. The western gate- house, or porter's lodge, stood about one hundred yards west of the church ; near it is the mill, — that necessary adjunct of all monastic establishments, and other buildings. In the abbey close, now divided into fields, are scattered masses of masonry, and fragments of build- ings. The foundations of the bakehouse, smith's shop, and stables, may still be traced ; while, up the valley sides, are the fish-ponds, now choked with weeds ; beyond which, and yet of its original height, is the wall enclosing the abbey close. In the rocks on the northern side of the valley, whence the stone for building the abbey was taken, is a remarkable echo, clear and loud ; words, and even short sentences, being distinctly repeated, and returned from the ruined walls of the abbey. Such were the principal features of interest at Fountains abbey, until the excavations recently made by order of the earl de Grey, which revealed the 132 FOUNTAINS ABBEY. foundations of the abbot^s lodgings, with all their sub- ordinate offices.''^ In November, 1848, the earl de Grey, who had recently come into possession of the abbey, directed that a portion of the watercourses or tunnels, on the south-east, which had fallen many years before, should be repaired. The removal of the superincumbent soil being consequently necessary, a fragment of an early English pavement was discovered. After some further trial of the rubbish, which varied in depth from three to six feet, his lordship directed that an excavation of the whole site of the house should be undertaken. During its progress, it soon became evident, that when Proctor had required materials for the erection of Fountains hall, the whole building had been pulled down, as near the foundations as the rubbish accumu- lated in the work of destruction would allow. In several places, indeed, the foundations have been reached, and no elevation of masonry suffered to re- main that rose above the height of four or five feet. Even the floors were torn up, and nothing was inten- tionally left on the site except such stones as, from their quality, form, or size, were unfit for further use. The ruins of the house are situated at the south-east angle of the lady chapel, a situation dictated, ap- parently, by a general regulation ; but unlikely, in this * For the account of the discoveries made during this excavation we are entirely indebted to a paper on that suhject, by J. R. Walburn, Esq. ; we are also indebted to that gentleman's works for other important matter relating to the abbey, — an obligation which we take this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge. FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 183 instance, either to promote cheerfulness or contentment in its inmates. Thej enjoyed, indeed, a few glimpses of of the morning sun ; but the glorious sunsets down the picturesque Skell — worth the pilgrimage of many a mile to behold — were shut out by the lofty buildings of the convent, which covered the bosom of the valley. With an inconsiderable exception, the whole house rested on four parallel tunnels, through which flowed the waters of the Skell ; these tunnels were each six feet high, and as many wide. The main walls of the house were arranged with reference to these tunnels ; the sides of which, like some parts of the abbey, were based on a rock. The architecture of the abbot^s house, like that of the abbey, has been plain and substantial ; depending more on the amount and combination of the main out- lines, than on the elaborate decoration of parts. In amplitude of dimension, indeed, it far exceeded it ; and at the time of its foundation, was probably the most spacious house in the kingdom, erected irres- pective of military occupation or defence. The principal hall or room of. the house was no less than one hundred an.d seventy feet in length, by seventy in breadth ; a capacity created, doubtless, rather in satisfaction of the magnificent mind of the founder, than respective of the general scale of the monastery. The north end of it is now level with the sward ; a great portion of the west side is scarcely more apparent, and the rest entirely destroyed by the lapse of the river arch below. On the east and south, little more than 134 FOUNTAINS ABBEY. three or four courses remain. Nevertheless, as the ground-plan may be easily defined, and important fragments of the superstructure were found within the area, a tolerable accurate idea of its former apj)earance can be obtained. It has occupied the whole width of the house, from north to south ; and, like the great Norman halls, was divided by pillars into a nave and side aisles, the latter having circulated round the ex- tremities of the former. Each of these pillars, of which there had been seven on each side, independent of the corner piers, was a cylinder of thirteen inches in diameter, resting on a square base two feet high ; and together with the four attached marble shafts, was banded with the same material, in an elegant manner, to which the rudely foliated capitals of gritstone in- sufficiently corresponded. Of the arches, which were no doubt pointed, few fragments are left, though suf- ficient to show the character of the mouldings. The domestic oratory, or chapel, has been forty-six and a half feet, by twenty three feet. The stone altar, though it has lost its slab, remains tolerably perfect, on a low platform that has apparently been paved with large tiles or slabs of marble, ten inches square, alternately in lozenge form, with white stones, of which some por- tions remain attached to the wall. On the opposite side of the chapel, a shallow piscina, cut in a thin slab, was found detached upon the floor, near a small orifice communicating immediately with the river below. On the north side of the chapel, but much below its level, is a picturesque apartment; fifty-eight FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 135 feet by twenty-eight, still partially vaulted ; and which, having been hitherto accessible, from the declivity of the ground, has been delineated as a crypt, though stoutly asserted by the common people to have been " the place where the abbot's six milk-white chariot horses were kept/' " Sex equi ad bigam" — whatever that vehicle may have been, and '^Sea^ equi ad stabulum domini ahhatis^^ mentioned in an inventory of the live stock of the house, at the time of its dissolution, may confirm this singular tradition to the ear ; but, judging from the relative position and general appearance of the place, it is more likely to have been one of the domestic offices, and particularly the storehouse of the establishment. On the south side of the yard was a kitchen ; an apartment corroborating in its dimensions and appli- ances, the most romantic ideas of monastic hospitality. Indeed, in both respects, it much exceeded that which served the monastery, and measured no less than fifty feet, by thirty-eight and a half feet. Like the rest of the house, it has unfortunately been pulled down, with- in a few courses of the ground ; but from the position of the buttresses, we may conclude that it has been vaulted, or, more probably, was covered by a pyramidal roof At the south side, are the foundations of two great fire-places and a boiler, in a wall which has divided a narrow back kitchen from the chief apartment ; and in the south-east angle, a very singular stone grate in the floor, which has been covered by wooden doors, and communicated immediately with the river below. 1B6 FOUNTAINS ABBEY. The refectory has been a fine room, upwards of sixty feet in length, and twenty-three feet nine inches in width. The dais, at the upper end, has a space of nine feet three inches for the table, and another of two feet, behind it, for the bench ; the elevations of each being about nine inches, and ornamented on the face with a row of quatrefoils, which having been cut in limestone, has nearly mouldered away since its exposure. Stone benches yet remain attached to each side of the refectory, and some floor tiles. In the yard, the last supply of coal that the house had needed remained undisturbed under the sward, until the time of the excavation. In the same yard were found a great variety of articles of domestic use — as a spoon weighing about an ounce, with a capacious bowl, slender octagonal stem, and a head similar to an inverted Tudor bracket ; immense quantities of broken pottery, a silver ring, a broad brass ring, a copper can, several Nuremburgh tokens, and bushels of oyster, mussel, and cockle shells ; along with a great number of other articles, all more or less illustrating the domestic life of that period. The encaustic floor tiles found on excavating the several apartments, were numerous and remarkable. One pattern, of four tiles, displays the arms of the abbey, azure, three horse shoes, or, and the very ap- propriate inscription, Benedicite pontes domino. Another, and nearly similar pattern, of Tudor tiles^ exhibits the same arras, but circumscribed by (Soli) DEO GLORIA, a motto always used by abbot Huby. FOUNTAINS ABBEY. 137 On removing the earth from under the arch at the western extremity of one of the watercourses, a hoard of silver money was discovered, consisting of three hundred and fifty-four pieces, generally in excellent preservation, ranging in date, from the reign of Philip and Mary, to that of Charles I. ; a few of the earlier pieces being Spanish coin. They were laid without any apparent envelope, at the depth of only a foot ; and were doubtless committed to this particular place by some thrifty inhabitant of the adjacent country, who had been slain during the civil wars ; for the place was easy to have been identified, even at night, by any one who shared the secret. Three cells, which had been used as prisons, were also cleared out. They were used for the punishment of such monks as had been guilty of felony, or other heinous crimes. The largest cell had a window ; the others had been intended for the infliction of severer discipline, from the absence of light, and the presence of a convenience which added only to the offensive character of the place. Both have traces of iron in the wall ; but a formidable staple in the floor of the innermost, tells significantly that it was reserved for the most heinous, or incorrigible offender ; the stench was so intolerable as to require quick lime to be thrown into it, before it could be cleaned out. This excavation has added much to the interest of this most attractive of ruins, which must long continue one of the largest and best preserved of monastic buildings of which this country can boast, presenting 138 FOUNTAINS ABBEY. grand combinations of pictorial beauty to the artist — a study to the architect and antiquary, and to the curious a memorial of a state of religion and manners which have long since passed away from our country. 139 i0lt0it ^rinrg. Like Fountains and Kirkstall, Bolton Priory is a well known ruin, famous for the unique beauty of its situation, and visited annually by admiring thousands. It stands upon a beautiful curvature of the Wharfe, on a level sufficiently elevated to protect it from inundation, yet low enough for every purpose of picturesque effect ; in the latter respect it has no equal among the northern houses, perhaps not in the kingdom. Fountains, as a building, is more entire, more spacious and magnificent, but the valley of the Skell is without features. Furness, which is more dilapidated, ranks still lower in point of situation. Kirkstall, as a mere ruin, is superior to Bolton ; but, though deficient neither in wood nor water, it wants the seclusion of a deep valley, and the termination of a bold, rocky back ground. Tintern, which most resembles it, has rock, wood, and water, in perfection, but no foreground whatever.* The legend of its foundation in this singularly beau- tiful spot, is at once interesting and romantic. In the year 1120, WiUiam de Meschines, and Cecily his wife, the heiress of Robert de Eomille, to whom William the Conqueror granted vast possessions in Craven, founded at Embsay, two miles east of Skipton, * Whitaker's Craven. 140 BOLTON PRIORY. a priory for Augustinian canons, to the honour of the virgin Mary and St. Cuthbert. Its endowment con- sisted of the village of Embsay, and the church of the Holy Trinity, at Skipton, with its chapel of Carlton ; to which Cecily afterwards added, for the health of her soul, and that of her parents, the village and mill of Kildwick, and certain lands at Stratton. The con- veyance of this latter gift was made in a peculiar manner, being effected, as the charter records, by her and her son-in-law, William, placing a knife upon the altar of the conventual church. The founders were now dead, and had left a daughter, who adopted her mother^s name, Romille, who was married to William Fitz Duncan, nephew of David, king of Scotland. They had a son, commonly known as the boy of Egremond, who, surviving an elder brother, became the last hope of the family. In the deep solitude of the woods between Bolton and Barden, the Wharfe suddenly contracts itself to a rocky channel, little more than four feet wide, and pours through the narrow chasm with a rapidity proportioned to its con- finement. This place was then, as it is yet, caUed the Strid ; from a feat often exercised by persons of more agility than prudence, who stride from brink to brink, regardless of the destruction which awaits a faltering step. Such was the fate of young Romille, who, in- considerately bounding over the chasm with a grey- hound in his leash, the animal hung back, and drew his unfortunate master into the torrent. A forester, who witnessed his fate, but was unable to render him BOLTON PRIORY. 141 any assistance, hastened to his mother, the lady AdeHza, and with a sad countenance, and accents of deep sorrow, inquired in the terms of the age, " What is good for a bootless bene f '^ to which, the mother, under the presentiment that some calamity had hap- pened to her son, replied, " Endless sorrow ! " Say what remains when hope is fled ? She answered, Endless weeping ! For in the herdsman's eye she read Who in his shroud was sleeping. At Embsay rung the matin bell, The stag was roused in Barden fell ; The mingled sounds were swelling — dying, And down the Wharfe a hern was flying ; When near the cabin in the wood, In tartan clad and forest green, With hound m leash and hawk in hood, The boy of Egremond was seen. Blythe was his song — a song of yore — But where the rock is rent in two, And the river rushes through, His voice was heard no more. 'Twas but a step ! the gulph he pass'd. But that step — it was his last ! As through the mist he wing'd his way, (A cloud that hovers night and day,) The hound hung back — and back he drew The master and his merlin too ! That narrow place of noise and strife Received their little all of life ! — Rogers. Such was the accident which caused the removal of the priory from the high, bleak situation of Embsay, to the warm and beautiful valley of the Wharfe ; and Bolton was the nearest eligible site to the place where it happened. 142 BOLTON PRIORY. When lady Adeliza mourn'd Her son, and felt in her despair The pang of unavailing prayer ; Her son in Wharfe's abysses drown'd, The noble boy of Egremound. From which afiliction — when the grace Of God had in her heart found place, A pious structure, fair to see Rose up, this stately priory ! — Wordsworth. This is said to have happened in the year 1151. Doubts may be cast upon the truth of this story, and antiquaries may deny its authenticity, but so shall not we. It is truth-like, touching, and beautiful ; and we revere the mother's sorrow, and approve her pious design. How similar in origin is this priory to that of Kirkham and the abbey of Rievaux : we cannot but sympathise with the grim old warrior, Walter d' Espec, who declares, when his only son is killed by an acci- dent, " Many a poor man's son shall be my heir." To us, more worthy of admiration are the poor and humble brethren of Fountains and Jerveaux, when struggling with poverty, hunger, and privations of all kinds, upheld by a firm faith in God, and a devotion that nothing could change or subdue ; than when they had become rich and great, owners of wide domains, and masters of numberless flocks ; when the abbot of each lordly house had become " a rider, a roamer about, A leader of love days and a land buyer, A pricker on a palfrey from manor to manor. An heap of hounds behind him as he a lord were." Adeliza gave to the brethren of Bolton that place, and the whole village of Bolton, to found there a church BOLTON PRIORY. 143 of canons regular ; and the place called Stede, and the land between Posford and Spectbeck, and the rivers Wharfe and Walkesburn. Among the benefactors to this house, besides those already mentioned, were, Henry de Trancher, and Cecily his wife ; William Vavasour ; Simon de Braan, and Alan de Wintworth. The churches of Carlton in Craven, Harewood, Keighley, Kildwick in Craven, Skipton, Marton in Craven, and Broughton in Airdale, belonged to this house. In 1299, the annual income of the establishment amounted to not less than £867. 17s. 6fd., an enormous sum in those days. In 1301, there were at Bolton and the granges, no fewer than 713 horned cattle, of which 252 were oxen ; 2193 sheep, 95 pigs, and 91 goats. The number of horses is not mentioned. The prior was not a mere cloister monk, devoted to book and candle; but a jolly liver, gaily dressed, waited upon by well appointed servants, gentlemen retainers, huntsmen, and equerries, when he went out to enjoy himself in the forest chase. He kept his own pack of hounds, and took the field fully appointed. The Percys and. their friends were frequent visitors, and were right hospitably entertained at the priory, while daily hunt- ing through the forests of the Wharfe, up Littondale and Langstroth chase. During one of these visits, twenty-two extra quarters of wheat were consumed. Besides the canons and lay-brethren, there were the gentlemen retainers, about twenty in number, each of 144 BOLTON PRIORY. whom had a slave to wait upoii him ; they had free board, lodging, and clothing ; they attended the prior on his journeys, and guarded the priory from attack. The free servants were numerous ; there was the master carpenter, master and under cook, brewer, baker, master smith, bellman, woodman, and sackman. Their wages averaged from 3s. to 10s. per annum. Of these, there were about twenty-six in the house, and about one hundred in the granges of the priory. Besides these, were the slaves of the establishment, of whom the prior had twenty set apart for his own service. Altogether, the number of persons in the priory could not be less than two hundred ; and the quantity of provisions they devoured was immense. In one year they consumed 319 quarters of wheat ; 112 quarters of barley meal; 80 quarters of oatmeal, for pottage ; 80 quarters of barley, oats, and wheat, mixed ; 636 quarters of malted oats, of which they made their oaten ale ; and larger quantities of beer and wine. After existing more than four hundred years, under the rule of a succession of twenty priors, Richard Moon, the last prior with fourteen canons, surrendered the house on the 29th of January, 1540, the gross annual revenues being then but valued at £302. 9s. 3d, and the net at £212. 13s. 4d. For more than two years, the site and premises remained in the king's hands ; till, on the 3rd of April, 1542, they were granted to Henry Clifford, first earl of Cumberland, for the consideration of £2490. They continued in the BOLTON PRIORY. 145 possession of that family till 1635, when Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of Henry, the last earl of Cumberland, marrying Richard, the first earl of Burlington, carried the demesnes into that family, whose daughter Charlotte, sole heiress, married, in 1748, the duke of Devonshire, in whose family the property still continues. The situation of the priory is so shut in by rising grounds, and embosomed in trees, that the visitor is not aware of the beauties awaiting his inspection, until he is almost on the spot. After leaving the bridge and public-house, we pass across the town field, a large pasture stretching to the river, where, tradition says, prince Rupert encamped, on his way to Marston Moor, in June, 1644. The scenery surrounding the priory is the most exquisite picture of natural beauty imagin- able. To the south all is soft and delicious : the eye reposes on a few rich pastures, a moderate reach of the river, — sufficiently tranquil to form a mirror to the sun, — and the bounding fells beyond, neither too near, nor too lofty, to exclude, even in winter, any consider- able portion of his rays. Opposite the magnificent east window of the priory church, the river washes a rock, nearly perpendicular, and of the richest purple ; where several of the mineral beds which break out, instead of maintaining their usual inclination to the horizon, are twisted, by some inconceivable process, into undulating and spiral lines. But all the glories of Bolton are on the north. Whatever the most fastidious taste could require to constitute a perfect L 146 BOLTON PRIORY. landscape, is not only found here, but in its proper place. In front, and immediately under the eye, is a smooth expanse of park-like inclosure, spotted with native oak, elm, and ash ; on the right, a skirting wood ; on the left, a rising copse ; still forward, are seen the aged oaks of Bolton park — the growth of centuries ; and further yet, the barren and rocky distances of Simon's seat, and Bar den fell ; contrasted to the warmth, fertility, and luxuriant foliage of the valley below. What was formerly the gateway of the priory, has been enlarged, and made into a small, but elegant and comfortable mansion. It was an occasional place of retirement of the Cliffords ; and is yet, sometimes, in the shooting season, occupied by the duke of Devon- shire. It contains some curious pictures, chiefly family portraits. The shell of the priory church remains entire, and the nave is still used as a parochial chapel. It exhibits all the styles of architecture that prevailed from the period of its foundation to its dissolution, and some in a degree of excellence which has not often been sur- passed. The choir was evidently the first work of the canons, after, or probably before their translation ; and from thence the work proceeded westward, — a con- siderable time having elapsed, if we may judge from the progressive character which is exhibited before they brought it to a conclusion.'"' The first part of the structure which attacts the *A Summer's Day at Bolton Priory, — By J. R. Walburn, Esq. BOLTON PRIORY. 147 notice of the visitor, is the tower at the west end of the church. In 1520, Richard Moon began this work, after a florid and ambitious design ; but the days of monachism were numbered, and the rude hands of Henry were laid upon him, ere the work had proceeded above the roof of the nave. The west front exhibits great ability of design. The arms of Clifford, and of the priory, are introduced in the spandrils of the door- way. The mouldings of the niches above, after mak- ing the heads, expand into embattled turrets. A frieze above, contains the following inscription, — " In the yer of our Lord MYCXX. R. s^. begaun this foundachion on qwho. sowl God have marce. Amen." On the first stage of the south-west buttress, stands a figure in a cap and gown reaching to his knees, hold- ing a short staff in his right hand, and a round shield under his left arm, a cross fiory being embossed on his breast. The west front of the great aisle of the nave exhibits a deeply recessed doorway, surmounted by three lancet lights, with banded shafts, and, as well as that of the north aisle, is enriched with a series of arcades. The south side of the nave is lighted by six lancet windows. The opposite side of the nave is divided from its aisle by one cylindrical column, placed between two of octagonal form. Above these, are four single, and plain lancet lights. The aisle of the nave has been renewed from the ground in the decorated period. The three windows, with tracery of exquisite design, are divided by three buttresses, — a 148 BOLTON PRIORY. deeply moulded doorway being introduced towards the west end, surmounted by a trefoil-headed arch, enclosed in a triangular and crocketed canopy. At tlie end of this aisle, are eight large rough stones, about seven feet long, laid side by side, and raised about twenty inches above the level of the floor. These cover the vault of the Claphams of Beamsley, who, according to tradition, were interred there, upright. There are also three brass plates of the Morleys, who purchased the estate of the Claphams. The windows on the south have been recently filled with stained glass. The south transept is now totally razed, except the western wall, which retains two very beautiful decorated windows, and a doorway of like character, leading to the cloister, near which is a holy- water stoup. When this transept was cleared of rubbish, a curious sepul- chral memorial of gritstone was found, bearing a rude figure of an Augustinian monk, with his hands conjoined in the attitude of prayer, and this brief record, — Hie jacet d'n's Xpofer Wod quo'd'm. P'or. The south transept is perfect up to the square, except the eastern wall of the aisle, which is entirely demolished. The choir, with the exception of parts of the walls, is in the decorated style. Five lofty windows, of three lights, are divided on each side by buttresses of as many stages, which, judging from the only one, at the north-east angle, remaining, were terminated by crocketed pinnacles. In the great east window, a few fragments of tracery still cling to the arch. BOLTON PRIORY. 149 In their usual position, on the south side, are the remains of four sediha, and a piscina of early English character, much mutilated. Near the north wall, is the corner of a blue marble slab, which is supposed to be a fragment of the tomb of John, lord Clifford, K.G., who was slain at Meaux, 10th Henry V., and who was brought home and interred at Bolton. Near to the fragment, is an arched recess in the wall, not quite nine inches deep, nine feet six inches in height and width, and flanked by two panelled shafts. It may, with much probability, be supposed to have originally been intended for a tomb, for the paschal play of the resurrection. Whittaker says, a skeleton was once found beneath the arch, and from part of a filleting of brass, with the letters Nevi, from which, he presumed it might belong to lady Margaret Neville, whose funeral took place in 1318. Here is also another large sepul- chral slab, much shattered, which has borne an elabo- rate memorial or ejffigy, in brass, with a circumscription. It probably covers one of the later priors, for the outline of a pastoral staff may apparently be traced on it. On the south side of the choir, were two chapels, which extended half its length, and were coeval with its original construction. That to the east has, un- doubtedly, been the resting place of the lords of Skipton and patrons of Bolton. Here, no doubt, the lady Romille was laid to rest ; but no memorial of her now remains. The total length of the church, within, is two hundred and thirty-four feet. The length of the nave, 150 BOLTON PRIORY. eighty-eight feet six inches ; and of the transept, one hundred and twenty-one feet five inches. The width of the choir is forty-feet four inches ; and of the nave, forty-one feet three inches. The quadrangular court joined the south side of the nave of the church. On the west, was a range of lofty buildings ; the lower apartment being probably a store-house, and the upper the dormitory of the canons. Of the refectory on the south, only enough remains to show that it has been a spacious apartment, and, from its shallow buttresses, coeval with the translation of the building. The east side of the cloister court is formed by the transept of the church. The site of the chapter-house has been discovered only within recollection ; it has been torn down nearly to the foundation ; it has been an octagonal building, of about thirty feet in diameter, and twelve feet in each internal face. On the south side of the chapter house passage, are foundations, supposed to have been those of the prior's lodge. The cemetery of the abbey was on the north side of the church, and is still used, as it probably has been, since the foundation of the priory. A stroll through the woods, a glance at the Strid, and a word on Barden Tower, and we bid adieu to this delightful place. About half a mile above Bolton, the valley closes, and on either side the Wharfe is overhung by deep and solemn woods, from which huge perpendicular masses of gritstone jut out at intervals. Here a BOLTON PRIORY. 151 tributary stream rushes from a waterfall, and bursts through a woody glen, to mingle its waters with the Wharfe. The Wharfe itself is nearly lost in a deep cleft of the rock, and next becomes a horned flood, enclosing a woody island ; sometimes it reposes for a moment, and then resumes its native character, — lively, irregular, impetuous. A little higher up the stream we reach the tremendous Strid ; a narrow chasm in the rocks, through which the river rushes with great fury. This chasm being incapable of receiving the winter floods, has formed on either side a broad strand of native gritstone, full of rock basins, or "pots of the lin,'' which bear witness to the restless impetuosity of so many northern torrents. The deep and solemn roar of the waters rushing through this narrow passage is heard above and beneath, amid the silence of the surrounding woods. The river boils and foams, raging and roaring like the angry spirit of the waters, in the narrow cleft of the rock, through which the current rushes with the most awful rapidity. Here it was that the boy of Egremond, ranging the woods of Barden with his hounds and huntsman, attempted to stride across the gulph, a dangerous step; " He sprang in glee, for what cared he, That the river was strong, and the rocks were steep ? But the greyhound in the leash hung back, And check'd him in his leap. The boy is in the arms of Wharf, And strangl'd by a merciless force ; For never more was young Romille seen, Till he rose a lifeless corse ! " 15*2 BOLTON PRIORY. The fate of the boy of Egremond has not prevented the practice of striding from brink to brink, regardless of the consequences that await a false step. The width is only four feet five inches, but few can look down into the awful gulph without a shudder of horror.* * Though it seems impossible for any human being to pass through the waters of the Strid with life, yet Dr. Whitaker has recorded an instance in which two persons fell into the torrent and escaped unhurt. Hist. Craven, note p. 199. " A few years since, a party of ladies and gentlemen were crossing, when a lady, seized with a sudden apprehension, was unable to extend her foot to the opposite brink, and fell with her partner into the fissure; a single moment was passing, and their friends awaking to re- collected horror ; when, happy to say, they were instantly ejected upon the shallow strand which succeeds the rock ; when recovering from their fright, they had received no other injury than that done to their clothes." A more tragic fate was that of Miss Poole, the only daughter of a solicitor, in Gray's Inn, London ; who, on the 30th April, 1828, with her friends, paid a visit to the woods of Bolton. After a walk of two miles in the woods, they took a little refreshment, in what is called the Moss House, and then went to visit the noted Strid. Miss Poole, at the persuasion of her friends, ap- proached the edge of the rock which overhangs the awful vortex — gazed — became dizzy — exclaimed, " I'm going ! " — and at once sank into the terrible flood. The scene was indescribable ; an involuntary and thrilling shriek was heard from each of the females. A Mr. Dean, one of the party, rushed to the spot — stepped upon the rock, and was fortunate enough to catch hold of her bonnet. But, oh ! fallacious hope ! the strings broke, and she instantly disappeared under the rocks. 153 §ar!trtiT Cnker. Few visitors of Bolton will leave this delightful valley without paying a visit to Barden Tower, deeply shrouded in ancient woods, and backed in the distance by the purple fells. " It is indeed but a plain Tudor house, enlarged, or rebuilt by Henry Clifford, the shepherd lord, from one of the lodges, by which the ancient chace of Barden was protected; but the scenery around it is exquisitely beautiful ; the air of primeval simplicity so pure and refreshing — and the profound seclusion and tranquility so congenial to the sympathies of the imagination and of the heart, that it needed neither the association of the virtues or the fame of its founder, nor the lays of him by whom they have been sung so worthily and so well, to invest its crumb- ling walls with another, and indestructible enchant- ment." The retired habits of Henry, lord Clifford, leading him to prefer the retreat of Barden to the bustle of his more extensive mansions, he fitted up this lodge for the reception of himself and a modest train of servants, and spent here a considerable portion of a comparatively innocent and peaceful hfe. The circum- scribed limits of his residence and suit show that he had learned to despise all worldly pomp and greatness, ajnd to be satisfied with a very moderate establishment ; 154 BARDEN TOWER. for the dates of all his charters testify that, when in Yorkshire, he invariably made his abode here. At the period when lie first came to Barden Tower, he was almost if not wholly illiterate ; he having been con- cealed in the fells of Cmiiberland for twenty-five years, where he had practised the habits and manners of a shepherd. He was, however, possessed of a good natural understanding, and of considerable ingenuity ; and his early training having led him to observe the motions of the heavenly bodies, with the aid of the canons of Bolton, he was enabled here more perfectly to pursue his favourite studies, and to make consider- able progress in the sciences of alchemy and astronomy. In such peaceful and retired employments the shepherd lord passed the whole reign of Henry VII., and the first years of his son, Henry VIII. ; but, in the year 1513, when sixty years of age, he was appointed a principal in command over the army which fought at Flodden ; and he there proved that the military ardour and genius of the family were not extinct, nor had been chilled and extinguished by his long and early habits of peace. He survived the battle of Flodden ten years, and died April 23rd, 1523, aged about seventy years. His son, a very different character, occasionally resided here ; and until the later days of the third earl of Cumberland, it seems never to have been wholly neglected by the family. From the inventory taken in 1572, after the death of the second earl, it appears that the hall and kitchen here were furnished, but the bed BARDEN TOWER. 155 rooms empty. From this circumstance, it may be con- cluded that the family, at that time, resorted hither for the pleasures of the chace, dined at the tower, and returned to Skipton in the eyening. When lady Ann Clifford, countess of Pembroke, succeeded to her inheritance, this place had become a ruin, which she repaired, in 1659, at an expense of £100, as may be seen by the following inscription, which still remains over the principle entrance : " This Bar den Tower was repay r'd by the ladie Anne Clifford, Countess Dowager of Pembroke Dorsett & Montgomery Baronesse Clifford Westmorland & Vescie Lady of the Honor of Skipton in Craven, and Sheriff- esse by inheritance of the countie of Westmorland in the yeares 1658 and 1659, after it had layne ruinous ever since about 1589 when her mother then lay in itt & was great with her till nowe that it was repayr'd by the sayd Lady. Isa. Chap. 58. Ver. 12. God's name be praised.'^ In 1676, this tower was occasionally the residence of the Burlington family ; and the last of that family who resided here was Juliana, countess dowager of Burlington. In 1774, it was entire. The lead and timber of the roof have since been taken away ; and it has now put on that picturesque form which only dilapidated build- ings have the privilege of assuming. The shell of the building yet remains tolerably perfect, and the disposition of the apartments may be traced ; but, from the plain character of its style, it is a fitter 156 BARDEN TOWER. study for the painter, than the architect or the antiquary. The chapel, a detached tower-hke building to the south of the house, was apparently built by the shep- herd lord, and is still used for public worship, being served by the minister of Bolton. It was repaired at the same time as the tower, by the lady Pembroke. A gallery at the west end, supported by the remains of a perpendicular screen, was reserved for the use of the family ; who must have entered from the farm-house, which is now, and no doubt then was contiguous. The tenants show a halbert, which was formerly kept, with many more, in the tower ; and a military drum, with the arms and supporters of the Darcies, of Hornby ; but both of them, we are told, belonged to lady Pembroke. 157 kiptnn Castk. Skipton is a place renowned in history ; and its castle, with the noble families inhabiting it, have shed over Craven the venerable lustre of antiquity. At the time of the conquest, Skipton formed part of the pos- sessions of earl Edwin, one of the Saxon nobles. It was afterwards granted to Robert de Romille, one of the followers of the conqueror, who built Skipton castle as the seat of his barony, about the end of the reign of that monarch. The erection of this baronial resi- dence elevated Skipton from a village to a town ; but it never had a municipal government, nor was it ever represented in parliament. Subsequently, the barony came, by marriage, into the Albermarle family ; after- wards it became vested in the crown. Edward II. bestowed this valuable inheritance on his ill-fated favourite, Piers Gaveston, who became so obnoxious, by his pride and insolence, to the ancient barons, that they rose in rebellion against his royal master, captured the favourite in the castle of Scarborough, and after- wards beheaded him without any trial. The next alienation transferred it, in the year 1311, to a family, who, with the exception of a single attainder, have held it for five hundred years ; during the larger part of which time, they resided at Skipton castle, in great 158 SKIPTON CASTLE. wealth and honour. The grant was made to Robert lord Clifford, by Edward II., in the fourth year of his reign ; at which time, the annual rent of arable land in Craven was tenpence, and pasture land, four pence per acre.'" This Robert, first lord of Skipton of the Cliffords, was employed by the king, on all occasions of the highest trust, — led an active life, and died an honour- able death ; for he was slain at the battle of Bannock- burn, June 25th, 1314. Roger, second lord Clifford of Skipton, joined the earl of Lancaster's insurrection against Edward II. ; was severely wounded and taken prisoner, at the battle of Boroughbridge, March 16th, 1322, and sentenced to death, along with Lancaster and the other lords, whom the issue of that day had made traitors, " so that all the lands were seized into the king's hands as forfeited ; but by reason of his great wounds, being held a dying man, the execution was respited for that time, and after the heat of the fray was over, his life was spared by the said king, so as he died a natural death, in the first year of king Edward III. He died childless and unmarried.'' f Robert de Clifford, his brother and heir, regained his *At that period, matrimony was subject to a singular toll in the forest of Skipton ; for, as appears from a MS., preserved in the castle, it was ordained, " that ev'ry bryde cumyng that waye shulde eyther gyve her left shoo or Ills. IVd. to the forester of Crookryse, by way of custome or gaytcloys." f Such is the statement of Sir Matthew Hale, who was employed by the Lady Ann Clifford, to make a digest of the family records. The generality of historians represent him to have been hanged at York, and his body hung in chains, along with the lords Mowbray and Deynville. SKIPTON CASTLE. 159 lands, by the general act of restitution of all the earl of Lancaster's party, passed in the parliament, 4th Edward III. Nothing very remarkable is mentioned concerning him, nor of his two immediate successors, Robert and Roger, of whom the former died young and childless. The latter was engaged in the French and Scottish wars of Edward III. ; but of his exploits no record remains. Thomas, the sixth lord, lived not much more than two years after his father's death. He died beyond seas. His daughter, Maud, was second wife to that Richard, earl of Cambridge, who suffered the penalty of treason, in the reign of Henry V. His daughter, Elizabeth, was married, as Dodsworth says, " at six yeares olde being carried to the chappel in Skipton castell, in the arms of John Garthe, to Robert, son of Sir William Plumpton ; he dying, shee was, at XII yeares of age, mar'd to Wm. the bro. of Robt. Sir William Plumpton promising that they shold not ligg together till she was XYI yeares old, and at XYIII, she was mother of Margaret Rawcliffe." His son John was a soldier, and by indenture, dated Feb. 8, 1417, Henry V. retained him in his service for the war in France, for one year. The contract was to this effect ; that this lord, with fifty men at arms, well accoutred, whereof three to be knights, the rest esquires, and one hundred and fifty archers ; whereof two parts to serve on horseback, the third on foot, should serve the king from the day he should be ready to set sail for France, taking for himself four shiUings for every knight ; for every 160 SKIPTON CASTLE. esquire one shilling ; for every archer sixpence per diem. This John Clifford fell at the siege of Meaux, in the last year of Henry Y., and was buried in Bolton Priory. The Cliffords were amongst the first noble families in the kingdom who engaged in the memorable civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster. They were zealous Lancastrians, and Thomas, the next lord Clifford, was slain at the battle of St. Al ban's. May 22nd, 1454 ; when the Yorkists were triumphant, and left 5000 of their enemies stretched on the battle field. The events of this fatal day are supposed to have imparted a degree of ferocity to the character of his son and successor, John, lord Clifford, who has been recorded as the most merciless of a merciless time. This young nobleman had been engaged in the civil wars from his earliest manhood, and fought at the battle of Wakefield, December 24th, 1460; when the red rose of Lancaster again bloomed forth. On that memorable day, the duke of York himself was killed, with nearly 3000 of his followers ; and his son, the earl of Eutland, a youth of seventeen, being brought into the preseuce of lord Clifford, was murdered in cold blood, by the savage hands of the vindictive peer. ISTor was this his only barbarity ; his revenge for the death of his father impelled him to other excesses ; and Leland says, "that for slaughter of men at Wakefield, he was called the boucher." It was to his tent, that king Henry, when taken captive at the second battle of St. Albans by the party which had SKIPTON CASTLE. 161 used his name, was brought to meet his victorious queen ; and there he knighted his son, young Edward, then a boy of eight years. Seldom has a prince so meek been entertained by a subject so ferocious. On the approach of the last decisive battle between the rival houses, his lordship advanced to Ferrybridge, with the flower of Craven under his command. After forcing the passage of the Aire, and been beaten thence in his turn, he retreated towards Tadcaster. Having put off" his gorget, he was struck in the throat by a headless arrow, and so was sent to his own place, wherever that might be. This happened at Dintondale, between Scarthingwell and Towton. Edward triumphed in the following fight, and the hopes of the Lancas- trians were extinguished in the crimsoned streams of the Wharfe. Lord Clifford, though dead, was attainted, and his estates forfeited in the 1st of Edward IV. The castle, manor, and lordship of Skipton, were granted to Sir James Stanley ; and afterwards, in the 10th of Edward IV., to Richard, duke of Gloucester, according to the terms of the grant, — " for the en- couragement of piety and fortitude in the said duke," who retained them till his death. In the first year of Henry VII., the attainder of lord John was revei-sed, together with those of all the adherents of the house of Lancaster ; and the estates of the family were re- stored to lord Henry Clifford, son of lord John, sur- named the Shepherd, in 1485. For five-and-twenty years the young lord had been immured amongst the fells of Cumberland, and his manners and education M 162 SKIPTON CASTLE. were those of a peasant. Conscious of his defects, and attached to sohtude, he spent a large portion of the remainder of his days at Barden, where he studied astronomy and alchemy. At the age of sixty, he emerged from his retirement, and was appointed by the king to a command in the English army, at the battle of Flodden field ; where the king of Scotland, and the flower of his nobility, sunk under the prowess of the English arms. Lord Clifford suryived the battle of Flodden ten years, and died on the 23rd of April, 1523, aged about seyenty. He was succeeded by Henry, his son, who was then about thirty years of age, and who had passed his youth among a band of dissolute followers as an outlaw, raising contributions, to supply their extravagances, from the religious houses and the peaceful husbandmen. Young Clifford was a fayourite with Henry YHI. ; and two years after his accession to the family inheritance, he was created earl of Cumberland. The great gallery in Skipton castle was built by this earl ; and the fortress itself was besieged by the followers of Aske, in the Pilgrimage of Grace, and brayely defended by the earl, who beat off the assailants, in spite of treachery among his own followers. He married lady Margaret Percy, when the whole of the Percy fee, equiyalent, in extent, to half of Crayen, became yested in the Cliffords. He died, April 22nd, 1542, aged forty-nine years. At his death, an inquisition was taken to ascertain the yalue of his yast estates, which were found to amount to £1719. 7s. 8d. per annum. Henry, his son, the second SKIPTON CASTLE. l(Jo earl of Cumberland, succeeded his father ; and little more is recorded of him, but that he died at Brougham castle, in Westmorland, and was buried at Skipton. George, the third earl of Cumberland, was born at Brougham, on the 8th of August, 1558, and succeeded to the title and estates when he was eleven years and five months old. He married lady Margaret Russell, third daughter of Francis, duke of Bedford ; by whom he had two sons, who died young, and a daughter, lady Ann CHfFord. This earl was a great navigator ; and, in the memorable year of the Armada, he commanded the Elizabeth Bonaventura, and highly distinguished himself in the action fought off Calais. He died in the meridian of life, " of a bloody flux, caused, as was supposed, by the wounds and distempers he received formerly, in his sea voyages." Dr. Whitaker says, " he was an indiiferent and unfaithful husband, and a negligent and thoughtless parent ; he set out with a larger estate than any of his ancestors, and in little more than twenty years, he had made it one of the least. Fortunately, for his family, a constitution, originally vigorous, gave way at forty-seven, to hard- ships, anxiety, wounds, and probably licentiousness." '" Lady Ann inherited the principal estates ; but the titles, on the death of earl George, devolved upon Sir Thomas Clifford. Lady Ann married, first, Richard Sackville, earl of Dorset ; and after his death, the earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, whom she also survived. On the death * History of Craven. 164 SKIPTON CASrLE. of the last of the earls of Cumberland, without issue, in 1643, all the lands belonging to the family reverted to the countess of Pembroke. During the civil war between Charles I. and the parliament, Skipton castle was garrisoned for the king, when it sustained a siege, or rather blockade of three years, against the parlia- mentary forces, commanded by generals Poyntz and Rossiter ; the earl of Cumberland, its owner, being then lord lieutenant of the West Riding, and Sir John Mallory, of Studley, an old and faithful loyalist, the governor. It was surrendered on the 22nd of Decem- ber, 1645. It was, however, again seized by the cavaliers, during the duke of Hamilton's expedition into England, in 1648. It was soon afterwards retaken by general Lambert. In 1649, it was ordered, by par- liament, to be dismantled, which was shortly afterwards carried into effect. From its situation, it has never been well adapted for defence, as it was commanded by two heights, within cannon shot. The countess of Pembroke was an ornament to her age and country. The demise of the earl, January 23rd, 1649, left her free and uncontrolled mistress of the ancient fees and estates which had legally been hers since 1643. But her property was in the most dilapidated condition; — six of her castles,— Brough, Brougham, Pendragon, Appleby, Barden, and Skipton, were wholly or partially in ruins. Skipton, her birth place, after changing hands twice, and undergoing two sieges, had been dismantled by command of the parliament ; its roofs broken in ; the lead and timber SKIPTON CASTLE. 165 sold; and the venerable tapestry, the antique furniture, and embossed plate, destroyed or scattered ; — her parks, her farms, her woods, and her tenants, all melancholy witnesses to the miseries of civil discord. She immedi- ately set about restoring her affairs, and repairing her ruined houses. Almost immediately upon her widow- hood she repaired to Skipton, which she found scarred and riddled with shot, and little more than the bare roofless walls remaining. But the long gallery, built in the days of the first earl, was still entire ; and here she spent some days, making her bed-room the octagon chamber. In 1657 and 8, she restored the buildings of the castle, and made it inhabitable. Shortly before the restoration, the existing powers insulted her, by placing a garrison in her renovated mansion of Skipton ; yet this did not prevent her from going there early in 1658, and passing some weeks among the uninvited guests. This most worthy lady died the 22nd of March, 1675, aged eighty-seven years. The lady Margaret Sackville, her first daughter and co-heiress, by Richard, earl of Dorset, married John Tufton, earl of Thanet, on the 21st of April, 1629 ; and the manor and castle of Skipton descended, on the death of the countess of Pembroke, to that noble family, in which it yet continues ; Sir Richard Tufton being the present owner. Skipton castle stands close to the church, on an eminence at the north end of the town. The entrance into the court is through a lofty archway, in a square tower, between two round towers. Above the entrance, 166 SKIPTON CASTLE. in large stone letters, forming a battlement, is the motto of the Cliffords, " DESORMAIS." After passing this gateway, the majestic front of the castle, with its round and octagonal towers, rises before us. It has been recently repaired, and yet presents the aspect of a noble mansion, not unworthy of the noble line by which it was so long inhabited. Of the castle, as built at the period of the conquest, little remains, except the western doorway to the inner castle, consisting of a semicircular arch, resting upon square piers. The most ancient part of the fabric now visible, consists of five round towers, partly in the sides, and partly in the angles of the building, connected by rectilinear apart- ments, which form an irregular quadrangular court within. The walls are from nine to twelve feet thick. This part was the work of Robert de Clifford, in the early part of the reign of Edward II. The eastern part, a single range of buildings at least sixty yards long, with two octangular towers in the side, and terminated by another of larger dimensions, was built by the first earl of Cumberland, in the short space of four or five months, for the reception of "the lady Eleanor Brandon's grace,'' who had married his son, in the 27th of Henry VIII. This part remains nearly in its original condition, as the wainscot carved with fluted pannels, and even some of the ancient furniture, seem to prove. The present entrance, concealing the original Norman doorway, was added by lady Pem- broke, who repaired the castle, as appears from the following inscription, cut in stone over the door: SKIPTON CASTLE. 167 " This Skipton Castle was repayr'd by the ladie Anne CKfford, Countesse Dowager of Pembrookee, Dorsett & Montgomerie, Baronesse CKfFord, Westmorland and Vescie, Lady of the Honor of Skipton in Craven, & Sheriffesse by inheritance of the Countie of Westmor- land, in the yeares 1657 & 1658. After this maine part of itt had laine ruinous ever since December, 1648, and the January following, when it was then pulled down and demolished, almost to the foundation, by the Command of the Parliament then sitting at Westminster, because itt had bin a garrison in the then civille warres in England. Isaiah Chap. 58. ver. 12, God's name be praised." The entrance added by lady Pembroke is the only part of the castle which exhibits signs of weakness ; as the old rounders of imperishable stone and cement, which last even hardens with ^me, contain in them- selves no more principle of decay than the rock on which they stand ; and the additional building of Henry the Eighth's time bears no external mark of the precipitance with which it is said to have been built. Within, however, the scene is different, neglect and decay being everywhere apparent. In the second great rounder from the entrance, is the muniment room of the Cliffords, in which the treasures, and the writings anciently were kept. The apartments formed out of the gallery contain several portraits in a perishing state, particularly the great historical family picture, painted and inscribed under the direction of the 168 SKIPTON CASTLE. countess of Pembroke. It is composed of three parts, a centre and wings ; tlie latter serving as doors. In the centre compartment, is George Clifford, earl of Cumberland ; and on his right hand, is Margaret Russell, his countess, holding in her left hand the psalms of Dayid ; on her right hand, stands her eldest son Francis, and on his right, her other son Robert ; nearly over the head of the countess, is a half length, eight inches and three quarters high, and seven inches and a half broad, of Elizabeth, countess of Bath, eldest sister of the countess of Cumberland. On the left, at a little distance from it, in the same line, almost on the left side of the picture as it is viewed, is another of the same size, of Frances, lady Wharton, sister to the earl of Cumberland ; and below, is one rather larger, of Margaret, countess of Derby, eldest child of Henry, second earl of Cumberland, by his first lady. The doors exhibit portraits of their celebrated daughter, Ann Clifford ; one compartment represents her at the age of about thirteen ; the other, in a state of widow- hood, dressed in black, with a veil ; over the latter portrait are the heads of her two husbands, Richard, earl of Dorset, and Philip, earl of Pembroke. Here is also a head of Sir Ingram Clifford ; another, called Fair Rosamond; and a half length picture, conjectured by Dr. Whitaker to be intended to represent lady Eleanor Brandon. In the inner court yard of the castle is a very large yew tree, said to be 500 years old, and to have been first planted there on the birth of one of the Cliffords. SKIPTON CASTLE. 169 The view of the country from the front of the castle is beautiful, being finely variegated v^ith hills and valleys, uncultivated mountains, and fruitful fields. Right in front, at the distance of about half a mile, is Cock-hill, now ornamented with a clump of firs ; where tradition says, the batteries were fixed against the castle, during the siege in 1645 and following years. Near the second octagonal tower, on the wall, are many dinted depressions in the stones, which are said to have been made by musket balls at the same time. The octagonal tower at the corner, now covered with ivy, bears marks of cannon shot. Fragments of the moat which has encircled the castle yet remain, a part on the south side being now a garden. The walk on the outside is yet called " the Bailey walk.^^ On the northern side, the fortress has been defended by a deep ravine, the sides clothed with trees and brushwood. At the bottom is now a canal, from which is a railway to the noted limestone quarry, called "Skipton rock." This castle is a highly interesting place, what from the renown of the family to which it formerly belonged, and the complete state in which it presents us with one of the feudal halls of our ancient nobility. 170 The ruins of this abbey are situated on the banks of the Ribble, near the western boundary of Yorkshire, in a warm and fertile situation, close to the village of the same name, and about three miles distant from the town of Clithero, in Lancashire. It was founded in the year 1147, by William de Percy, for monks of the Cistercian order. On the first of January, in the same year, abbot Benedict, with twelve monks, and ten conversi or lay brethren, set out from the parent abbey of Fountains to take possession of the site of their new home ; and on the seventh of the same month, being the first day of the new moon, the monastery was founded. William de Percy endowed it with lands in Sawley or Salley, Dudeland, and Elwinsthorpe, besides one caru- cate of land in Rimington ; and by a second charter, he confirmed the same, adding thereto Crocum and Stainton. A church and other conventual buildings were erected, but the establishment did not prosper ; the climate was cold and rainy, and the lands wild, uncultivated, and barren. So that after a lapse of forty years, it was resolved either to break up or remove the establishment to some other place ; SAWLEY ABBEY. 171 when Matilda de Percy set forth, in a charter, "^^ which she granted to this house, — that the monastery having stood above forty years in the place where it was founded, and being reduced to extreme want, through the ill temperature of the air, which suffered nothing to thrive upon the ground, it had been resolved either to remove or destroy it ; wherefore to prevent its ruin, and that her father's charity might not be lost, she gave to the monks the church of Tadcaster, with the chapel of Haslewood, an annual pension from the church of Newton, and one carucate of land at Catton, This, her grant, was con- firmed by Agnes, her sister ; who, by another deed, gave to the monks two plough lands at Litton, and liberty of grazing six hundred sheep at the same place. In 1813, Henry de Percy gave to the monks of Sawley the church of Gargrave, with " all appurtenances, entireties, pensions religious or secular, in what manner soever due/' The petition from king Edward II. to the pope, for the confirmation of this gift, states it to be " the faithful relation of the monastery of Salley, in Craven, in England, in the diocese of York, founded and situate as it were in the most castaway and remote parts of all our kingdom, towards the Irish sea ; and, moreover, in a country wonderfully hiUy ; and on account of the too great frequency of storms, for the most part barren and unfruitful, from many * This charter, with those of the founder, and many others relating to this house, may be seen in Dugdale's Monasticon ; translations or abstracts of them are given in Harland's " Salley Abbey." 172 SAWLEY ABBEY. causes, and from various unfortunate events, — but chiefly on account of the cruel and inhuman spoHa- tion of all their moveables, and the horrible burning of some of their places, which the evil-disposed army of the Scots, when scattered over the whole of that district, in our absence, lately effected ; — ^the convent has been reduced to such utter poverty and want, beyond all their means of extricating themselves from difficulty, and drawing their daily breath without hope, so that they are neither adequate to their own existence, as religious men ought' to be, nor to provide for the conflux to them of poor strangers, and for the charitable administration of hospitality, unless some speedy assist- ance should be rendered to them/' The church of Gargrave was, in consequence, confirmed to the monks by William, archbishop of York, March 17th, 1321. The family of Percy were otherwise great bene- factors to the abbey ; two of whom, William de Percy, (not the founder,) and his eldest son Henry, were buried here. In the 26th Henry HI, 1241, the abbot of Sawley had a grant of the manor of Gisburn in Craven. In the 45th of the same reign, the monks of Sawley had a grant of a market and fair in the manor of Gisburn. In the 54th of the same reign, the abbot had a grant of free warren " in Sally, Hautgrange, Gisle- burn, Elwynthorpe, Fulden, Stay nt on, Langcliffe, and Boulton.^' In return for charitable assistance made by him, the abbot and convent, during the rule of abbot John, SAWLEY ABBEY. 173 (1371 to 1380,) granted to John Dautre, his progeni- tors and kindred, their prayers unto the end of the world. "Being excited by these pressings stings of charity, we have with unanimous consent, of our own will, gratis, and of our free motion, granted to the aforesaid John to partake of all the good works which the goodness of our Saviour shall vouchsafe to perform by us, or the monks of the said house, to the end of the world." Such is the language of the grant ; a pardonable error in those w^ho considered themselves the only true and everlasting church, with an eternity of existence here and hereafter. Little did they dream then of " the shock that hurl'd To dust, in many fragments dash'd and strown, The throne, whose roots were in another world, And whose far stretching shadow awed our own." Many an acre of fruitful land did the monks receive for a fruitless mass ; and many a valuable gift was bestowed upon the convent for the right of sepulture within its walls. We subjoin two instances from the records of this house. " Sir Angeus, upon the holy altar of God and the blessed Mary of Salley, has given &c. half a carucate of land in Orton, held of William earl of Warwick, on this condition, 'that whenever, God inspiring me, I may wish to relinquish secularity, they shall receive me at my option, as a monk or a convert ; and when I die, they shall do for me as much as for a monk. Witness : Maugre, parson of Giseburne.' " 174 SAWLEY ABBEY. " Robert Coe quit-claims Crocum, the monks of Sallej granting me the full benefit of their house for ever; and to the end that if I wish, I may have burial amongst them, and they may do service for my soul as for a brother in all things/''* From a very curious compotus of this house, in 1381, given in Dr. Whitaker's Craven, it appears that the receipts at that time were £347. 14s. 7^d. and the expenditure £355. 13s. lOJd. The tithes of the parish of Gargrave, one of the warmest and most fertile in Craven, containing 10,420 statute acres, yielded them the net sum of £52. 7s, 8d. The prices of corn per quarter, at that time were, wheat, 6s. 8d., barley, 4s., beans, rather more than 4s., and oats 2s. Wool at that time was 2s. per stone. The yearly consumption of corn in bread by the establishment was 155 quarters ; that of oats for the horses, 139 quarters. The same account seems to show that the monks of Sawley yearly brewed into ale 255 quarters of malted oats and barley ; which, assuming the number of inmates at seventy, and the number of gallons brewed from every quarter at sixty, would give nearly 300 gallons to each individual annually ; which is certainly a very large quantity. The value of a cow's milk, in Craven, for a year, at that time, was Is. ; as Thomas Boulton, bailiff, of Elwinthorpe, received, for the milk of twenty-four cows, 24s. To poor persons and mendicants was given, during the year, the startling sum, considering the * Whitaker's Craven. SAWLEY ABBEY. 175 boasted charity of monastic establishments, of 5s. 8d., or less than one thousandth part of the abbey's income. The servants were about forty-five in number, and their annual wages amounted to £28. 4s. 4d. Some of them, as the poultry keeper, received only 2s. a year ; and one, William Brogden, the prior's chamber- Iain, £6. Henry Tatersall, the convent cook, had 14s. 8d. ; Thomas Kar, a tailor, 10s. ; W. Alan, forester of High Grange, 10s. ; the forester of Swan- syde, lis. 8d. yearly. The monks kept about 35 horses, probably 30 milch cows, and apparently about 70 cattle. Yet the revenues at the dissolution were only returned at £221. 15s. 8d. gross, and the clear amount at £147. 3s. lOd. ; by which means it fell into the category of the smaller religious houses. After a succession of about twenty-three abbots, and an exist- ence of three hundred years, it yielded to the spoiler. The last abbot was William Trafford, who took part in the monkish insurrection, called the Pilgrimage of Grace, in the year 1536 ; for which he was tried at the Lancaster spring assizes of 1537, and was hanged at Lancaster, March ] 0th, of the same year. The site and demesnes of the abbey, together with all manors, messuages, &c., thereunto belonging, were granted by Henry VIIL, in the thirtieth year of his reign, to Sir Arthur Darcy, knight, to be held in capite by knight's service. The best and most complete record of the posses- sions of this abbey, from its foundation to the time of its dissolution, is to be found in an old latin record 176 SAWLEY ABBEY. kept by the monks themselves, and which, after the dissolution, passed into the hands of those to whom Henry VIII. granted the abbey demesnes, and other estates. It is now in the British Museum, and is thus described in Dugdale's Monasticon, — " The Register of Salley Abbey is a quarto volume, of 198 leaves on vellum." From this record, it appears that the monks were possessed of land and privileges in thirty-eight different parishes or places ; of which about six are in Lancashire and the others in Yorkshire. At the beginning of the volume, are the names of Arthur and Thomas Darcy, to whom the site of the abbey belonged subsequently to the dissolution ; and on the lower part of the first leaf, is written, — ' Thys booke aperteinethe to Arthur Darcy, Knyght, of Salley. Whosoever finds ytt he shall have Xs. so he bryng ytt agayn to hym, and God's blessyn.' " By an inquisition taken in the 3rd Elizabeth, the manor of Langcliffe, as parcel of the passessions of Salley abbey, was found to be held by Henry, son of Arthur Darcy, the first grantee after the dissolution ; and that he also held, inter alia, the site of the dis- solved monastery of Salley, with all its demesnes, lands, &c., all of the Queen in capite, by knights' service. In the 15th James I. Sis James Hay, knight, being seized of that manor, was created by the king baron of Salley ; he was a vain and profane man, better remembered by the title of earl of Carlisle. He died in 1636, leaving a son, James, whose only daughter and heiress, Margaret, married Robert, earl of Warwick, SAWLEY ABBEY. 177 and received the rents and profits of this estate in 1662. How it passed from this lady, or her husband, to the Weddell family, does not appear ; but they were its next possessors ; and on the death of the late WiUiam Weddell, Esq., the manor and estates of Sawley devolved upon lord Grantham, now earl de Grey, the present owner. "^^ Approaching the site of the abbey on the Yorkshire side, crossing the Eibble, by the bridge at the village of Sawley, not a hundred yards along the high road past the village Inn, brings the visitor to two gatewaj^s, about ten yards from each other, which may at some time have given entrance to the precincts of the abbey. They fell down a few years ago, and have since been rebuilt ; they have probably been erected at first from the ruins of some former building, as various carved stones have been built into them, without any order or obvious design. On the outer face of the first gate- way, over the arch, is an inscription in black letter, now illegible. On the left pier of the arch, on the same face, is a slab, with trefoil head, and apparently another inscription, also illegible. Another stone bears on a shield in bold relief, the lion rampant of the Percies, founders, and great benefactors of the abbey. There are other shields carved on stones, included in the wall, bearing the arms of Vavasour, Tempest, and Hammer ton. The chief ornament of the inner gateway is the fragment of a stone statue of the virgin, with the infant Jesus on her left arm, within a canopied niche. * Hari.axd's Salley Abbey, p. 49. N 178 SAWLEY ABBEY. On a filleting at the feet of the figure is inscribed, in old black letter, There is much grace and spirit in these mutilated remains, though both figures are now headless, and the right arms of both mother and child are gone ; enough is however yet left to attract the attention of the artist and sculptor, no less than the antiquary. This relic was found some years ago, built into the foundations of a corn mill, at the end of a row of houses in the village. The turnpike road passes partly under these archways, and partly to the left of them, so that carri- ages can either pass under them or by them. At a little distance past these singular erections we enter the precincts of the abbey. Let no one imagine to himself a scene of magnificent desolation, like that which meets the eye at Fountains and Kirkstall, Eievaux and Whitb}^, or he will be much disappointed in the appearance of these ruins. The outside of the buildings is not elegant ; nor, from the nature of the stone, can it ever have been so. It is a kind of blue lias, of a perishable nature, and is much mouldered by time, and the influence of the atmosphere. What may be confidently looked for at Sawley, is the ground-plan of a large monastic establishment ; and he who expects nothing more will be highly gratified by the inspection of the ruin. The site of the church and all the conventual build- ings that remain, were cleared of rubbish, in the year SAWLEY ABBEY. 179 1849 ; the foundations, tombs, and inscriptions laid bare ; and the whole is now enclosed within a w^all, and carefully preserved from further destruction. The ground-plan of the church is easily distinguish- able. It consists of a choir with aisles, a transept, and a nave of very contracted dimensions. The entire length, from east to west, is one hundred and eighty- five feet ; the choir being one hundred and sixteen feet, and the nave, but forty feet, in length ; the breadth of the choir is sixty-two feet, that of the nave, thirty feet. The length from north to south along the transept, is one hundred and twenty-five feet, and its breadth forty feet. The nave presents nothing worthy of remark, except its very small dimensions. On the east side of the transept are six small chapels, or chantries, divided by partition walls, each with an altar and piscina remaining ; this is now the most interest- ing part of the building. The threshold of the north door of the transept is formed of a flat slab, evidently a tombstone, bearing a circle and the figure of a sword cut upon it. Turning to the left, w^e come to another tombstone, bearing a richly floriated cross, the base formed into three . steps, which form is technically known as the Calvery ; on one side is the figure of a sword, and on the other, something like a belt. A few steps from the last mentioned slab, we enter the most northerly of the small chapels, in the floor of which is a slab, the centre of which has formerly been filled with a brazen effigy of an ecclesiastic ; but the brass has been torn away long ago. Round the margin 180 SAWLEY ABBEY. of the Stone is inscribed, "SIRE ROBERT DE CLYDERHOW, PERSONE DE WYGAN, GIST YCY. DIEU DE SA ALME EYT VERRAY MERCY +. This Robert de Clyderhow was a person of consider- able note in his day, and is supposed to have died about the year 1334. This chapel, and that adjoining it on the south, are paved with glazed tiles. In the middle chapel of the south transept, a square of the flooring is paved with light and dark coloured tiles, in a circular pattern, as a tesselated pavement. The design is good, and has a neat appearance, though the colours have faded since they were exposed to the air ; when first found, they were bright and lively. In front of the three chapels, in the south transept, and within that nearest the entrance of the choir, the flooring is laid with glazed tiles, of two colours ; some with designs sunk into their surface, others with the device only stained or burnt in. In the most southerly chapel, is a slab, a little broader at the head than at the feet, bearing two floriated crosses with the calvary step, carved upon it. The ground beneath this slab was examined, and a walled vault found, containing the skulls, and other bones, of two human bodies, laid side by side. So it is evident that the two crosses on the stone bad reference to the two bodies buried be- neath it. Near the door of the south transept, is another sepulchral slab, with a cross flory within a circle, cut upon the stone. Around the margin, is inscribed, — SAWLEY ABBEY. J81 "fit jacel pagister aiili^ : k ippgtmt mm pgme fenie. fy^m mm ^xi^^idttm. This William de Rimington was one of the most famous, as well as the most learned, of the brethren of Sawley. He was chancellor of Oxford, in 1372. He was a great opponent of the Reformation at that period, and wrote many books against WicklifF and his doctrines. The ascent from the transept into the choir is by two steps. The bases of the two ranges of columns, which have divided the centre from the side aisles, are yet visible. The position of the high altar is easily determined, as one or two courses of the masonr}", of which it was composed, yet remain. In the chapter- house, which adjoins the south end of the transept, is a tombstone, with a cross and a pair of shears cut upon it. Beneath this slab, is a stone coffin, containing the principal bones of a skeleton, supposed to be that of a female. The upper part of the slab has been cut through, and the end is moveable, which slides off, and the bones are seen in the cavity beneath. The quadrangle, which has joined the south side of the nave of the church, has probably had a penthouse cloister around it, as fragments of the foundations of such an erection may yet be traced. The kitchen and refectory are easily discovered. Close to the south wall of the nave, is a pile of carved stones, capitals, mouldings, tracery of windows, and fragments of sculpture, many of them highly beautiful, 182 SAWLEY ABBEY. and in freestone of a fine quality. Westward of the entrance of the nave, are parts of a singular arched building, which is supposed to have been the abbey bakery ; the remains of a brick oven are yet to be seen in one corner. The building has had a roof put over it, as the arch w^as not waterproof, and it now forms the refectory of the picnic parties which frequent the abbey. Some curious fragments of sculpture are pre- served here, one of which resembles a tragic mask, with a serpent issuing out at each corner of the mouth. Rear the south-east corner of the ruins, is the entrance of a subterraneous passage ; the descent into which, is by three or four steps ; it is of height and width sufficient to admit a man to walk along it in a stooping position, neatly arched at the top and flagged at the bottom. It has been traced beneath the present highway, and about one hundred yards beyond the buildings of the abbey. Tradition says it extended all the way to Whally abbey, a distance of seven miles. The situation of the abbey is low and warm, almost close to the river Kibble. Corn is now grown, and ripens in the neighbour- hood; and the meadows and pasture-lands are rich, green, and pleasant ; hills rise around and shelter the site, sometimes wooded, sometimes bare, but always enclosed and cultivated. The dwellings of the in- habitants, peeping out from leafy nooks, give variety to the picture ; while the huge bulk of Pendle lifts its heathy back to the clouds, and closes the prospect on the south. 183 St. Parg's pkg. The early history of the splendid abbey of St. Mary, York, which maintained a high reputation among the religious establishments of this country, during nearly five centuries, is involved in much obscurity. Previous to the year 1056, a monastery, called Galmanho, is supposed to have occupied the site of this abbey, and therein, the famous Siward, earl of Northumberland, was buried. Stephen, the first abbot of St. Mary's, states, that in 1078, he became a monk of Whitby, under Remfrid; that William de Percy, a Norman baron, by whom the fraternity there had been first patronised, finally drove them away by force ; that they fled to Lastingham, from which place also they were driven by the same powerful interest, with the king. In this state of afiliction, they were patronised by Alan, earl of Bretagne, who gave them a church, near the city of York, dedicated to St. Olave, w4th four acres of land adjoining, to build offices upon. And having obtained a license from the king, he persuaded the monks to make this the site of their abbey. Thomas, archbishop of York, in a suit against earl Alan, claimed the four acres of land above mentioned : whereupon king William I., to compose the difibrence, 184 ST. Mary's abbey. promised the archbishop other lands in Heu of them, and so the matter ceased for a time. In 1088, king WiUiam II. coming to York, and visiting the new monastery, found it too straitened and narrow for the reception of the convent ; he projected a larger, and with his own hand, laid the foundation stone of another church. An ancient parchment, formerly preserved in what was called St. Mary's tower, dates the foundation in 1089, when the dedication of the church was changed from St. Olave to St. Mary. Earl Alan liufus also gave to the monks a borough, without the walls of the city of York, called Earls- borough, together with nine carucates and a half of land at Clifton ; also the churches of Catterick and Richmond, the chapel of Richmond castle, with other possessions, and surrendered the advowson to the king. Alan Niger, the brother of Rufus, was also a benefactor to this abbey. Thomas, archbishop of York, subsequent to the in- creased endowment of the monastery, revived his suit for the four acres of land. Stephen, the abbot there- upon consulted the king ; who, in a council held at Gloucester, granted to the archbishop, on condition that he waived his suit, the the church of St. Stephen, in York, by way of exchange ; besides which, abbot Stephen, himself, that he might be perfectly reconciled to the archbishop, added, of his own free will, to the revenues of the see, one carucate of land in Clifton and another in Heslington. ST. Mary's abbey. 185 By the charter of WiUiam Rufus, their lands were exempt from all regal exactions. Upon the death of an abbot, the convent was to have the power of elect- ing a successor. In case the sheriff or his officers had any complaint against the men of St. Mary's, they were first to acquaint the abbot therewith ; and, at an appointed time, to come to the abbey, and there re- ceive justice and right. The men of St. Mary's were also exempt from attendance at the county meetings of the ridings, wapentakes, and hundreds. King Henry II., by his charter, granted in the time of abbot Savarinus, confirmed the privileges specified in the charter of king William Rufus ; adding to them certain liberties and customs which had before been peculiar to the churches of St. Peter, at York, and St. John, of Beverley ; ordaining also, that, when the men of the county were summoned to serve in the king's army, the abbot of this monastery should find a man to carry the standard, or banner of St. Mary, in the same manner as the other churches sent their banners. In 1308, Edward II. granted a fair to be held in Bootham ; this grant was, however, subse- quently revoked at the instance of the citizens of York. Ivo Talleboys, whose descendants, as governors of Lancaster castle, assumed the surname of Lancaster, barons of Kendal, gave to this abbey three carucates of land, in Claxton ; likewise the church of Kirkby Stephen, with three carucates, and the tithes there ; also the church of Kirkby, in Kendal, with the lands thereunto belonging ; the churches of Hooton and 186 ST. Mary's abbey. Barthum, with land called Haverbeck ; the church of Burton, with one carucate of land ; and the church of Clapham, with one carucate. The original fabric of the church, built in 1089, was destroyed in 1137, in a fire, which ruined the greater part of the city and cathedral of York. In 1 270, the abbot, Simon de Warwick, undertook to build a new church ; sitting in his chair, trowel in hand, the whole convent standing about him, he laid the first stone, and lived to see the work completed, which was effected in twenty-two years. The portions of ruin which yet remain are fragments of this edifice. The early patronage of royalty rapidly increased this foundation in importance, and it soon had the following six cells, or smaller houses, attached to it ; — namely, St. Martin's, at Richmond ; St. Bees and Weatherall, in Cumberland, the latter foundation not accurately known ; Saintoft, given by Roger de Mowbray ; and Haines, in Lincolnshire, by William, earl Warren ; Warrington, in Northumberland, and Marske, in Nottinghamshire, given by earl Alan, and suppressed by cardinal Wolsey ; and St. Mary Magda- len, at Lincoln. Forty-four churches and chapels in Yorkshire also belonged to this monastery. Considerable animosity long existed between the citizens and the monks, relative to their jurisdiction and privileges ; acts of violence were frequently com- mitted ; and, in 1262, the citizens slew several of their men, and burned a number of their houses out of Bootham Bar. A reconciliation was not effected ST. Mary's abbey. 187 till Simon, the abbot paid £100, as a peace-offering to the enraged party ; but, even then, he was so much alarmed by the outrage, that he absented himself from the convent for more than a year. Defence and caution were now deemed requisite, and the abbot solicited the king to allow him to build a wall on each unprotected side of the abbey. The request was granted ; and hence arose the high wall adjoining to Bootham and Mary gate, the principal part of which yet remains. It was constructed as a complete fortification, with battlements and a wooden gallery within. Again, on Martinmas day, 1315, the citizens, at the instigation of Nicholas Fleming, and one Sizevaus, filled up the ditches adjoining the abbey walls, which had been made as a defence against them, and the plundering Scots ; and from that time till 1353, animosities continued to exist ; but in the latter year, articles of agreement were finally settled between the city and the abbey, through the mediation of arch- bishop Thurstan. This religious fraternity were black monks, of the order of St. Benedict, and had a psalter compiled particularly for their devotion ; but the archbishop of York, for the time being, had power to visit them once a year, for the purpose of correcting or reforming, by the council of the brethren, and by ^yo or six of the principal canons, any abuses that might be intro- duced. The abbot of St. Mary's was, however, little inferior to the archbishop of the province ; being 188 ST. Mary's abbey. mitred, and having a seat in parliament, which entitled him to the dignified appellation of my lord. He and the superior of Selbj, were the only two abbots in the north of England who were thus honoured. His retinue was sumptuous whenever he travelled abroad ; and he possessed many splendid country houses, the principal of which were at Deighton and Overton. This prelate had also a spacious park at Beningbrough, which was always well stocked with game. William Thornton, who was confirmed in the abbacy, March 2nd, 1530, was abbot at the time of the dis- solution, and surrendered the abbey, November 26th, 1539, into the hands of the king, and obtained a pension of four hundred marks per annum. At that time, there were fifty monks in the establishment ; and the annual amount of the revenues was, according to Speed, £2085. Is. 3f d., and according to Dugdale, £1550. 7s. Old. This house, among its numerous Yorkshire posses- sions, had the manors and lordships of Appleton, Bramham, Burniston, Catterick, Clifton, Deighton, East Cottingwith, Fimber, Foston, Fulford, Gilling, Gilmanby, Grimston, Harton, Hornby, Hornsey, Kirkby, Myton, Normanby, Poppleton, Rudston, Shipton, Skelton, and Spaunton ; and the fisheries at Hornsey, ferry at Myton, and mills at Fulford and Myton. The mitred abbeys, at their dissolution, were, for the most part, granted by the king, to noble or wealthy families, in consideration of service, of exchange of lands, or of the payment of a sum of money ; and it ST. Mary's abbey. 189 was not unnatural for the new owners, under the ap- prehensions excited by the unsettled state of the reformation, to hasten the work of demolition, which religious zeal had begun. The monastery of St. Mary was retained by the crown j yet it shared in the fate which befel the greater part of religious houses in England, at that period. When the monks were dis- persed, the church, as well as the noble offices attached to it, became useless. The parish of St. Olave possessed a church adjoining the monastery, fuU}^ adequate to its wants. There was, therefore, no sacred purpose to which the conventual church could be applied, and it was doomed to destruction. What chiefly contributed to the speedy and almost total overthrow of the church and conventual buildings, was the order issued by the crown, to erect, on their site, a palace for the lords president of the north. The monastic buildings furnished abundant materials for this stately edifice ; and the beautifully-sculptured stones were either altered to suit the purposes of the new building, or wrought, unaltered, into the walls, or buried in the foundations. And when it ceased to be used as a palace, a large portion of its walls, which had either gradually fallen into decay, or had suffered injury during the civil wars, together with such of the offices of the monastery as still remained, were granted by the crown, in the year 1701, to the magistrates of the county, to be employed in building the county gaol. In 1705, another portion was granted to the parish of St. Olave, for the repairs of the church : 190 ST. Mary's abbey. and in 1717, the corporation of Beverley was allowed to carry away, during the space of three ^^ears, as much stone as might be required for the repair of Beverley minster. And so little care was taken to preserve the remains of the church, that a sacrilegious Goth was suffered to erect a kiln, and burn its stones into lime. This is the lowest point of degradation to which any building can be brought ; the owls and bats in the ruins of Babylon are preferable inmates to such sordid beings, whose souls are only set on gain. . In 1822, part of the site of the abbey was obtained by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, for the purpose of forming an English Botanic Garden, and erecting a Museum The site chosen for the building was that on which the front part of the lord president's palace had formerly stood ; and which it was evident must still earlier have been occupied by the buildings of the monastery, which usually extended in a direct line from the south transept of the church. From the appearance of the surface, it was conjectured that the ground would be full of the ruins of the latter, or of the more ancient structure, perhaps of both. But the first opening of the ground discovered what no one had ventured to expect ; not mere heaps of mutilated stones, but considerable portions of the walls of the monastery, of spacious and elegant doorways, of columns of varied forms, rising to the height of five or six feet ; standing, as they had been before the dissolution of the abbey, intersected by the massive foundations of the palace ; while in the intervening spaces, were scattered number- ST. Mary's abbey. 191 less fragments of capitals, mouldings, and rich tracery- work. Of similar materials, the foundation walls of the palace, upon being broken up, were found to consist. The curiosity of the public was most power- fully excited ; not an hour passed without bringing to light some long-buried specimen of the art of the monastic sculptor ; some memorial of departed splen- dour, to gratify the eye, to exercise the imagination, and to send back the thoughts to times, and persons, and manners, long passed away. A subscription was raised for the purpose of extending the excavations beyond what was necessary for the foundations of the museum ; and when this sum was exhausted, and much of the ground remained unexplored, the council of the society undertook the charge of carrying out what had been so happily begun. Under their direc- tion, the work was continued for a considerable time, until nearly every part of what had been granted to them had been carefully examined. Thus was the ground-plan of this great abbey laid open, and exposed for the inspection, gratification, and instruction of those to whom the economy of monastic architecture is a subject of interesting inquiry. The conventual church was three hundred and seventy-one feet in length, and sixty in breadth, and is remarkable for the great length of the choir. The transepts had only one aisle. The interior of the northern side of the nave has eight windows, the lights and tracery of which are varied alternately, in a very remarkable manner. The window nearest to the \ 192 ST. Mary's abbey. western front was divided by one mullion into two trefoil-headed lights ; above which, in the head of the arch, was a sexfoil light. The next window was divided by two mullions, into three trefoil-headed lights, above which were placed three quatrefoil lights; and thus, alternately, along the whole of the nave. But the mouldings in the tracery of the three windows nearest the transept differed from the others in being filleted. Beneath each of the windows, were three canopied niches, with very bold tracery. There being no aisle on the western side of the transept, the windows, two in number, were very large and lofty. The western front of the church must have been, when in its perfect state, exceedingly beautiful : it was divided into three divisions, by buttresses, crowned with turrets or spires, and crocketed pinnacles. In the deep hollow mouldings of the doorway, was carved the shoots of a vine rising from the bottom, and at the top, passing in front of the nearest part of the column, so as to form a foliated capital. The great quadrangle was probably furnished with a penthouse cloister on every side. In the western cloister, the school of the monastery was usually kept ; and near this side, frag- ments of painted tiles were found, having on them letters of the alphabet, in characters of the fourteenth century, which were read from right to left. The level of the quadrangle near the transept, was three feet nine inches below the level of the church. Of the chapter-house, nothing remains but the lower portion of the foundations. The approach to the ST, Mary's abbey. 193 clmpter-house, from the quadrangle, was through a beautiful vestibule, supported by two rows of pillars, which afford specimens of the styles of three or four different ages. The piers, at the farthest end, are ornamented with zigzag, and other rich work ; they formerly supported a pointed arch, of three curious and beautifully-sculptured mouldings, which formed the portal of the chapter-house. This arch is now pre- served in the building in the museum grounds, called the Hospitium, and most probably belonged to the buildings begun by the first abbot, Stephen de Whitby. The refectory, eighty-two feet long and thirty-seven wide, corresponded, in its dimensions, with the magni- tude of the establishment. It was longitudinally divided into three parts, by two rows of octangular pillars, five in each row, and separated from the other apartments by a wall only twelve inches thick. The floor of the recess, just within the apartment, on the right hand, was made of plain glazed bricks, nine inches square, purple and yellow, alternately. In levelling the ground on the south side of the nave, the workmen came to masses of stones, which appeared like the foundation of a broad wall crossing the aisle, and which was found to consist almost entirel}^ of the tracery work of the windows of the church, cemented with the mortar used in the building of the palace. Under these stones, at a depth of about eight feet, seven statues were discovered, lying with the faces downward ; four of them were nearly perfect, the three others were much mutilated. All of them 194 ST. Mary's abbey. had been painted and gilded, but the colours rapidly faded on being exposed to light and air. The form of the drapery is different in each, but elegant in all, though the workmanship is somewhat rude. The feet are bare, and rest on a small slab. Of these four, three are evidently Jews ; they have been supposed to represent Moses, Elijah, and Ezra. Of the four re- maining, one only has a head, which is without a beard ; the dress of these also differs much from that of the preceding ; and the general appearance is that of younger persons. Each holds a book, but has no dis- tinctive emblem. At the back of these statues, is part of the shaft of a pillar, about seven inches in diameter, which determines their situation in the church to have been against the columns which supported the groin- ings of the roof, either just below, or just above the springing of the side arches of the nave ; these are also preserved in the hospitium. The singular building of stone and timber in the lower part of the Museum grounds, is conjectured to have been erected for the entertainment of those strangers who were not admitted to the principal apartments of the monastery ; the lower room, serving for the refectory, and the upper, originally of the same extent, the dormitory. It is now the receptacle of the numerous British, Roman, and Medioeval antiquities, which have been found in York and the neighbour- hood ; and, whatever it may have been formerly, is now, to the person of cultivated taste, one of the most interesting buildings in the city. ST. Mary's abbey. 195 No one can visit this interesting spot without finding something to admire, be his tastes what they may ; should the gardens fail to attract his attention, there is the multangular tower, of Roman workmanship, the ruins of the abbey, and St. Leonard's Hospital ; the whole site is full of historic recollections, and almost every stone has its history in the eyes and mind of the curious enquirer ; and should these fail also, there is the Museum, one of the most elegant buildings in the north of England, with its collection of treasures, antique and rare, gathered from all the kingdoms of Nature, and all the ages of Art. 19G g0rk Castk. It is not our intention in this sketch to attempt any account of the fortified mound of " Aberach," a fortress of the Britons, at the confluence of the Foss and Ouse, before the Romans gained a footing in the north ; or of the fortifications, towers, or castles, reared by the victorious legionaries on the same spot. The two castles of the Saxons, which were garrisoned by the soldiers of the Norman William, and stormed by Danes and Saxons in 1069 ; and afterwards defended against the Conqueror himself, by the brave Saxon earl, Waltheof, have disappeared from the earth, and their strength and situation are alike forgotten. Of the foundation of the present ancient fragment, commonly called " Clifford's Tower," we have no direct evidence, and conjecture must supply the place of recorded truth. The general opinion is, that a castle was founded here, by "William I., soon after the capture of the city from Waltheof and the Saxons. Drake says, " I believe this was built a solo, probably on a Roman foundation, by William I., and made so strong in order to keep the citizens and Northumbrians in awe, and to preserve his garrisons better than they were in the former. It continued in his successors' hands, the kings of England, and was the constant residence of YORK CASTLE. 197 the high sheriffs of the county, during their shrievaUtj, for some ages after." It is also worthy of remark, that, whilst the castle thus remained in the hands of the sovereign, it was used as a magazine, or store- house for his revenues in the north, and consequently there was a constable appointed whose duty it was solely to attend to this department. When at the summit of its strength and greatness, this fortress was entirely surrounded by the Foss ; the moat may yet be clearly traced ; the building being thus rendered inaccessible, except by two drawbridges. The principal gate, or entrance from the country was on the east side, near the castle mills ; and there was a smaller one, from the city, on the north side. The latter gate was rebuilt many years ago, and was, till lately, the only entrance. A small arch under the wall in front of it, where the arms of the city were placed, shewed the spot where the ancient drawbridge was erected ; while the bridge, gate, towers, and sally-port, on the eastern side, have all been entirely cleared away. In the reign of Richard III. this fortress was found so much out of order, that it was considered requisite very materially to repair, and in part rebuild it. Leland, however, in the time of Henry VIII., found it in a very ruinous condition, and observes, " The area of this castle is no very great quan title ; there be five ruinous tours in it.'' Sir Thomas Widdrington, in M.S., says, " That part of the castle which remains of the old foundation appears to be only the gatehouse to the old building, by the proportion of the gates shewing 198 YORK CASTLE. themselves on the east side, towards Fishergate postern, where the great door is walled up, and where the main building of the castle was, as is manifest by the foundation walls all over the said place, if it be tried with the spade or hack." The chief object of antiquity worthy of notice, within the walls of the modern castle, is Clifford's Tower. This mount and ruin, which are a great ornament to the city, exactly correspond with Baile hill, on the oppo- site side of the river. Drake supposes, that the mound on which the ruins of the " keep of the castle " are now seen, was cast up by the Romans, and that a tower was standing on it during their residence in this city, though it might be rebuilt by the Conqueror. Dr. King, in his Munimenta Antiqua, supposes, that this tower was one of the castles mentioned in Stow's Annals, as built by William the Conqueror, in 1068. This last author, in confirmation of his opinion, says, " JN'orman castles were built on high artificial mounds, and nearly covered the whole area of the summit. The castles built by the Saxons were on high mounds, or ancient barrows, and had a great plain or area surrounding them." The architecture of Clifford's Tower, however, bears evident marks of a date much later than the reign of William I. There is no record of its being rebuilt, but the present structure cannot be older than the time of Edward I. ; and Mr. Britton thinks it was probably erected in the reign of his warlike grandson, Edward III. YORK CASTLE. 199 This fortress derived its name from the circumstance of one of the noble family of Clifford having been appointed the first governor by the Conqueror ; and Sir Thomas Widdrington remarks, "the lords of Clifford were very anciently called casteleyns, wardens, or keepers of the tower." This family have repeatedly claimed a right of carrying the city's sword before the king, when he visited York ; but the ground of it ap- pears to be unaccountable, as the lord mayor certainly cannot have any superior in dignity to him within the walls of the city, except the king himself, or the pre- sumptive heir to the British crown. The tower, drawbridge, &c., having fallen into decay, it was found requisite for them to undergo a complete repair, at the commencement of the civil wars of Charles I. Of this improvement, Drake speaks in the following terms : " By the direction of Henry, then earl of Cumberland, lord lieutenant of the northern parts, and governor of York, this tower was repaired ; a considerable additional square building put to it, on that side next the castle, on which, over the gate, in stone work, are placed the royal arms, and those of the Cliffords, viz., Chequee, a fess, ensigned with an earl's coronet, supported by two wyverns, and this motto Desormais" This tower was strengthened with a drawbridge, deep moat, and palisades ; and on the top was constructed a platform, on which were mounted two demi-culverins, and a raker ; a garrison was also appointed to defend it. Sir Thomas Cobb was made governor, who, with his lieutenant-colonel, major, and 200 YORK CASTLE. captains, had their lodgings in it, during the siege of York, in 1644. After the surrender of the city to the parliament generals, York was dismantled of all its garrisons, except this tower, of which, Thomas Dicken- son, then lord mayor, was made governor. On the restoration of Charles II., the government of this tower was confided to Sir John Reresby, A. D, 1683. It was, however, blown up in the following year ; and the circumstance is thus related, in an old MS. diary of the times. " About ten o'clock on the night of St. George's day, April 23rd, 1684, hap- pened a most dreadful fire, within the tower called Clifford's Tower, which consumed to ashes all the interior thereof, leaving standing only the out-shell of the walls of the tower, without any harm to the the city, save one man slain by the fall of a piece of timber, blown up by the force of the flames, or rather by some powder therein. It was generally thought a wilful act, the soldiers not suff*ering the citizens to enter until it was too late ; and what made it more suspicious was, that the gunner had got out all his goods before it was discovered." That this tower was intentionally destroyed is very probable, not only from the circumstances just enumerated, but also from the garrison being highly offensive to the citizens ; who so decidedly evinced their opinion as commonly to give as a toast, " The demolishing of the minced pie ; " a name given at that time to the fortress. Little worthy notice occurs in the further history of this fabric. About 1825, it was purchased, along with YORK CASTLE. 201 other property in the immediate neighbourhood, to enlarge the county gaol, and some ignorant persons proposed to level it with the surrounding ground ; this, however, was met by the magistracy of the county with such feeling and good taste, that the plan was abandoned ; and, highly to their credit, they resolved to erect a strong wall round the mound, thereby protecting, for some centuries to come, this beautiful specimen of feudal grandeur. The plan of this tower consists of four segments of circles joined together. The largest diameter, from periphery to periphery, being sixty-four feet, and the shortest, from intersection to intersection, being forty- five feet. The walls are between nine and ten feet thick. The entrance is through the modern square tower mentioned before, over which, are the arms of the Clifford family. On the left of the entrance, are the remains of a winding staircase, formerly leading to the chapel. Beyond this, was the original entrance, of which, the remains of a ruined archway may still be seen. Within these ruins, is yet standing, a small pointed arch, and near it, may be traced the grooves of a portcullis, and other requisites for offence and defence. In the centre of the area, is a large branch- ing walnut tree, which has a curious appearance, being entirely surrounded by the massy walls of the tower. To the right of the entrance, is a winding stone staircase, and there are, in different parts, the evident remains of several more which led to the upper stories. Near this staircase, is a draw-well of excellent 202 YORK CASILE. water, not less than fifty feet in depth. Proceeding round the interior of the ground-floor, several recesses will be observed in the walls, which have been designed for various purposes, at present unknown. Ascending to the top of the tower, the wall is sufiicientlj broad to walk upon all round. From this eminence, the eye will be gratified with the most interesting scenery ; whilst the city, with its public buildings, and the fields beyond it, present themselves on one side ; the diversified prospects on the other, embrace the rivers Ouse and Foss winding near the new walk, whose fine row of trees gives additional interest to the scene. Immediately below, the county prison and yard appear to the best advantage. Descending a flight of winding steps, on the opposite side of the one mentioned in the ascent, and proceed- ing to the exterior of the tower, we are gratified with a neat and broad grass lawn, forming a walk round the building. The old castle, after it ceased to be a garrisoned fortress, was converted into a county prison for felons and debtors ; and having become ruinous, was taken down in 1701, and an entirely new prison erected, mostly of stone brought from St. Mary's abbey. This stands near the Foss on the south side of the area, and is called the " old building," to distinguish it from the new building, on the east side of the yard, erected in 1780, and enlarged in 1783 ; which forms a long and lofty range of buildings, with numerous apartments, spacious galleries, an hospital, and a chapel ; with a YORK CASTLE. 203 handsome front, 150 feet in length, embelHshed with four Ionic cohimns, and uniform in appearance with the county hall, which stands on the opposite side of the castle yard, and which was built in 1763, and rebuilt in 1777, with an entrance portico of six Ionic pillars, thirty feet high, surmounted by an elegant figure of Justice, and other emblematical devices. The length of the building is one hundred and fifty feet, and it breadth forty-four feet. The Crown Court occupies the south end of the building, and the other end is the Msi Frius Court. Each court is thirty feet in diameter, with a dome forty feet in height, elegantly ornamented, and supported by twelve Corinthian columns. Adjoining these courts, are handsome rooms, for the use of the grand and petty juries. Near the grand jury room, in the rear of the building, with an aspect towards the Ouse, is the " New Drop," used for the execution of criminals ; first erected here in 1802; and in the following twenty-five years, no fewer than seventy-four malefactors suff'ered there. Between 1716 and 1818, the county gaol was four times presented by the grand juries, and as often improved and enlarged. It was again presented in 1821 ; and the magistrates determined to make a considerable ad- dition to the prison of this great county, and to place it on the new system of classification, arrangement, and inspection. The new works, inclosing Clifford's Tower, and all the ground extending from it to the river Foss, were completed in 1836, at a cost of £203,530. Nearly one half of which was expended in 204 YORK CASTLE. erecting the massive boundary wall, which is thirty-two feet high, and with its pierced battlements, recessed gateway, and projecting towers, presents the appear- ance of an extensive fortification. The new prison, which stands on the north-east side of Clifford's Tower, comprises four radiating wings, with eight airing courts ; inspection into which is thoroughly obtained from the gavernor's house in the centre. To each prisoner is allotted a separate cell ; but there are also in every ward two cells, capable of accommodating three prisoners in each, if requisite. The buildings are fire-proof, being wholly constructed of stone and wrought iron, and erected in the most secure manner possible. A room adjoining the governor's house is occupied by a great number of deadly weapons, heavy chains, &c., of some of the most notorious criminals executed here. Over the entrance of the gateway in Tower-street, are situate the indict- ment ofiice, and record room ; with offices for the clerks of arraigns and assize ; and also a residence for the porter; over which are lock-up rooms for prisoners who may arrive in the night ; so that the great security of the prison may not be disturbed at unseasonable hours. Prison as it is, and associated with the clanking of fetters, the wail of woe, the agony of despair, and almost all that is tragic and horrible in humanity, what a history does it present to the reflective mind ! What scenes have taken place within its walls ! What feelings have been brought into intense action ! And what vast varieties of human wretchedness have been YORK CASTLE. 205 displayed here ! An enumeration of even the most distinguished would form a history of no common interest. In 1604, that high born malefactor, Walter Calverley, Esq., of Calverley Hall, was tried for the murder of his own children, and an attempt upon the life of his wife ; the particulars are well known, as they formed the foundation of a dramatic production of considerable merit, which some have attributed to the pen of Shakespere. He refused to plead either guilty or not guilty ; by which means the estates were preserved to his family. He was adjudged to be pressed to death ; according to which judgment he was executed in the castle here, August 5th, 1604. In 1608, Mary Pannell, who had long been celebrated for supposed sorceries, was hung at York, under the impression, that, among other crimes, she had bewitched to death William Witham, who died at Ledstone, in 1593. The following year, the vicar of Calverley, and five of his parishioners, executed a certificate, which was presented to the judges, wherein they charitably de- clared, " that Robert Hare, Isabella Hare, his mother, Ann Brigg, and Elizabeth Birkenshaye, all of their own parish, were vehemently suspected of the devilish art of witchcraft,^^ and that they had done much hurt and mischief to their neighbours for the space of twenty years past. How men's opinions have altered and faith changed, since a vicar thought he was doing God service, by taking the lead in such a ridiculous affair. 206 YORK CASTLE. In 1655, a venerable patriarch, from the banks of the Swale, the oldest Englishman of whom we have any record, Henry Jenkins, appeared in court, to give evidence of what he knew, and had seen, one hmidred and twenty years before. His statement was doubted, and himself reprimanded by the judge ; but the truth was in the old man, he was not daunted, and boldly maintained his assertions, so as at length to satisfy both judge and jury. In 1648, the seat of judgment in York was polluted by the presence of the inhuman judge Jeffries. On the suppression of the rebellion of the adherents of the unfortunate house of Stuart, great numbers of prisoners were confined in York castle, and no fewer than twenty-seven were executed. Brave men, perish- ing in a worthless cause, and for a prince whom they loved not wisely but well. Who does not pity them now 1 August 3rd, 1759, appeared before a jury of his countrymen, (not of his peers,) the pale, self-taught, many-languaged student, Eugene Aram, to plead for his life, on a charge of murder, committed fourteen years before. Here he made his singularly argumenta- tive defence — here he was convicted — and here his last words were written. With a more than Stoical calm- ness, with a more than Christian resignation, he says ; " Come pleasing rest ! eternal slumber fall, Seal mine, that once must seal the eyes of all. Calm and composed, my soul her journey takes, No guilt that troubles, and no heart that aches ! Adieu, thou sun ! all bright like her arise. Adieu, dear friends ! and all that's good and wise ! " YORK CASTLE. 207 Singular in his life, singular in his death, posterity has done him justice and honour; inwoven into history, romance and song, his name can never die as long as his native language lives. In August, ] 787, appeared in York, John Howard, whose name and philanthropy have become synony- mous terms ; he " who trod an open, but unfrequent path to immortality ; " whose mission was " to dive into the depths of dungeons, to plunge into the infec- tion of hospitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain ; to take the guage and dimensions of misery, depression, and contempt ; to remember the forgotten, to attend to the neglected, to visit the forsaken ; and compare and collate the distresses of all men, in all countries." He visited the castle, and declared, after all his experience, that it was the best regulated prison he had ever seen. In 1795, and again in 1796, the bard of Sheffield, James Montgomery, was confined in York Castle, for an alleged libel on the government ; and here he composed his prison amusements. Truly the history of the castle is vast and various, but we must cease, though much yet remains untold. 208 rcssil €ixBik. At a distance of four miles north-west of Howden, and about seven miles east of Selby, — almost close to the river Derwent, where it is crossed by the Hull and Selby llailwaj, — are the remains of Wressil Castle, once the abode of the princely earls of Northumber- land, now a naked ruin. This castle was founded by Thomas Percy, earl of Worcester, who was taken prisoner at the battle of Shrewsbury, and beheaded there, in the year 1403. It afterwards came into the possession of the Northumberland family, with whom it continued until its demolition by order of parliament, at the end of the great civil war, of the seventeenth century. On the death of Joceline, the eleventh earl of Northumberland, in 1670, the barony of Percy descended to his daughter, who married Charles Seymour, duke of Somerset : the Seymours continued lords of Wressil, till the year 1750 ; when the duke of Somerset dying without issue male, his estates were separated ; those which came from the Percy family were divided between his daughter, who married Sir Hugh Smithson, and his nephew, Sir Charles Wyndham ; to this nobleman fell the Yorkshire estates of the Percies ; and in his descendants they yet remain, the Honble. George, colonel Wyndham being the present WRESSIL CASTLE., 209 owner. " The inhabitants of Wressil have a current tradition, that all the men capable of bearing arms in that parish, were with the earl of IN'orthumberland at the battle of Chevy Chase, where most of them were slain." * Leland, who saw the castle in its complete state, has left the following description of it : " From Howden to Wressill three miles ; all by low meadow and pasture-ground, whereof part is enclosed wdth hedges. Yet is the ground that the castle of "Wressill standeth on, somew^hat high, in the respect of the very low ground thereabouts. Most part of the base court of the castle is all of timber. The castle itself is moated about on three sides, the fourth part is dry, where is the entrance. The castle is all of very fair and great squared stone, both within and w^ithout, (whereof as some hold opinion,) much was brought out of France. It has only five towers, one at each corner, almost all of like biggness ; the gatehouse is the fifth, having five lodgings in height. Three of the other towers have four lodgings in height : the fourth con- taineth the Butlery, Pantry, Pastery, Lardery, and Kitchen. " The Hall and the great chambers be fair, and so is the Chapelle, and the Closettes. To conclude, the House is one of the most propre beyond Trent, and seemeth as newly made : yet was it made by a younger brother of the Percys earl of Worcester, that was in high favour with Richard the second, and bought the * Baines' Yoriishire, Art. Wressil. P 210 WRESSIL CASrLE. manor of Wressill, mounting at that time above thirty H by the year : and for lack of heirs of him, and by favour of the king, it came to the earls of Northumber- land. '* The base court is of a newer building ; and the last earl of Northumberland, saving one, made the brew- house of stone, without the castle wall, but hard join- ing to the Kechyn of it. "One thing I likid exceedingly in one of the towers, that was a study called Paradise ; where was a closet in the middle of eight squares latticed about, and at the top of every square, was a deske lodged to set books on cofers within them, and these seemed as joined hard to the top of the closet ; and yet by pulling, one or all would come down in rabbettes, and serve for desks to lay books upon. The garde robe in the castle was exceedingly fair, and so were the gardens within the moat, and the orchards without ; and in the orchards were mounts Opere topiario writhen about with degrees, like turnings of cockle shells, to come to the top without pain. u The river of Darwent runneth almost hard by the castle ; and about a mile lower goeth into Ouse. This river at great rains rageth and overfloweth much of the ground thereabout, being low meadows. " There is a Park hard by the castle." Three of the apartments in this castle were adorned with poetical inscriptions, which were perhaps written by Henry Algernon Percy, fifth earl of Northumber- land, a great lover of learning and learned men. WRESSIL CASTLE. 211 In this castle the earls of Northumberland displayed a magnificence resembhng and scarcely inferior to that of the royal court ; their household was established on the same plan, their ofiicers bore the same titles, and their warrants ran in the same style. Various curious information, respecting this picture of feudal manners, are detailed in a scarce book, published in 1770, by the duke of Northumberland, Wressil castle continued in all its splendour, till the fatal civil wars broke out, in 1641. It was then gar- risoned with soldiers for the parliament ; and notwith- standing the earl of Northumberland had espoused their cause, the damage he sustained there by his own party, before Michaelmas, 1646, was adjudged to amount to £1000, in the destruction of his buildings, leads, outhouses, &c., by the garrison ; their havoc of his woods, inclosures, &c., without including the losses he had sustained in the non-payment of his rents, in consequence of the contributions levied on his tenants. On the decline of the king's party, it appears, that the northern counties enjoyed some respite ; but in 1648, some attempts being made, or expected from the royalists, fresh troops were sent into the north ; and in May, that year, major-general Lamberfc ordered a small detachment of sixty men to garrison Wressil castle, of which major Charles Fenwick had all along continued governor for the parliament, with the entire approbation of the earl of Northumberland, About the beginning of June, 1648, Pomfret castle was seized for the king, and underwent a siege of ten 212 WRESSIL CASTLE. months : to prevent any more surprizes of this kind, a resolution was taken for demoHshing all the castles in that part of England. And while the earl of Northum- berland was exerting all his influence in London, to save this noble seat of his ancestors, a committee at York"' sent a sudden and unexpected order to dis- mantle it, which was executed with such precipitation and fury, that before the earl could receive notice of the design, the mischief was done. In consequence of this order, three sides of the square, which formerly composed Wressil castle, were entirely demolished. However, the whole south front, which was the most considerable, and contained some of the state apartments, still remains, and is very magnificent even in ruin. The garden on this side yet remains * The Order for demolishing Wressil Castle. " In pursuance of the orders of Councell (of) State to ns directed, for the makingjAVressil Castle untenable, as also of a further Order of the Com- mittee of Militia of the County of Yorke to that purpose ; These are therefore to require you to proceede in making the sayd Castle untenable with all speede : which we conceave will be by throwing do"\vne to the ground all that side wherein the Hall stands, to the Towre adjoyning, leaving only the South Side remayning ; wherein we require you alsoe That Windowes be broken forth of eight foote breadth and height, and eight foote distance round about all that side which remaynes ; And that it be downe by the 17th of May next ; that the Country may be secured from any danger that may happen thereby. Given under our hands at Wresle this 17th of April 1650. You are also to throwe down all the Battlements round about. Phil. Saltmarsh. Chas. Feinwicke. Ed. Kir-Lewe. Tho. Athroppe. Direction ffor Mr. William Plaxton or other the Lord Northumberland's Officers at "VYresle. WRESSIL CASTLE. 213 within the moat, which has enclosed the south, west, and north sides ; the entrance has been on the east. This front is flanked by two large square towers, which have been four stories in height, as may be seen by the fire-places, and corbels inserted in the walls to bear the floors. These towers are each ascended by a circular stair of stone, in excellent preservation, ending at the top in an octagonal turret, which is yet complete on them both. On the top of the south-west turret, is the stem of a fire-pan, which has been used as a beacon. The view from the summit is of great extent^ overlooking the course of the rivers Ouse and Derwent. Among the more interesting objects, may be enumer- ated, York minster, Selby church ; the churches of Hemingbrough, Drax, and Goole, with their tall^ needle-like spires ; the massive pile of Howden church, and the whole front of the Yorkshire wolds. The lower range of buildings, between the two towers, has contained the great chamber or drawing room, this has been on the second story ; the lower has been occupied by inferior apartments. The win- dows are of two narrow lights each, with a massive transom across, a little below the middle. A narrow opening, at the base of the north-east tower, is said to be the entrance of a subterraneous passage leading to Howden church, which is four miles distant. This part of the castle was occupied as a farm-house till 1796, when it was accidentally burned, leaving only the shell remaining ; but the walls are yet in 214 WRESSIL CASTLE, such a complete state, that it only wants a new roof, and the inside repairing, and it would even yet form a stately mansion. The walls exhibit not the least symptom of decay, and look much newer than they really are. The stone is of such excellent quality, that the carvings and edges of the mouldings are as fresh as when they first came from the workman's hands. A small fragment of the buildings within the area remains, which is supposed to have been the bake- house ; it is now thickly mantled over with ivy. The village of Wressil is but small and insignificant, and it is only on market days that trains stop there. The nearest regular stations are Cliffe and Howden ; the one three, the other four miles distant. If there was a station close to the place, the castle would be more visited, and obtain the admiration which is justly its due. 216 Mutton %hk^. The remains of this abbey and nunnerj are about six miles south of Driffield, on the high road leading from that place to Beverley. It appears from Bede,"^^' that a nunnery was in existence here about the year 686 ; but little is known of its history at this remote period. It was visited by St. John, of Beverley, in the time of Hereberga, the abbess ; from which we may safely conclude, that it had been in existence for some indefinite period before his time ; and was then in a regular state of subordination and ecclesiastical discipline. It was here that St. John wrought one of his miracles, by restoring one of the nuns to health, who had, injudiciously, been bled on the fourth day of the moon. No further notice is made of Watton, or its monas- tery, in any ancient historian, until the Norman Con- quest ; although there are strong reasons for believing that the latter was destroyed by the Danes, at the same time as Beverley monastery, and the inmates s]ain or dispersed. That devastation took place about the year 870. About the year 1149, Watton abbey was re-founded by Eustace Fitz John, at the instance of Murdac, * Ecclesiastical History, B, Y., cliap. iv. 21 G WATTON ABBEY. arclibishop of York, as an expiation of his crimes, and dedicated to the blessed virgin. The new institution supported thirteen canons, and thirty-six nuns of the Gilbertine order; but subsequent benefactions consider- ably increased the numbers. Eustace Fitz John gave to this house the lordship of Watton, whether in lands or wastes, meadows, pastures, or marshes ; and all its appurtenances, whether within the domain or without ; in pure and perpetual alms ; for his salvation, and that of his wife, Agnes de Cestria, and for the souls of his father and mother, his sons and his daughters, his brethren, his servants and friends, to hold freely for ever, without being subject to any exactions or services. This charter was subsequently confirmed, by others given to the monastery by his wife, Agnes, the daughter of William Constable Cestria, of Watton ; and of Roger de Lacy Constable Cestria. The canons and nuns inhabited buildings within the same enclosure, but separated from each other by a party wall ; and as appears from a charter of arch- bishop Murdac, the former were appointed to " serve the nuns perpetually in terrene, as well as divine matters." This order had just been established in England, by Gilbert, of Sempringham, in Lincoln- shire, an active and zealous ecclesiastic, who was afterwards canonized as a saint. The rule of this order is generally considered as a compound of those of Bennet and Augustine. The tithing of lambs, and the whole substance of the house, were under care of the nuns. Three nuns were to keep the common seal WATTON ABBEY. 217 and money ; one to cut and distribute the cloth. The same nuns to take care of washing the clothes, and patching and mending them. The nuns were to be shut in by a ditch and wall, or fence. Entrance to the court prohibited. No presents or letters were to be sent to them. No conversation allowed between the canons and them. Fire not to be begged of them at night. No one to have admission to the nuns whilst they were singing the hour, or were in the refectory or dormitory. If any enter on business, to be in a number ; and to take care not to see or be seen by the nuns. If the grand prior enter, a number of them were to surround him immediately, at least three or four, and none to be alone with him, except to confess, and then, with others in sight. No nun was to be received compulsorily. They were to wash their own hoods seven times a year, but the bath was prohibited. The garments of the canons were to be three tunics, one coat of full grown lamb skins, and a white cloak, with furs, and hood lined with lamb skins, and two pair of stockings ; a pair of woollen socks, and day shoes, and night slippers ; as also a linen cloak, for divine service. At time of work they had a white scapulary. The prior and cellarer had boots reaching a little above the knees, to ride in. All the shoes of of the canons were of red leather, and of a moderate height. The nuns had five tunics, three for labour, and two large cowls to wear in the cloister, church, chapter, refectory, and dormitor}^ and a scapulary for labour. 218 WATTON ABBEY. All had a coat of lamb skins, and a shift of coarse cloth, if they would, and black linen caps. All cloths for their hoods were black and coarse, and the same for their veils. "^^ The ladies of this establishment were numerous ; and in the year 1326, William de Melton, archbishop of York, consecrated fifty-three nuns at one time. They did not, however, escape censorious reflections. The public opinion of their conduct and morals was, that it was rather loose, and that a reformation was called for, before matters were pushed to the extremity of disso- lution by the cupidity of a tyrant. The estimated amount of the annual income possessed by the establish- ment at Watton, in the 26th year of Henry VIII. was £453. 7s. 8d., according to Speed's valuation, but only £360. 16s. 10-^d., according to Dugdale. Robert Holgate, bishop of LandafF, was commendatory prior at the dissolution, and surrendered it on the 9th of Decem- ber, 1540. He afterwards became archbishop of York. The site of the abbey and its venerable remains, were granted in the third year of Edward VI. to John, earl of Warwick. In the reign of Ehzabeth, we find it in the possession of John Farnham ; and afterwards, king James confirmed the abbey and manor to Sir Thomas Earlkyn, knight ; from whom the property passed into the family of Bethell, in which it yet continues. At this time the abbey exhibits no traces of its early erection. It is composed of brick and stone, and may * Fo.sbroke's British Monach. chap. lix. WATTON ABBEY. 219 probably have been rebuilt in the early part of the Tudor period. The remains consist of the abbey, a large and massive building, with towers, and pointed arch windows, and an oriel of imposing appearance. The nuns' portion was of the same materials, and was surrounded by a range of cloisters and other buildings, which are now dilapidated and gone to decay ; the whole surrounded by a moat, which enclosed upwards of twenty acres of land ; one branch of which ran under both the abbey and nunnery, each being furnished with private staircases within the buildings, which communicated with the water ; and it was broad and deep enough to be navigable for a small boat.* The abbot's kitchen stood to the west of the abbey, and is now denoted by a hollow square, which is sunk about two feet below the present surface of the ground. The whole area within the moat is full of old founda- tions, which prove the great extent of the original buildings. More than two centuries ago, the materials of these decayed buildings were consigned to the corporation of Beverley, and conveyed away by them to repair the minster. The abbey itself has suffered great dilapidations, but enough yet remains to arrest * About the year 1790, "as the Rev. Francis Lundy, of Lockington, was sitting at dinner, with the late William Bethell, Esq., at Watton abbey, they were surprised by an extraordinary noise beneath the dining table, for which they could not account ; and at length they were so much annoyed by it, that they sent for a workman to take up the floor ; when, to their great astonishment, they found that an otter, which inhabited the moat underneath the abbey, had established her nest beneath the boards of the floor, and had there deposited her litter of young ones, by whose uncouth cries it was that the dinner party had been disturbed. — Olivek's Beverley, p. 520. 220 WATTON ABBEY. the attention of the antiquary. The interior is spacious, and some of the apartments are decorated with tapestry of tolerable execution. The vaults ran probably under one entire wing of the building, though a part only are now remaining. They w^ere formed of plain groining, and had communication with various parts of the interior, as well as an external door, which opened into the gardens. One spacious central chamber, which is now closed up, extended across the whole building. A circular staircase is connected with this apartment, which extends from the summit of the building into the waters beneath its base."'' The nunnery was situated westward of the abbey, and is now converted into stables. It occupied about eleven acres ; and this space yet remains fenced, and bears the name of " the nuns." On the south side of the premises, are the remains of strong walls of stone, terraces, and earthworks, which were probably erected during the civil wars, as the abbey w^as occupied as a garrison by the royalists at that period ; and it is said by tradition to have been battered by Cromwell, from Barf, or Barrow hill, which is, however, about two miles distant. Tradition reports that a subterranean passage existed in old times, between the convent and a holy well, at Kilnwick, called " the Lady's well,'' and that the nuns performed many wonderful cures by the agency of this miraculous water. A chamber is pointed out in the abbey, said to have been the scene of a most atrocious * Oliver's Beverley, p. 530. WATTON ABBEY. 221 murder, during the civil wars. This room is faced throughout with a strong wainscoting of pannelled oak; in one side of which is a closet door, corresponding so exactly with the wainscoting as not to be observed ; and was doubtless in its primitive state a secret entrance, which opened by a private spring, and com- municated with a narrow staircase, still in existence, which descended into the moat or river, which runs underneath the building. A lady of distinction, so says the legend, during the civil wars, secreted herself in this room, with her infant child, jewels, and other property, to a great amount. Her retreat having been discovered, a few soldiers, at dead of night, proceeding in a boat to the staircase which led to her chamber, entered it by the secret door, and cruelly murdered both the lady and her child, taking posses- sion of the valuables, and conveying away the bodies by the secret staircase. This legend has given rise to a belief that the wainscoted room is haunted. The lady appears without her head, bearing the infant in her arms, and placing herself at the foot of the bed, stands for some time, motionless as a statue, and then suddenly disappears. 222 ri^IiiT0t0iT |prx0r|) This Priory was founded early in tlie reign of king Stephen, by Walter de Gant, for canons regular of the Augustine order ; he gave to it the churches of Filey and Grinton, in Swaledale. Others of the nobility were liberal in their donations, and tofts and crofts, carucates, oxgangs, and acres, manors and churches, were soon added to the possessions of the establishment.'" The building is supposed to have been completed about 1114, which was the year in which the order of St. Augustine was introduced into England ; and the church was dedicated to St. Mary. Stepen, in the 15th year of his reign, granted that the prior and canons should have all kinds of chattels, of all felons and fugatives, within the town and pre- cincts of Bridlington ; with all kinds of wreck of the * Besides tlie clmrclies of Filey and Grinton, given by the founder, Adelard, the Venator, gave the churches of Galmpton and Willerby; Galfrid, the Dispensator, the church of Boynton ; William Fitz Nigel, the church of Flamborough ; Everard, the son of Peter de Kos, the church of Atwick ; Walter de Ver, the church of Sproatley ; Eustace Fitz John, the churches of Scalby and East Cowton ; Robert de Percy, the church of Carnaby, &c. William and Eichard de Otteringham gave the church of Otteringham ; and king Henry IV. gave the church of Scarborough, with all its chapels. This house had also the church of Fraisthorpe, and medieties of the churches of Beeford and Thwing, and some churches in Lincolnshire. — Lawton's Religious Houses of Yorkshire, p.p. 76, 77. BRIDLINGTON PRIORY. 223 sea, which should in future happen between EarFs Dyke, and Flamborough Dyke. On the 6th December, 1200, king John granted " to God and the church of St. Mary of Bridhngton, and the canons there serving God, a fair in every year at Bridhngton, to continue two days ; to wit upon the eve of the assumption of the blessed Mary, and on the day the same festival, and one market to be held there every week, viz., on Saturday.'^ Among the most distinguished of the priors was Kobert, surnamed the scribe, from his having written and compiled many great works. Leland, who visited the monastery in 1534, looked over his writings, then preserved in the library of the priory ; and informs us that he was interred in the cloister, near the door of chapter-house, with this inscription on his tomb ; — B^ohertus Cognomento Scriba, Quartus Prior. He was prior about A.D. 1160. The pirates of Norway having made a descent on the northern coast, and plundered the abbey and vicinity of Whitby, in 1164, the priories of Bridlington and Guisborough were fortified with walls and ditches, so that they were enabled to resist an enemy, and stand a few days' siege. William of Newbiirgh, a celebrated monkish histo- rian, who flourished in the reign of king John, was a native of Bridlington ; but having become a canon of Newburgh, took his surname from thence. His prin- cipal historical work commences with the Norman conquest, and ends with the year 1197. 224 BRIDLINGTON PRIORY. In the time of pope Innocent III. tlie canons com- plained "that the archdeacon of Richmond going to one of their churches, had travelled with 97 horses, 21 dogs, and 3 hawks, trihus avihus senator iis; whereby he consumed more of their provisions in one hour than would have maintained their house for a long time. On which his holiness commanded that ecclesiastics should, for the time to come, travel with no greater retinue than is allowed by the statutes of the council of Lateran ; which limits the train of an archbishop to 50 horses, a bishop to 30, a legate to 25, and an arch- deacon to seven. John de Bridlington was confirmed prior, July 13th, 1366. He was born at this place about the year 1319 ; and received his education at Oxford, where he became honourably distinguished by his talents and acquire- ments ; but the bent of his mind was chiefly towards divination. On his return he entered himself a canon regular of his native town, of which he became sub- prior ; and afterwards attained to the highest dignity it had to bestow. He led a life of the strictest piety and integrity ; insomuch that, after his death, which happened in 1397, he was accounted a saint, and miracles were said to be performed at his tomb. The archbishop of York, assisted by the bishops of Durham and Carlisle, performed the ceremony of the translation of the relics of the saint to a magnificent shrine in the priory church, to which many pilgrimages were made. The celebrated alchymist, Sir George Ripley, was a canon in this monastery, where he continued some time, BRIDLINGTON PRIORY. 225 and devoted himself to the study of alchemy ; he travelled into Italy, and employed nearly twenty years in abstruse and chemical researches to find the philo- sopher's stone. He died in the year 1490. William Wode or Wolde was installed June 17th, 1531. Having engaged in Aske's rebellion, he was attainted of high treason, and executed at Tyburn, in the year 1537. On the defection of the prior, the possessions of the monastery were declared to be forfeited to the king ; yet the dissolution of the con- vent did not take place until the following year. The gross annual revenue at that time, was £682. 13s. 9d. and the net, £547. 6s. ll^d. The monastery, with its contiguous offices, was de- molished in the spring of 1539. The situation of the priory was very pleasani:, in a fertile spot, sheltered on the north and north-east by the high lands of the Wolds, commanding an extensive view over the plain of Holderness on the south, with a splendid marine prospect on the east. The only remains at present existing, are those of the church and gateway ; this last building stands about one hundred and twenty yards westward of the church, and was the boundary of the precincts of the convent on that side. This gateway is called the Bayle, and from the style appears to have been erected in the fourteenth century ; probably about 1 388, when Richard XL granted license to the canons to enclose and fortify the priory. The eastern front consists of one wide arch, which does not appear at any period to Q 226 BRIDLINGTON PRIORY. have been provided with gates ; the western, of a lofty arch, above the carriage way, and a smaller one, or postern, for the convenience of foot passengers. Both these entrances have been protected by massive gates, the hooks of which still retain their situations. The vaulted roof of the gateway is a fine specimen of the art ; the ribs are of freestone, and the angular compart- ments of chalk, which, on account of its lightness, was much used in this kind of roofing. The cross springers rest on four sculptured figures in monastic habits ; one is represented as elevating a shield charged with a dagger ; another is in the act of playing on the bag- pipe ; the remaining two present no peculiarity. On each side of the thoroughfare is a strong and gloomy apartment ; that on the north is used as a place of temporary confinement for delinquents, and is called the Kitcote ; a name probably coeval with the build- ing, the place appearing to have originally been in- tended for its present use. Above are small chambers ; and over the whole an apartment now occupied as the national school-room for boys ; except a part of the southern end, which has been separated, and fitted up as a town hall, wherein the public business of the town is transacted. The church was formerly a noble edifice, part of it appropriated to the parish, the rest to the convent. The portion remaining is the nave of the priory church, now converted into a nave and chancel, with aisles. The west front displays a centre flanked by towers, which have been reduced to the level of the roof of the nave. The principal entrance, or great BRIDLINGTON PRIORY. 227 western door, is highly ornamented ; and some parts of the exquisite foilage, with which it was once adorned, is still in good preservation. The smaller entrance, in the southern tower, has likewise been lavishly orna- mented. Each of these entrances is surmounted by a canopy, enriched with crockets ; above the arch, and on each side of the principal doorway, is a small niche, for the reception of a statue ; and a range of small projecting pedestals, fifty-eight in number, each pro- vided with a canopy, richly adorned with crockets and tracery, and calculated for figures nearly three feet in height, extends across the western front, in a line with the springs of the arches. The northern angle, usually called the old steeple, is in a totally different style of architecture from the part already described, apparently a hundred years earlier. It has formerly been entered by a circular arched doorway, now walled up. On the west and north sides, at a considerable height from the ground, are three niches, capable of accommodating sta- tues five feet in height. Above the principal entrance is a larger pointed window, of seven lights, divided by two transoms. This front has been restored, and the windows fitted with stained glass, at intervals, between 1849 and 1854 ; so that some idea of its ancient mag- nificence may be formed from its present appearance. The porch on the north side of the nave has been an elegant specimen of the architecture of the four- teenth century, with clustered columns and richly foliated capitals, and the arches adorned with rose- buds in the hollow mouldings. 228 BRIDLINGTON PRIORY. The windows in the lower tier, on the north of the church, are in a style differing from any of the others, and evidently belong to the early part of the thirteenth century, being long, narrow, sharp pointed, and em- bellished with light and elegant shafts. These win- dows are placed in pairs, except in two instances, in which they are single. The east end having been piled from the ruins of the monastery, exhibits no specimen of style, and is supported by two enormous buttresses, as solid and unsightly as well could be reared. Most of the windows on the south side are lofty and ramified, in the manner of the great west window. At the south-west angle of the church is a paltry octagonal turret, of brick work, erected about the middle of the last century ; a most contemptible affair, in the most wretched taste. The interior of the church presents a dilapidated appearance ; about a third part of it is fitted up for public worship, and will accommodate about one thousand people. The centre is divided from the side aisles by ten pointed arches, resting on a union of cylinders, and on the south side some of them rest on panelled piers. On the right and left, immediately within the principal entrance, are two ^enormous pillars, which appear to have been raised for the support of two western towers, of which no vestige above the roof of the church now remains. In the chancel are four pillars, equal in magnitude to the principal ones at the BRIDLINGTON PRIORY. 229^ west end, undoubtedly raised to sustain the pressure of a tower in the centre of the conventual church. There are no monuments either remarkable for antiquity or beauty; the former having been destroyed at the period of the reformation, or since, and no superior modern specimens have been erected. In the chancel, is a remarkable long, grey slab, supposed to mark the place of sepulture of some one of the superiors of the convent. A large slab, near the font, has been adorned with a brass, representing a knight in armour, with folded hands, his head resting on a cushion ; each of the corners has borne a brazen shield ; but the whole has long ago been taken away. On a black stone tablet, on the opposite side of the font, bearing the date 1587, is the oldest legible inscription now remaining. In the same part of the church, is a large black stone coffin lid, of very early workmanship. On the enlargement of the burial-ground, towards the south and east, in 1812, the whole of the ground was found to be full of foundations of buildings, so that it was necessary to trench the whole of it over. During this process, the workmen dug up a range of the foundations of pillars, in a line with those which separate the nave from the north aisle of the church, and two human skeletons inclosed in vaults of free- stone. In the spring of 1821, about sixty paces from the end of the church, and four feet from the surface, was found a vault of squared chalk stones, placed edgewise, and covered by transverse ones, in which 230 BRIDLINGTON PRIORY. was found a skeleton. At different distances, were found four other vaults deprived of their coverings, all containing bones. A white stone tablet was found at the same time, about three feet in length ; round the margin was part of an inscription, recording the sepulture of Eobert Charder, a canon of the monastery. The basements of two of the transept pillars were also dug up ; and a little southward of the intersection of the nave, was discovered a coffin of freestone, covered by chalk-stones. The hollow of the coffin was more than six feet in length, and yet remains in the place where it was found. The following inscription, found on the spot, cut on the margins of two chalk-stone tablets, determines the coffin to have contained the remains of Robert Brystwyk, the twenty-fifth prioj : — Jit jaat Vm^ pM. iiistirgli q|0. to. jmr tar Im q. Mt um. to. p.tf C4C. n0nagesim0 1||. «. ait jirict. h. Jimen. Many of the stones from the ruins of the monastic buildings were used in the rebuilding of a pier at Bridlington Quay, in the time of queen Elizabeth ; and many of the chalk-stones were burnt into lime. Enough, however, yet remains, aided a little by the imagination, to assure us, that when in its complete state, the monastery was an extensive establishment, and the church a building of great bulk and grandeur. 231 |%kl^am 3|ri0rg. The ruins of this abbey are situated in a pleasant valley on the eastern bank of the Derwent, about six miles from Malton, and close to the Kirkham station, on the York and Scarborough railway. Here Walter de Espec and his wife, Adeline, in 1121, founded a priory of canons regular of the order of St. Augustine, in honour of the Holy Trinity, to commemorate a fatal accident which embittered their declining years. Sir Walter had an only son, also called Walter, a comely youth of great activity of mind and body, who took much delight in riding swift horses. In following his favourite diversion one day, galloping rapidly towards Frithby, near Kirkham, his horse stumbled near a stone cross, and he was thrown to the ground with such violence, that he instantly expired. The incon- solable father, deprived, by this melancholy accident, of a darling son, the heir apparent of his large estates, and desiring to devote a part of his substance to the service of God, consulted William, his uncle, then rector of Garton, who advised him to make " Christ his heir," by building and endowing three religious houses. In pursuance of this recommendation, he converted one of his chief mansions, at Kirkham, into this priory, and endowed it with seven churches and 232 KIRKHAM PRIORY. their impropriations ; the profits of which, with the rents, and other possessions in Yorkshire and Northum- berland, amounted yearly to 1000 marks. ''^ The lands, rents, &c., of this house, lay in Burton, Bergerthorpe, Brewethorpe ; the church of Berythorpe, Billesdale, Bolton in Northumberland, BoUum ; the church of Cald Overton, Carr-upon-Tweed, in Northumberland ; the church of Cramburn, Derwent, Duggleby, Frithby, Fudeston ; the church of Garton ; turbary in the forest of Galtres ; free warren in Grannum, Harum, Helmsley-Blackmoor, and the church there ; the church of Hildeston in Holeton, in Northumberland ; Hoton, Bardolf, Howsom in Kirkby, Crendale, with its church ; the manor, parochial church, &c., in Kirkham, in Lengeby, Lynton, Melthorpe in Bucross, Myndrom, the church of Newton in Glendale, Pockley ; the church of Ross ; land in Sixtendale, Sledmere, Sproxton near Hamelac, Swinton ; the manor of Titelington ; lands in Turkilsby and Werch ; the town of Whitwell ; lands in Westhue, Winstome or Wiston ; free warren in Woodhouse, and certain houses in York.f Towards the aid granted to Henry III. on the mar- riage of his eldest daughter, the priory of Kirkham paid £5. John Kilnwick was the last prior ; he had a pension allowed him of £50. per annum, subsequent to the dissolution. The house was surrendered in the 26th of Henry * Burton's Mon. Ebor., p. 373. t Ibid. pp. 374, 377. KIRKHAM PRIORY. 233 VIII., and was then valued in the gross at £300. 16s. 6d., and the clear income at £269. 5s. 9d.* The site was granted 32nd of Henry VIII. to Henry Knyvet and Ann his wife ; but in the 3rd of Edward VI. it was transferred to the earl of Rutland, a descen- dant of the founder, who held it of the king in capite, by military service ; and in the 5th of Elizabeth he obtained permission from the crown to alienate this manor, with those of Billsdale, Stiperlow, and Rievaux, to Edward Jackman and Richard Lambert, whence they have descended to different possessors. The situation of the ruins is beautiful, almost close to the river Derwent, in a pleasant, though narrow valley, warm and low ; the hills, woods, and waters around forming many pleasing pictures. Across the river is a bridge of three arches ; on the opposite side to the ruins is the Kirkham railway station ; a little below the bridge the river is crossed by a dam, for purposes of navigation, thus giving the stream all the fullness and smoothness of a canal, with the graceful windings of a natural river. The principal part of the priory which remains is the gateway, close to the turnpike road ; it is highly beautiful, and apparently of the age of Edward I. The archway is slightly pointed, and surmounted by a large pediment, crocketted, and terminating in a finial. In the upper part are two windows, of two lights each, with trefoil heads, and ornamental tracery in * Cole, in his MSS, says, here were at the suppression — Monks, 17 ; lead 30 fodder ; bells, 7 ; plate, 442 ounces. 234 KIRKHAM PRIORY. the sweep of the arch. Each window, and the spaces between, have crocketted pediments, and in the spandrils are four shields of arms, viz., three chev- ronels, three hons passant guardant, three water bougets, the arms of the priory, and checquee. Near the windows are two more shields ; one has three Catherine wheels, the other three chaplets, over all four bars ; lower down, in a line with the top of the pediment, are four other shields, bearing a bend, three water bougets, the same repeated, and a cross florj. The finish of this edifice was quatrefoil panel- ing, now much damaged. Between the windows are two niches, with statues partly mutilated, one having lost the whole of its head, the other a part of it. Another niche has the image of St. Peter, with the keys in his left hand, and a figure of the church in his right. Other niches contain — Pilate sitting in judg- ment ; a figure with a rough stafl* ; St. George slaying the dragon ; and two figures, a bigger and a less, probably David and Goliah. There are other niches now empty. The buttresses which adorned this build- ing were very handsome ; one remains, having an elegant pierced pinnacle, crocketted. Gent, the histo- rian, says, in the year 1733, part of the house of entertainment for pilgrims was standing. On the other side was the porter's lodge ; near to which, some part of the building, under curious arched work, had been converted into an alehouse ; but it was then de- molished. Within the gate was a small chapel, near the great church, repaired for the use of the parishioners. KIRKHAM PRIORY. 235 bj Madam Frances Crowther, the lady of the manor, who also repaired the cross near the priory gate ; the three steps and stem of which yet remain. On the front of a farmhouse, on the opposite side of the road to the gateway, are two effigies carved in stone ; one of them has a horn, supposed by some, from that circumstance to be king Ulphus. On the breast of one is a shield, bearing three chaplets ; the other bears a blank shield. Southward of the gate are the remains of the priory buildings ; the garden, now occupied as an orchard, the cellars, now broken down ; over these cellars was a spacious hall, or dining-room. Over the entrance into the garden are some remains of a cloister, with an ash tree, garlanded with ivy, growing above, its roots inter- twining and twisting among the masonry in a singularly grotesque manner. Some few fragments of wall are to be seen among the trees beyond ; one of them, a large mass of masonry, thickly clad with ivy. The only part of the church remaining is the east end of the chancel, of the most exquisite design and workmanship ; it is of fine white stone, the mouldings and carvings quite fresh. If this fragment, and the gateway, may be taken as specimens of the whole fabric, the priory of Kirkham, when complete, has been a most magnificent building. A tower curiously covered with ivy, is said to have been blown down by a high wind, in 1782 ; of this no trace remains. The whole of the site of the church is now grass, and the materials have been so completely 236 KIRKHAM PRIORY. cleared away, that the foundations cannot be traced with anything like accuracy. Among the eminent men buried in the church of the priory were the following : — William de Ros, son of Robert de Ros ; Robert de Ros, son of William ; buried in a marble tomb, on the south side. William, son of Robert de Ros, interred in a marble tomb, on the north side. William, son of the last WilHam, deposited in a stone mausoleum, near the grand altar on the south side. These were all powerful barons and patrons of the priory. Ralph, lord Grey stock, was buried in the chancel before the altar, in 1487. Though the ruins of Kirkham are but of small extent, they are not without interest to the antiquary, the artist, or the tourist ; the beauty of their situation, the legend attached to the foundation of the priory, and the elegance of the remaining fragments, combine to throw a charm over the spot, which is not possessed by some ruins of greater extent. 237 S^triff-JiHttnit Castle. The village and castle of SherfF-Hutton stand upon an eminence, commanding fine views of Ryedale, the forest of Galtres, the vale of York, and the Wold region ; at a distance of ten miles from York, an equal distance from Malton, and eight miles from Easing- v^^old. At the time of Domesday survey, the domain was in the hands of William Mallet, who held here seven carucates of land which he had bought of Sprot for ten marks of silver ; Sprot himself holding other seven ; Nigil Fossard held three carucates, which he gave up to king William. Bertram de Bulmer, in the reign of king Stephen, built a castle here, and the place received the distinc- tive appellation of Sheriff-Hutton, from the ofiice held by Bertram, who was sheriff of Yorkshire during the whole reign of Stephen, and nine years of the reign of Henry II. In the civil war between Stephen and the empress Matilda, the castle was seized for the king, by Alan, earl of Brittany and Richmond. The manor and castle were afterwards given by Bertram, a descendant of the founder, in marriage with his only daughter, Emma, to Jeffrey de Neville. 238 SHERIFF-HUTTON CASTLE. Ralph de Neville, the great earl of Westmorland, re- built, enlarged, and strongly fortified the castle. It was this earl who deserted Richard II. when the sun of his prosperity was setting, and attached himself to Bolingbroke, afterwards king Henry IV. He was one of the nobles who joined him on his first landing at Ravenspurne, and continued faithful to him during his whole reign. It is this earl whose character is portrayed in the historical plays of Shakespere. His crafty betrayal of archbishop Scrope, when in arms, at Shipton on the forest, (a place within sight of his castle here,) shews him to have been an adept in the art of deception.''^ The noble family of Neville held possession of the manor and estate until the death of Richard earl of Warwick, surnamed the king maker, who was slain at the battle of Barnett, A.D. 1471, when all the castles, parks, and manors, that he had, were seized into the victor's hands. This castle and manor were granted by Edward IV., with the confirmation of an act of parliament, to Richard, duke of Gloucester, his brother, who had married Ann, the daughter of Warwick. After the death of his brother, king Edward, Richard arrested Anthony Woodville, earl Rivers, and sent him a prisoner to this castle, whence he was shortly after- wards removed to Pontefract castle, and there be- headed, along with lord Grey. After Richard had cleared his way to the throne, by the murder of his * For a full account of this event, see the Author's " Battles and Battle Fields of Yorkshire." — Art. Haslewood. SHERIFF-HUTTON CASTLE. 239 brother's children, he imprisoned, in this castle, Edward Plantagenet, son of his brother, the duke of Clarence, earl of Warwick, and Elizabeth, eldest daughter of his late brother, king Edward. In which state of confine- ment they continued until the battle of Bosworth Field, A.D. 1483, in which Richard was slain ; when destiny conducted Elizabeth to a throne, and the unfortunate Warwick to the block. Shortly after the accession of Henry VII., Sir Eobert Willoughby was dispatched to Sheriff-Hutton, with orders to remove Warwick to the tower, and to conduct the princess Elizabeth to London, to meet Henry, and there celebrate her nuptials. This marriage took place in London, January 18th, 1486, with a greater appear- ance of universal joy than had attended either Henry's first entrance or his coronation. The unfortunate Warwick, who had from his earliest youth been shut up from the commerce of men, and was ignorant of the most common affairs of life, had fallen into a state of simplicity which made him susceptible of any impression. A more unlikely object to rouse the vengeance of the tyrant Henry could not well be imagined ; yet this prince, the last male de- scendant of the house of York, on the most trivial pretences, was arraigned, condemned, and executed, November 21st, 1499. This castle and manor continued in the king's hands, until granted to the duke of Norfolk ; upon whose death, it again reverted to the crown. During the insurrection in the north, the duke resided in this 240 SHERIFF-HUTTON CASTLE. castle, from about 1489 to 1500. It afterwards was the residence of Henry Fitzroj, duke of Richmond, natural son of Henry VIH., who was appointed by his father to be lieutenant-general of the north, and warden of the Scottish marches, at a very early age, with a council to assist him in the administration of public affairs. He is supposed to have quitted this castle about the year 1530. Leland, who saw the castle in its complete state, gives the following description of it : — "From Hinderskelfe (Castle Howard) to Shirhuton Castle four miles, mostly highe grounde. A mile on this side of Shirhuton, I left on the right hand, Mr. Gower's ancient Manor place (Stittenham.) The Castle of Shirhuton, as I learned there, was builded by Rafe Nevil of Raby, the first earl of Westmorland of the Neviles ; and I heard that in hys time he buildid or greatly augmented, or repayr^d three castells byside. Ther is a base court with houses of office besides the entering. The Castell itself in front is not ditched, but it standeth m loco utcunque edito. I marked in the front part of the first area of the castell three great and high Towres, of the which the Gatehouse was the middle. In the second area be five or six towres, and the statlie stair up to the Haul is very magnificent, and so is the Haul itself, and all the residue of the House ; insomuch that I saw no house in all the north so like a princely lodging. This castell is well maintained by reason that the late Duke of Norfoll^ie lay theare ten yeares, and sins then the Duke of SHERIFF-HUTTON CASTLE. 241 Richmond. Tlier is a park by it. I learned that the stone of which the castell was buildid was brought from the quarry at Terrington a two miles distant." The castle and manor continued in possession of the crown till they were granted to Charles, prince of Wales, afterwards king Charles I. At that time, the castle was in a ruinous state ; and, finally, its walls were destroyed by workmen employed for that pur- pose, and not by the regular decay of time, or the violence of war. It afterwards came into possession of the family of the Ingrams, in which it still remains ; Charles Meynell Ingram, Esq., of Temple Newsam, being the present owner. The ruins stand on a hill, to the south of the village, and consist of the remains of four large corner towers, with a part of the warder^s tower over the entrance on the east side. The towers are of considerable eleva- tion, especially that at the south-west corner, which is one hundred feet in height ; square, massive, perpen- dicular, and plain, without buttresses, or architectural ornaments of any kind. In the base of this tower, is a vault or dungeon, arched over with stone, forty feet in length, by twenty in breadth, having an entrance from the south, and a window to the west ; the walls are eight feet thick. This place is now used as a shelter for cattle. Above, is another room, arched in a similar manner, and in a tolerable state of preserva- tion. The rooms above are broken down, and in a state of ruin. The circular stair which led to the top of the tower, has been entirely taken away ; and the R 242 SHERIFF-HUTTON CASTLE. hewn sandstone around many of the windows or loop holes, has been forcibly torn out. The stone chiefly employed is of a brown colour, of a gritty, ferruginous kind, yet durable, as hardly any parts of it have perished. The north-west tower is in a somewhat similar state to the other, except that all the rooms are broken down, and it seems a little inferior in height. The north-east tower is the strongest and most massive, and contained an arched vault at the base, similar to the first mentioned ; above which, is another room, now used as a pigeon cote. The south-east tower differs in appearance from any of the others, being supported at the outward angles by strong buttresses, with a projecting parapet above. Between this corner and the south-west tower, the wall has projected and formed an obtuse angle. The principal entrance has been on the east side; the not very lofty pointed arch of the gateway yet remains, with four shields carved on stone above it. The inner area of the castle is overgrown with grass, and is partly used as a stack- yard, and partly as a pasture. The castle has not been moated in front, and only partly on the northern side ; on the southern, are the remains of a double moat, about two hundred yards in length, each division being about five yards wide, and full of water ; these meet at an acute angle on the west, with another fosse, partly filled with water from the north side of the castle. The park, formerly belonging to this castle, was sold in the reign of Charles II., to Edward Thompson, Esq., in whose family it yet continues. 243 Slmgsljg €milt. At a distance of nine miles from Malton and twenty-three from York, is the village and ruined castle of Slingsby ; the Thirsk and Malton railway pasges close to the village on the north. The country around is rich and beautiful, presenting prospects of considerable extent ; the valley, rising with gentle un- dulations on the south, towards the densely wooded domains of Castle Howard and the Howardian hills ; on the north, ascending towards the towns of Kirby Moorside, Pickering, and the eastern moorlands. The village presents nothing remarkable, except retaining that memorial of ancient days, its maypole. This domain (now the property of the earl of Carlisle) was, at the time of the Norman conquest, a berewic of the manor of Hovingham, then in the possession of Orm, and was mostly in wood. Shortly after that event, it was given, by the conqueror, to Roger de Mowbray, who is supposed to have founded a castle here. Camden says, " the ancient family of the Mowbrays had, for many generations, a castle here ; the ruins of which are still visible." The estates of that powerful family were seized into the king's hands after the battle of Boroughbridge, in 1322 ; where John de Mowbray, one of the adherents of the 244 SLINGSBY CASTLE. earl of Lancaster, was taken prisoner, and afterwards beheaded. In 1838, we find that Ralph de Hastings had license to make a castle of his house at Slingsby ; and to impark his woods at Slingsby, Frith, Colton, Surkilwood, and other lands which had formerly be- longed to the Mowbray family ; so that, in all proba- bility, he had obtained a portion of the confiscated estates by grant, before the Mowbrays were again restored to favour by Edward HI. Subsequently, the estate fell into the possession of the family of Howard, in which it yet continues. The castle of the Mowbrays at this place was pro- bably only a forest lodge ; that of Hastings might aspire to the dignity of a manor house ; not intended for a fortress, or permanent place of defence ; being built on a plain, and possessing no advantages of situa- tion. One, or probably both of the ancient buildings, has been surrounded by a most formidable moat, or dry ditch, which has been no less than thirty feet deep and ninety wide ; three sides of it are now in pasture, and the fourth, towards the village, is converted into gardens. There does not appear to have been any contrivance for filling it with water. The castle was partly rebuilt by Sir C. Cavendish, in 1603, but never finished ; and this is the building that now remains ; probably much in the same state as left by him, with the exception of a few broken arches, and the mellow tints and venerable aspect bestowed by time. As regards external walls, Slingsby may rank among the most perfect of our Yorkshire castles ; but it has SLINGSBY CASTLE. 245 not the historic consequence, massive strength, and gloomy majesty, which give such an interest to the old Anglo-Norman edifices. The area of the castle is about forty yards in length, by about thirty in breadth ; and the greatest part of the vralls are forty feet in height, divided into three stories. The basement, which has been appropriated to the kitchen, cellars, store-rooms, and other offices, has been strongly arched ; in the larger rooms the arches are groined, and supported by octagonal pillars. The kitchen is easily distinguished by its two large fire-places, each twelve feet wide ; these do not appear to have been much used, as the stones bear very slight tokens of the action of fire. This room is eighteen yards in length, by nine in breadth ; the arches above it are broken down. Some of the other offices are now used as stalls for cattle, and other farming purposes. The next story has been intended for the state apartments of the lord of the mansion, his family, and guests ; the rooms have been on a large scale, and the windows and doors of magnificent proportions ; some of the former being nearly seven feet wide, by twelve in height, divided into four lights by a slender muUion and transom. The walls are seldom more than three feet in thickness in the higher parts ; in some places gracefully ornamented with ivy. The main entrance has been on the east of the building ; it is now partly broken down. The tops of the windows and doorways are decorated on the outside with Tudor trefoil work, and a moulding of the same kind runs round the 246 SLINGSBY CASTLE. building at the top of the second story. At all the corners of the castle, and in every story, is a little room, about five feet by four, and twelve in height, arched over, with two small holes of sixteen inches square for windows, on the sides looking outward. There are no fewer than twelve of these places, all exactly alike, with room in them for only one inmate, or two at most. The whole building is of oolitic lime- stone ; no part of it has perished by exposure to the weather, the carvings and ornaments being yet sharp and perfect. It is a ruin of more than ordinary elegance, but unfortunately it has no history ; none of those tragic scenes have been enacted within its walls which give such an interest to other places, while a stone remains to point out their whereabouts. The ruins, though not preserved with scrupulous care, are not defaced by any wanton desecration ; nor have they at any period yielded their hewn stones, and carved mouldings, to ornament the cottages of the village ; and though not an interesting landmark in history, it will long continue a prominent feature in the land- scape. 247 Craike Castk. About three miles from Easingwold, perched on the top of a hill, stands Craike Castle, commanding an extensive view over the wide and fertile vale of York. Drake, in his Eboracum, supposes that the Romans had a castrum ea^ploratorum upon this hill : the situation is strongly in favour of the conjecture ; but as no Roman road has been traced directly to the place, nor any foundations, entrenchments, coins, or other indicia of their occupation, found in the locality, we must dismiss it as untenable. The earliest authentic mention we have of Craike is in 685, when it was given, with the lands around it, by Egfrid, king of Northumberland, to St. Cuthbert, in order that the saint might have a resting place in his journeys between Lindisfarne and York. About which time, he is said to have founded a monastery here ; which continued to flourish until the invasion of the country by the Danes, In 882, after the rude Danes had ravaged Holy Isle, and burned the monastery there, the monks fled forth, bearing with them the bones of their patron, the sainted Cuthbert ; and for a while, the monastery of Craike, then ruled by an abbot of the name of Geve, was their resting place. It is probable, that, shortly 248 CRAIKE CASTLE. afterwards, the monastery was entirely ruined by the Danish marauders. At the time of the Domesday survey, it was in the possession of WilHam, bishop of Durham ; and there was a church and priest here. A strong castle was built upon the hill, soon after the Conquest, by some of the bishops of Durham ; most probably Hugh Pudsay, the sixth of the Norman prelates, who was a great builder. Of this building no well ascertained traces remain. Leland, writing in the reign of Henry VIH., says : — " There remaineth at this time small show of any old castle that hath been here. Ther is a Haul with other offices, and a great stable vaulted with stone of a meetly ancient building. The great square tower that is thereby, as on the toppe of the hill, and supplement of loggings is very fair, and was erected totally by Neville, bishop of Durdome. Ther is a park, and the circuit of the lordship is seven miles.'^ As bishop Neville was enthroned at Durham, April 11th, 1438, and died July 8th, 1457, we may form a pretty accurate guess at the age of the present building. Singular to say, the parish of Craike, though actually in the centre of Yorkshire, forms part of the county of Durham ; and the greatest part of the land in the parish belonged to that see, until sold by bishop Van Mildert, who sat from 1826 to 1836, when he procured an act of parliament enabling him to dispose of it, and purchase another estate with the proceeds. It was CRAIKE CASTLE. 249 purchased by John Richard Thompson, Esq., of Kirby Hall ; but is now the property of W. Waite, Esq. The present castle is a square building, in the Tudor style of architecture, four stories in height, embattled on the top. The greatest part of it is occupied as a farm-house and offices. There are no symptoms of decay or ruin about it, and its walls seem calculated yet to endure for ages. At the north-east corner of the hill, is a fragment of ruin, half buried in the earth, which may be a remnant of the first castle. What must ever give Craike its chief attraction in the eye of the tourist, is the beautiful and almost boundless prospect from the hill on which it stands ; embracing the vast basin watered by the rivers Swale, Ure, Nidd, Foss, Derwent, and Ouse. Extending on the north-east, to the Howardian and Hambleton hills; closed in, at an immense distance, by the mountains of Wensleydale, Craven, and the British Appenines ; towards the south, extending with an uninterrupted stretch over a fruitful and interesting country, until earth and sky appear to meet in the blue misty dis- tance ; to the east, the Yorkshire Wolds present their whole extent to the view; directly to the south, rises York minster, an object above all others conspicuous in the level valley in which it stands. Any attempt to enumerate even a few of the most interesting places visible would be in vain. Many an historic spot does the eye wander over ; many a bloody battle-field ; many a pleasant town, and happy rural village. 250 iglantr %hh^. The ruins of this abbey are situate about two miles north of the Cox wold station, on the Thirsk and Malton railway, in a pleasant vale at the foot of the Hamble- ton hills ; which effectually screen the spot from the cold winds of the north and east. This abbey, like the neighbouring structure of Rievaux, belonged to the Cistercians. The early history of this house is minutely related by Philip, the third abbot, who was elected to that office in 1196. From his account it appears, that, in the year 1134, twelve monks went forth from the abbey of Furness, and settled at Calder, under their abbot, Gerald, where they continued four years, and were about to commence building, when their abode was laid waste by a hostile incursion of the Scots. Upon which they fled for refuge to the mother abbey of Furness, but were refused admittance ; when they resolved to seek the advice of Thurstan, archbishop of York ; and were accordingly journeying thitherward, with nothing but their clothing and a few books, which were carried in a wain drawn by oxen. When they reached the town of Thirsk, they were pitied and entertained by Gundrse, widow of Nigel de Albini, and mother of Roger de Mowbray, who was then a minor, and ward of king Stephen, but soon to enter BYLAND ABBEY. 251 into possession of his lands. This lady supplied their necessities with generous hospitality, and forbade their departure, engaging to provide them both with the means of subsistence and a place of abode. In the meantime, she sent them to her uncle, Robert de Alneto, who had been a monk at Whitby, and who was then living as a hermit at Hood, near Kilburn. There she caused them to be well and honourably maintained until her son Roger came to his lands. The sending provisions to them at Hood being attended with inconvenience, Roger de Mowbray, at the instance of his mother, gave them his cowpasture at Cambe, and other lands, for their support. The abbot Gerald died in 1142, and was buried at Hood; when Roger was chosen abbot in his room. In 1143, the lady Gundrse, with the consent of her son, bestowed on them the village of Byland on the Moor, since called Old Byland. The intention of Roger de Mowbray had been, that the abbey should be built near that place, not far from the river Rye, and contiguous to that of Rievaux ; " but the situation of the place rendered this impossible ; the two houses were too near each other to allow of it, for at every hour of the day and night the one convent could hear the bells of the other ; and this was unseemly, and could not in any way long be borne." After an abode of five years at, or near Old Byland, they removed to a more appropriate spot ; where, in 1147, they received from the same Roger de Mowbray, two carucates of waste land, "lying in the vicinity of Cuckwald, beneath the hill of Black- 252 BYLAND ABBEY. how/^ He also gave them many valuable gifts, among which was the patronage of the churches of Thirsk, Hovingham, and Kirkby Moorside. The place where they were now settled was in the vicinity of Oldstead, where they built a small stone church and a cloister. In 1150, the abbots of Calder and Furness attempted to claim jurisdiction over them ; but this was resisted, and determined in favour of the monks of Byland, by the abbot of Eievaux, who was chosen judge on the occasion. In 1177, they removed again, and finally settled themselves on the spot where the abbey now stands ; and there erected a noble church, with all the usual conventual buildings. Henceforward their career was prosperous, and wealth flowed in apace upon them ; favoured by popes, kings, and nobles, their possessions became wide, and their privileges many and valuable. To the calm retirement of Byland, in old age and disgrace, did the warlike founder retreat ; and after having fought the holy wars in Palestine, and been twice at Jerusalem, took upon himself the monastic habit, and here ended his days ; and was buried under an arch on the south side of the chapter-house, near his mother Gundrse ; and on his tomb, was carved the figure of a sword. There the bones of the old warrior rested in peace, the dissolution of the abbey not afi'ecting his rest, until the year 1819 ; when Martin Stapylton, Esq., owner of the site of the abbey, having discovered the exact spot where he was buried^ caused the rubbish to be removed, and the bones to be BYLAND ABBEY. 253 disinterred and conveyed to Myton, where they were a second time committed to the earth, and the sword- bearing tomb again placed over them. In this abbey, was also buried, Wymund, once a monk of Furness abbey, and afterwards bishop of the Isle of Man, an ecclesiastical warrior of the time of Stephen. For some time, he successfully led his flock on marauding expeditions against the Isles and coast of Scotland, and baffled all the efforts of David, king of that country, to take him. He was at length, however, defeated by a brother bishop, taken prisoner, and had his eyes put out. He was delivered over to king David, and confined for some time at lloxburgh ; he was afterwards permitted to retire to Byland abbey, where he spent the remainder of his days, frequently relating his exploits, and boasting that God alone had defeated him in battle. In 1322, a battle was fought here between the Scots, under the command of Robert Bruce, and an English force under king Edward II. In which, the latter were defeated, the king himself escaping with difficulty. The defences then thrown up by the English army are yet visible, on the ridge of the hill near Oldstead, and are known, among the country people, by the name of " camp holes."" Byland abbey continued to flourish until the general dissolution; when in the year 1540, it was surrendered into the hands of the agents of Henry VIIL, by John Leeds, the last abbot, and twenty-four monks, who all retired on pensions. The gross revenue, at that time, 254 BYLAND ABBEY. amounted to £295. 5s. 4d. ; the landed possessions occupying the greater part of fifty-three townships, with rights and privileges extending into twenty-eight others. The plate, amounting to 516 ounces, with the bells, lead, and furniture, were seized and sold for the king's use. The site was granted, in 1546, by Henry VIII., to Sir A¥illiam Pickering ; it subsequently came into the possession of the Stapyltons, of Wighill, afterwards of Myton on Swale, in which family it yet remains. The ruins of Byland are of great extent, but not to be compared to those of Fountains, Kirkstall, or Eievaux, in any respect. The western end, northern side, and some other portions of the church, are all that now remain ; the rest of the site is a mass of rubbish, overgrown with bushes and weeds. The western front has three doorways remaining, none of them either wide or high ; the heads are of three different kind of arches ; that on the north being pointed, the central one a trefoil, and that on the south side a semicircle. Above the middle doorway, are nine lancet arches ; three of which open through the wall, and form windows. Above these, one half of a circular window remains, which has been of grand proportions, and when in its complete state, would admit, against the roof of the church, a glorious blaze of sunset light. An octagonal shaft and pinnacle alone remain of their original height. The north side of the nave, transept, and chancel, may yet be considered of nearly their original height. The wall of the nave BYLAND ABBEY. 255 is covered with luxuriant masses of ivy, flanked by slightly projecting, flat buttresses, and pierced by eleven single, round-headed lights, the arches resting on slender cylindrical pillars. The buttresses termi- nate in a corbel table, in a line with the tops of the windows. The transept has four similar windows in its northern end, and two each on its east and west sides. Not a single pillar in the interior of the church remains standing ; and six feet thick of rubbish, at least, covers the floor, hiding the tombs of the abbots, nobles, and warriors, who were buried beneath ; as we well know that many distinguished individuals, besides the founder, here found their last resting-place. In an excavation made in the transept, subsequent to the removal of the bones of the founder, the bases of the massive columns which had supported the central tower, were laid bare ; the high altar was uncovered ; and the slab on the top, 7ft. Sin. in length, and 3ft. Sin. in breadth, with the usual five crosses cut on the upper surface, was removed to Myton. A tesselated pave- ment, and the two steps leading to the altar, were also exposed ; but the rubbish has again fallen in, and hid them from view. One sepulchral stone yet remains, fractured and defaced : it has borne an effigy, probably that of an abbot, as the left hand appears to have held a staff or croiser, which has been surmounted by a canopy, adorned with crockets and finials. The outer angles have been ornamented with shields of arms ; but not a fragment of the inlaying brass now remains. 256 BYLAND ABBEY. A knowledge of the general arrangement of abbeys of this order, and a close attention to the broken lines of wall, marked as they are by higher mounds of weed-grown rubbish, aided a little by the imagination, and nearly the whole of the conventual buildings may be traced out. The cloisters, as at Fountains, have extended in a line south from the western end of the nave of the church. The quadrangle may be easily distinguished by its lower level ; the kitchen, by the remains of its fire-places, — to which the refectory was in close proximity. The abbot's house has been situ- ated at the south-east corner of the other conventual buildings. How much more interesting would this place be to the antiquary and tourist, were it cleared out, and preserved with the same care as the abbeys of Jervaux, Fountains, and Sawley ! The house for the entertainment of the poor, is supposed to have been on the west side of the road, in the orchard now belonging to the inn ; where a small window containing curious circular tracery yet remains, which may have been a chapel. The gateway, crossing the road from Byland to Kilburn, a few hundred yards west of the abbey, yet remains ; with some portions of the porter's lodge. Many of the cottages in the villages of Byland and Wass have evidently been erected from the spoils of the abbey ; and hewn and ornamented stones are to be seen in great profusion, in the fences and other places. A small stream of pure water, after running from the hills above Wass, flows round the site of the BYLAND ABBEY. 257 abbey, encircling it on three sides. The hills to the north are clothed in hanging woods, and present some fine pictures of mountain scenery. The immediate neighbourhood of By land presents many objects of interest and beauty ; among which may be reckoned Studfold Ring, on Ampleforth Moor, - — a remarkable British work ; Ampleforth College, Gilling Castle, Coxwold, — a village possessed of one of the most elegant parish churches in the kingdom, where the earls of Fauconberg are buried, and where their monuments, profusely adorned with sculpture, are to be seen ; Shandy Hall, for seven years the residence of Lawrence Sterne, the author of Tristram Shandy ; and Newburgh Park, the seat of Sir George Wombwell, Bart., — a delightful spot, surrounded by woods, waters, and ornamental grounds of the most beautiful kind. The mansion occupies the site and part of the buildings of a priory of Augustinian canons, founded by Hoger de Mowbray, in 1145. The famous historiam, William of Newburgh, was a canon in this house, and took his surname from it. The church belonging to this estab- lishment has been completely demolished ; though the foundations may yet be traced, not far from the fish ponds. What from the beauty of its scenery, its history and past associations, the neighbourhood of Byland abbey may rank among the most interesting places in the county. 258 |lttfaait;t %hhtQ. In the year 1181, was founded in the valley of the Eye, surrounded by wild moors, steep hills, and shaggy woods, the abbey of Rievale, or Rievaux. Sir Walter d' Espec, the founder, was a Norman warrior, of gigantic size and prowess, and one of the English commanders at the battle of the Standard. The domestic bereave- ment, related in the account of Kirkham Priory, was the cause of his founding three religious houses, — Warden, in Bedfordshire ; Kirkham, on the Derwent ; and Rievaux, on the Rye. At that time, the country around the site of the abbey, was an uncultivated wilderness and tangled wood, abounding more with wild animals than men. To this solitary place the monks retired, under the government of William, who was their first abbot, and at once proceeded with the erection of the monastery, which, like all those of the Cistercians, was dedicated to the virgin Mary. A remnant of the church erected by this abbot, is probably remaining in the lower part of the transept, which has formed the nave of the original church. William died in 1146, and was succeeded in the abbacy by Maurice ; during whose rule, Walter d' Espec, the founder, forsaking the world, in which he had played a most distinguished part, retired here, and ::il IjM i !|; P ■' 1 ■ '1 1 ! ii , ''%^M RIEVAUX ABBEY. 259 assumed the monastic habit, which he wore for tvfo years before his death. On the 9th of March, 1153, his remains were interred at the entrance of the chapter-house, of the pile which his munificence had contributed to raise. The next, and most distinguished abbot of Rievaux, was JElred, who was elected in 1160; he having previously been abbot of Revesby, which was a colony or offshoot from the parent abbey of Rievaux. He composed many historical pieces ; but is best known by his account of the battle of the Standard, fought in 1138. He died, January 12th, 1166, and was buried at Rievaux; where his tomb, richly adorned with gold and silver, was to be seen a a short time before the dissolution of the abbey. The abbey was endowed with landed property to the amount of fifty carucates ; of which nine were given by the founder, twelve by the crown, twelve b}^ Roger de Mowbray, and six by the bishops of Durham. There was also an extensive pasturage for upwards of 4000 sheep and cattle, in the neighbourhood, with free warren, and other privileges ; but it is singular that not one donation of a church or chapel occurs, so that their spiritual income must have been very small. The habit of the Cistercians was a white robe in the nature of a cassock, with a black scapular and hood ; their garment was girt with a girdle of wool. In the choir, they had a white cowl, and over it a hood, with a rochet hanging down before to the waist, and in a point behind to the calf of the leg ; and when they 260 RIEVAUX ABBEY. went abroad, they wore a cowl and a great hood, all black, which was also the choir habit. ''^ The abbot of E-ievaux was head of the Cistercian order in England, and not unfrequently complaints were brought, and causes judicially decided before him; and at the feast given by Nevill, archbishop of York, on his installation, in 1464, the abbot of Rievaux ranked fourth in the order of precedence at the table. After a succession of thirty-three abbots, and an existence of more than four hundred years, the abbey was surrendered by Richard de Blyton, and twenty- three monks, who received pensions to the amount of £165. 13s. 4d. per annum, of which sum the abbot received £66. 13s. 4d. The gross income, at that time, was £315. 14s. 6., and the net, £278. 10s. 2d. per annum. The plate of the church, 516 ounces in weight ; 100 fodder of lead ; and five bells, were also surrendered into the hands of the king's commissioners. The site was granted, in exchange, by Henry YIII., to Thomas, lord Ross, earl of Rutland, a descendant of the Espec family ; from whose family it came, by marriage, to the duke of Buckingham, and was sold by the trustees of George, the second duke, in 1695, to Sir Charles Buncombe, an ancestor of lord Feversham, the present owner. Among the nobility buried in this abbey, besides the founder, were Peter de Ros, Henry le Scrope, Sir John Malbys, knt., and Agnes, his wife, Thomas de Ros, Sir John de Ros, lady Mary Ros, and many others. * Fosbroke's Brit. Monach., chap. LIX. RIEVAUX ABBEY. 261 The ruins of the abbey are situate in a deep narrow valley, near the Rye, a rapid mountain stream, flowing from the picturesque valley of Bilsdale, and the bleak moors of Snilesworth. In the immediate neighbour- hood of the ruins, half a dozen lateral valleys open out their sides, and pour their babbling brooks into the Rye, thus presenting great variety of scenery ; and such are the windings of the main valley, that looking from the abbey, it appears on all sides surrounded by hills clothed in wood, rising to the level of the moors above ; the central point of a magnificent natural natural amphitheatre ; a grand framework of natural beauty enclosing a noble relic of ancient art. After passing the humble cottages of the hamlet of Rievaux, we enter the remains of the conventual church ; the nave has been destroyed down to the ground ; the outline of the foundations, however, may yet be traced, extending northward, into the garden of a cottage close by ; the steps of the grand entrance were dug up within the garden, not many years ago. The oldest remaining part of the church is the transept, which is perhaps coeval with the first foundation of the monastery ; the narrow, round-headed Norman windows, and coarser masonry, bearing unquestionable evidence of the period of its erection. The rest of the building is more modern, the arches pointed, and deeply moulded. A rather singular circumstance is, that the church, instead of standing east and west, the usual position, approaches more nearly to north and^ south, so that the choir is the south end, and the grand 262 RIEVAUX ABBEY. entrance of the nave has been on the north. This anomaly has been produced by the nature of the ground, the rapid rise of the hill precluding the exten- sion of the church in that direction ; and by adopting the present plan, the body of the old church was made to serve as the transept of the new. The whole length of the church was 343 feet ; the nave being 166 feet long, by 63 wide ; the transept, 118 feet in length, by 33 in breadth. The tower, of which a part yet remains, stood at the junction of the nave and transept. The best view of the choir is from a small hillock of rubbish, on the site of the nave ; whence, through the noble arch at the entrance, the whole series of clustered columns, and finely-moulded pointed arches, are unfolded before us ; the light grey hue of the unperishing stone, relieved by thick masses of ivy. The arch opening from the transept into the choir, is seventy-five feet high, and the circumference of each pillar, at the base, is thirty feet. The side aisles are divided from the centre by eight clustered columns on each side ; above, is the triforium arcade, consisting of fourteen arches on each side ; above which, is a passage along both sides of the choir, going past the windows. The staircases ascending to them are at the extreme corners of the choir ; the one at the south-east is now walled up ; the other is dark, owing to the masses of ivy having covered the windows. The clerestory windows are small lancet lights, four- teen on. each side, one bold arch enclosing every two of them. The centre spandrils of the treforium are RIEVAUX ABBEY. 263 adorned with quatrefoils in circles sunk in the stone* The brackets of the columns, rising from between the arches of the lower arcade, are adorned with foliage, finely carved, yet as fresh as when first cut. The out- side walls of the aisles are destroyed ; on the eastern side, two columns remain, with flying buttresses projecting against the wall of the clerestory. The southern end of the choir has six lancet lights — three and three, the upper tier adorned with clustered shafts and lozenge mouldings ; the aisles have each two smaller lancet lights, one above the other. When complete, with its windows of stained glass, and all the pompous furniture and ritual of the Romish church, it would present a scene most gorgeously magnificent ; even yet, it forms one of the most splendid ruins in Yorkshire. The transept has only one aisle, on the south, divided from the other by six clustered columns, the groining of the eastern bay yet remaining entire. Three tall lancet windows at the east, and as many at the west end, have given hght to this part of the church. The whole of the choir and transept was cleared in 1819, down to the floor ; when the bones of Henry le Scrope were exhumed from a stone cofiin, and again buried in Helmsley church yard. In 1821, near the high altar, was found part of a tesselated pavement, with the letters Jite Paria gl", wrought in it. It is now preserved in the circular temple at the south end of Duncombe terrace, arranged nearly as when found. Some fragments of stained glass were also found at the 264 RIEVAUX ABBEY. same time. The earliest mention of stained glass, at least, in the north of England, was in the possession of the monks of Rievaux, about the year 1140. A large slab of marble, nine feet in length, has probably formed part of an altar, but there are no crosses cut upon it, nor any other marks clearly indicating its former use. The quadrangle adjoins the side of the nave of the church, and a pent-house cloister is supposed to have run round it. It is quite evident that there have been buildings on the west and north sides, as six arches on the west remain, and ruins are to be seen in the orchard on the north. The refectory has been a noble room, one hundred and twenty-five feet in length, by thirty-seven in breadth, with three large lancet lights in the west, and eight others on the north, and as many on the south side. The entrance into the reader's desk has been on the north side, by a winding staircase, part of which yet remains. From this place, one of the novices used to read a portion of Scripture, in Latin, during dinner. The apartment beneath may have served as a store room. The kitchen (at least the room which now bears that name) is of but small dimensions, and does not appear to have been of adequate size for such a large establishment as this has been in its day of prosperity. The dormitory, in a line west from the transept of the church, has been of great extent, but is now a com- plete ruin ; such of the walls as are not broken down, being overgrown with thick masses of ivy, A round- RIEVAUX ABBEY. 265 headed doorway leads into a square court, on three sides of which are supposed to have been the apart- ments of the abbot ; but the walls are so broken down, and the floors so cumbered with rubbish, that it is impossible to discriminate the site of the apartments with accuracy. Beneath the windows of the refectory, towards the west, is a large heap of iron slag and cinders, shewing that iron has been smelted there, and that the bloomery has been in operation a long time. On a stone in the wall of a cowshed, adjoining the road, is inscribed, in very distinct characters, the ancient name of the abbey, S. Rievale. On the opposite side, is a small building, with a window of three lights on one side, and a small lancet light in the other ; which is supposed to have been the eleemosynary. Foundations of buildings may be traced in the fields, on the north of the abbey, to a great extent ; probably those of the stables and other necessary buildings. Situate on the edge of the hill, just above the abbey, is the celebrated Buncombe terrace, with its beautiful prospects and Grecian temples ; adorned by the pencil of the Italian artist, Bernici ; a most delightful spot. 266 i^Imskg Castle. " Helmsley, once proud Buckingham's delight/' with the wide and beautiful domains around it, is now the property of the right honourable lord Feversham, of Buncombe park, an elegant mansion in the imme- diate neighbourhood. Of the state of Helmsley, previous to the Norman conquest, we have no information. At the time of the Domesday survey, it was in the hands of three thanes, who had three and a half carucates of land to be taxed, and land for two ploughs. Shortly afterwards, the manor came into the possession of Walter d' Espec, founder of the abbey of Rievaux. On his death, without surviving issue, in the year 1138, his youngest sister, Adeline, having married Peter de Roos, carried the lordship of Helmsley to the Roos family. Robert de Roos, surnamed Fursan, built the castle of Helmsley, which, from its builder, was sometimes styled Fursan castle. The castle and estate continued in this family till the reign of Henry YIII., when Thomas, lord Roos, was created earl of Rutland. In the reign of James I., Catherine, only child and heiress of Francis, the sixth earl of Rutland, married George, the first duke of Buckingham, who was stabbed by Felton, in 1628, when the estate became vested in their eldest HELMSLEY CASTLE. 267 son, George Villars, best known for his life of dissipa- tion and extravagance ; and who, after a reckless libertine life, died a miserable death, in the neighbour- ing town of Kirby Moorside. From the trustees of this nobleman, the estate was purchased, in 1695, by Sir Charles Duncombe, knt., from whom is descended the present owner. The only historical event connected with this castle, is its siege by the forces of the parliament, in 1644. It was then well garrisoned, and commanded by colonel Jordan Crossland, a brave and determined cavalier. After the surrender of York, Sir Thomas Fairfax, with a strong force, formed the siege of this royahst stronghold. The place was boldly assaulted, and as bravely defended. In one of those attacks. Sir Thomas was shot through the shoulder with a musket ball, and removed soon afterwards to York in a very dangerous condition ; and it was for some time un- certain whether the wound would prove fatal or not. On the 12th of November, 1644, a party of the king's horse, from the garrisons of Skipton and Knares- borough, marched with the intention of raising the siege. They proceeded with great caution, until they reached the outworks of the besiegers, which they attacked with much resolution, and were received by the parliamentarians with equal intrepidity. After a short conflict, the royal troops gave way, and were pursued, by the besiegers, over Black Hambleton, who killed and wounded many, and took prisoners, one captain, five lieutenants, one cornet, one ensign, a 268 HELMSLEY CASfLE. quarter-master, and forty-four troopers; besides eighty horses, and a great quantity of provisions, &c. Lord Fairfax sent a party, under major Sanders, to make good the siege ; however, before their arrival, the besiegers had routed the assaiHng party ; and the siege was carried on with great vigour until the 21st of November, when the fortress surrendered on honourable terms : — " All the officers to march out with their arms ; all the amunition, ordnance, and arms, within the said castle, to be delivered up to the besiegers." In the castle, was found about 200 men, 9 pieces of ordnance, 300 muskets and pikes, 6 barrels of powder, and much money and plate. Many of the common soldiers joined the parliamentarians ; whereof, forty went directly to assist at the siege of Scarborough castle. Though not possessed of any great advantages of situation, like the neighbouring fortresses" of Scar- borough, Richmond, and Knaresborough, Helmsley castle, from its high and strong walls, deep ditches, and fortifications, in the ages before cannon and gun- powder came into use, was capable of opposing con- siderable resistance to an attacking force. The ruins are situated on a gentle eminence to the west of the town, the remains of the keep rising above the grove of trees by which it is surrounded. The main entrance has been on the south, through a square tower, about twenty feet wide ; the groove for the portcullis yet remains in the wall ; and apertures are HELMSLEY CASTLE. 269 yet to be seen in the arch above, for the purpose of throwing stones, boiHng pitch, or molten lead, upon the heads of an attacking party, which might have penetrated close to the gate. This tower has been flanked by circular projections, for the purpose of giving it additional strength. The outer moat has been both wide and deep, and was formerly filled by the waters of the river Rye. At a distance of twenty- seven yards from the outer, we come to the inner moat, which, like the other, has also contained water, and is about fifty feet wide and twenty deep. Many large trees are now growing on its sides, and add much to the pictorial effect of the ruins. The gateway into the inner court, or area of the castle, has also been defended by a portcullis, the groove on one side yet re- maining ; the greater part of this gate tower has, how- ever, disappeared. The keep, the earliest, highest, and strongest part of the building now remaining, occupies the north-east corner of the area, and is ninety-five feet in height ; the bartisans at the two angles on the western side, yet remain, with their battlements com- plete. This great tower has been about fourteen yards square ; the walls, perpendicular and quite plain. A staircase, at the north-west angle, is broken down ; the loop-holes in the lower stories have been approached from within, in an indirect manner, so that any missiles, or combustible matters thrown in, could not reach the interior of the building. There are five narrow windows on the western side, with arches slightly pointed on the outside, and more acutely within. The 270 HELMSLEY CASTLE. eastern side is completely down, huge fragments of it having fallen into the moat. It has consisted of three stories above the dungeon ; the second story appears to have been arched ; a fire-place yet remains on the north side. The whole of the outer walls on the east and north sides of the area have been destroyed, and the moats partly filled up. There has been an entrance into the castle on the north, as part of a bridge across the moat yet remains. On the western side, close to the moat, a range of buildings remains, in good preservation, — many of the windows being yet glazed, — and a large upper room is used as a court room for the manor of Helmsley, and the rent audits of Lord Feversham. The Elizabethan style of its architecture points it out as the last built portion of the castle ; and we may easily suppose that it was the place where the revelries of the voluptuous duke of Buckingham were carried on. The windows are square, mostly of three lights, divided by a transom ; on the western side are two fine oriels. Underneath the high, tower-like part of this building, is a subter- raneous passage, said by tradition to extend to Rievaux abbey. The lofty trees by which this remnant of feudal greatness is surrounded, give an air of solemnity and grandeur well suited to the scene. The town of Helmsley is but of small extent, yet neat, clean, and fairly built, with a few well preserved wood and plaster houses yet remaining. The church is nearly in the middle of the town, and is an ancient and respectable structure. In the chancel are menu- HELMSLEY CASTLE, 271 ments to the memory of the Duncombe family, lords Feversham. At a short distance from the town is Duncombe Park, the splendid seat of lord Feversham, situated amid scenery the most exquisitely beautiful, and adorned with gardens, conservatories, terraces, and temples. The house is enriched with many paintings, by the most celebrated masters. Among the sculpture, is the celebrated dog of Alcibiades, said to have been the work of Myron, the renowned Greek artist ; and the Discobolus, or quoit thrower, considered to be the best statue in England. All these treasures of art, and beauties of nature, are, through the liberality of the noble owner, thrown open to the gaze of the public. 272 ^itkring Castle. Pickering is a town of undoubted antiquity, and formerly of much more consequence than at present ; though now the hand of improvement is manifestly at work, and its means of easy communication by railway promises to restore to it some of its former importance. Stow, in his summary of English chronicles, says it was built 270 years before Christ, by Peredurus, a king of the Britons, who reigned for seven years, con- jointly with his brother Vigenius, and after his death, ten years alone, when " he builded the towne of Picke- ring." The name is said to have been derived from an accident which befel some king, probably the builder, who lost a ring while bathing in the river Costa, a little below the town, and which was afterwards found in the belly of a pike caught in the same water ; hence the name Pike-ring, or Pickering. In the time of Edward the Confessor, Pickering was in the possession of Morcar, earl of Northumberland. To whom it was given after the Conquest is uncertain ; nor does its name occur in any known record till the 32nd of Henry III., when William, lord Dacre, was appointed sheriff of Yorkshire, and had assigned to him the custody of Pickering castle ; which, seven years afterwards, was committed to the care of William PICKERING CASTLE. 273 Latimer ; after which, the king gave it, with the lord- ship, to his son Edmund ; and, accordingly, at his death, it is reckoned among the other estates of that prince, by the names of the manor, castle, and forest of Pickering. He obtained, 19th of Edward I., a charter for a fair every year, upon the eve, day, and morrow after the exaltation of the holy cross, at this his manor of Pickering ; and left it so privileged to his son and heir, Thomas, earl of Lancaster ; who, in the reign of Edward IL, placed himself at the head of the confederacy against Piers de Gavestone. He having afterwards forfeited his life and estate, Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, was made governor of Picker- ing castle. But king Edward being deposed, Henry, brother and heir to the before-mentioned Thomas, ear! of Lancaster, obtained an act of parliament, reversing his brother's attainder, and thereby repossessed all his estates and honours. At his death he bequeathed them to his son Henry, who left only two daughters, Maud and Blanch. Upon the divison of his estates, this castle and manor fell to the latter, then wife of John of Gaunt, earl of Bichmond, and afterwards in her right duke of Lancaster. Richard H. was for some time imprisoned here, before his removal to Pontefract, as appears by the following lines, from Hardyng's chronicle ; — " The kyng then sent kyng Richard to Ledes, There to be kepte surely in privitee, Fro thens after to Pykering went he needis, And to Knaresborongh after led was hee, Jjiit to Pountefrete last, where he did dee." 274 PICKERING CASTLE. In the reign of queen Elizabeth, this castle was possessed by the crown. King James I., January 10th 1615, demised the castle and manor of Pickering to Sir Francis Bacon and others, for ninety-nine years, from Michaelmas before the date, in trust for his highness Charles, then prince of Wales, afterwards king Charles I. ; who directed the said trustees to assign the remainder of the term to other persons, in trust for his queen Henrietta Maria, for her life ; which term was afterward assigned to other trustees, in trust for Catherine, late queen dowager of England, for her life ; and after her death, in trust for king James II., his heirs and successors. King WiUiam III., May 18th, 1697, demised to Abel Tyson, the castle and manor of Pickering, with all its appurtenances, &c., to hold from the death of the said queen dowager, for the remainder of the term of ninety- nine years. The reversion was afterwards purchased by — Hart, Esq. ; it is now in possession of the family of Hill, of Thornton, near Pickering. At what time, or by whom Pickering castle was built is unknown. Leland gives the following account of its state and situation in his time. "The castle standeth at the end of the town, not far from the parish church, on the brow of the hill, under which runneth the brook. In the first court are four towers, one of which is called Rosamond's tower. In the inner court are also four towers, whereof the keep is one. The castle walls and towers are very neat. The lodg- ings in the inner court are of timber, and in ruin. In PICKERING CASTLE. 275 the inner court is a chapel, which has a chantry priest. The castle hath of a good continuance, with the town and lordship longed to the Lancaster blood. But who built the castle, or was the owner of it before the Lancasters, I could not learn. The castle walls now remaining seem not to be very ancient. I remember to have heard that Richard III. lay sometime in this and sometime in Scardeburg castle." The castle stands at the north-western extremity of the town, at the end of the street called Castlegate, in an elevated position. The exterior is not prepos- sessing, or suited for pictorial effect, merely present- ing a blank wall, with towers a little higher at intervals. The entrance is on the south, through what has been the gate tower ; but the great archway is now walled up, and a modern door- way substituted. Tradition says this was the place of execution of malefactors taken within the limits of Pickering forest. It is only after we have passed through this tower that we have any idea of the castle. It has consisted of a keep and inner gate tower, surrounded by a deep and wide ditch ; an outer court, or baily, surrounded by a strong high wall, further strengthened by towers at intervals, four of which yet remain. The area, enclosed by the walls, is three acres in extent ; a small portion occu- pied as a garden, the rest as pasturage. It is of a circular or oval form, terminating in a right angle at the south-west. The height of the outer wall may be about twenty feet, in some places more, in others less. The gate tower is a ruin, a great part of it removed. 276 PICKERING CASTLE. Rosamond's tower,* on the south-east, is nearly com- plete, and three stories in height ; the lowest of which is not unlike a dungeon ; the two upper rooms are about eleven feet by eight feet, and occupy the whole area of the tower ; each of them has had a fire-place, and a convenience ; the latter approached by a narrow passage in the thickness of the wall ; the topmost room has had a window of two lights divided by a transom. A winding staircase, yet complete, leads to the top of the tower. The tower to the north is called the Devil tower ; it stands close to the moat which has enclosed the keep, and is in a ruinous condition ; it appears to have been of similar dimensions with the last. In a curve of the wall, on the north-west, is the site of the chapel, marked by a recess in the wall, with a circular arch. Near it, is the court house, a little, plain, modern building, where the courts for the honor of Pickering are held twice in the year. At the south- western corner, is the Mill tower, of similar dimensions internally as the others, but much higher, owning to the hill, on which the castle stands, falling away at this point. The outer wall and towers appear to be all of one age, and are of limestone, similar to the rock on which they stand. The moat enclosing the inner court has been an extensive work ; but, judging from its situation, and the nature of the rock in which it is cut, it can never have held much water ; part of it is now nearly filled up with rubbish, and the re- * So named from a ti'adition that Fair Eosamond Clifford, the beautiful mistress of Henry II., was a prisoner in it. PICKERING CASTLE. 277 mainder thickly overgrown and shaded with trees. At the end nearest the Devil tower, appears the head of an arch, which may have formed the entrance of a sally port. The keep, which is evidently the oldest part of the building, is of a circular form, and stands upon a lofty artificial mound, like a very large tumulus ; the materials of which, we might suppose to have been cast out of the moa.t. The area at the top is about twenty yards in diameter. The walls are of rude masonry, and crumbling down from the effects of time and violence. The windows, in the basement story, which is all that remains, have been mere loop holes, or arrow slits, not more than two inches wide. The tower at the foot of the hill, on which the keep stands, is also in a very dilapidated condition. From the hill on which the keep stands, some fine views of the country, to the westward, may be obtained. Deep below the castle walls, in a narrow valley, runs Picker- ing beck, and the railway to Whitby. On the west side of this valley, on the crest of the hill, directly opposite the castle, and half a mile distant, are two or three small green mounds, evidently of artificial formation, which is said to be the place where the battery was planted by Oliver Cromwell when he destroyed the castle. Although we have no authentic account of the siege, it is not improbable that its walls might be shattered by parliamentarian cannon. Henderwell says,* "when it was besieged by the parliament's forces, a large breach was made on the west side of it ; * History of Scarborough, p. 350. 278 PICKERING CASTLE, and after it was taken, great quantities of papers and parchments, several of which had gilt letters on them, were scattered about the street called Castlegate, and picked up by the children attracted by the glittering leaves." The town of Pickering is pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, rising above the flat marishes which border the Derwent ; by the side of a large brook called Pickering beck, which runs from the north, and joins the river Costa a little below the town. The market is on a Monday, which, since the improved railway communication was opened, is in a thriving state. This town was represented in parliament, 23rd of Edward I., when Eobert Turcock was returned ; but this privilege was withdrawn, or discontinued, in the same reign. There was, formerly, a park attached to the castle, seven miles in circuit ; it is now disparked and cultivated. The church is a large and venerable structure, with a tall spire. It does not contain many ancient monu- ments, although one or two mutilated fragments are worthy of attention. During some necessary repairs in the chancel, in 1853, the accidental displacement of a portion of the whitewash which had accumulated on the walls, revealed part of a painted surface, which led to the displacement of more, until at length several beautiful paintings were unfolded from the darkness which had shrouded them for centuries. The figures PICKERlNa CASTLE. 279 were life size, and finely drawn ; the colours, fresh and brilliant as when first laid on. Two of the subjects were, the " Last Supper,'^ and the " Crucifixion." They were visited by hundreds, and were for some time open to the inspection of the curious ; until the vicar refused to preach any longer in the church, unless they were again hidden beneath a coat of whitewash ; when, to gratify his own ortliodox scruples, they were again consigned to the darkness from which they had been accidentally brought. Pickering is eighteen miles from Scarborough, nine from Malton, and eight from Kirby Moorside, and accessible, by railway, from all parts of the kingdom. 280 )tarlj0imxg^ Castk. This castle, once the strength and yet the ornament of Scarborough, was built in the reign of king Stephen, about the year 1136, by William le Gros, earl of Albe- marle and Holderness ; who seeing the advantageous situation, obtained permission of the king to build a castle on the sea-coast. And no place could be better adapted for strength and security ; for with very little assistance from art, it was in that age absolutely im- pregnable ; projecting into, and surrounded by the sea on three sides, rising above its level to a height of three hundred feet ; nothing more was needed on that side. On the side nearest the town he erected a lofty tower, and embattled wall ; thus rendering himself secure against all attacks. William le Gros was one of the principal com- manders at the battle of the Standard, fought near Northallerton, August 22nd, 1138, in which David, king of Scotland, and a large army, were completely defeated. King Henry XL, in order to reduce the exorbitant power of the nobles, commanded all the castles erected in the preceding reign to be demolished, and came into the north to see his orders carried into execution ; b\it Scarborough castle, from its formidable situation, SCARBOROUGH CASTLE. 281 appeared so great a defence to the sea-coast, that he not only preserved it from destruction, but improved it in strength and magnificence. The earl deeply resented the loss of his castle, and even took arms to revenge the injury ; but this only added to his misfortunes, for Henry was an active and skilful general, as well as a wise and politic prince ; so that the earl was soon obliged to sue for pardon, which he obtained through the intercession of the archbishop of York. He was, however, so much affected by this sudden reverse of fortune, that he retired from public life, to a seques- tered retreat, at Thornton, in Lincolnshire, where he died, in 1179, and was buried in the abbey at that place, which he had founded and liberally endowed. The castle continued in possession of the crown, and was generally governed by some distinguished noble- man, its situation on the sea-coast rendering it a fortress of great importance. King Edward I., one of the most distinguished sovereigns that ever swayed the British sceptre, re- sided some time in this castle, with a large and noble retinue. Piers Gaveston, the favourite of king Edward II., having excited the resentment of the English barons, they formed a powerful conspiracy against him. Thomas, earl of Lancaster, chief of the party, suddenly raised an army and marched to York ; arrived there, he found the king removed with the favourite to New- castle. He hastened thither in pursuit of them, and Edward had just time to escape to Tynemouth, where 282 SCARBOROUGH CASTLE. he embarked and sailed with Gaveston to Scarborough. He immediately appointed Gaveston governor of the castle, then esteemed one of the strongest fortresses in the kingdom. The earl of Pembroke was sent by the confederated nobles with a considerable force to be- siege the castle. Gaveston with great bravery repulsed several attacks ; but all communication with the king being interrupted, and the provisions of the garrison exhausted, he was obliged to capitulate, and surrender himself prisoner. The conditions he had stipulated with Pembroke were totally disregarded ; he was con- ducted to Dedington castle, near Banbury, where he was seized by the earl of Warwick, and beheaded, June 20th, 1312. In 1482, king Richard III., with Ann his queen, visited Scarborough, and resided some time in the castle. This much maligned monarch was very liberal to the town, not only adding to its security by a wall and bulwarks, but also granted a charter with more ex- tensive privileges than those of any of his predecessors. During the Pilgrimage of Grace, in 1536, a detach- ment of the fanatical army, under the command of Sir Robert Aske, besieged Scarborough castle. Sir Ralph Evers was then governor. The garrison was incon- siderable, consisting principally of the tenants and servants of the governor, and a few volunteers, who were attached to him from motives of personal esteem. They were destitute of military stores, and in such want of provisions that they were under the necessity of sustaining themselves for twenty days on bread and SCARBOROUGH CASTLE. 283 water ; yet from the great natural strength of the castle, and the skill and intrepidity of the governor, the assailants were obliged to abandon the enterprise with confusion and disgrace. In 1557, Thomas Stafford, second son of lord Stafford, bj a bold stratagem obtained possession of the castle. Returning from France with some English fugitives, he adroitly surprised the garrison in the following manner : Having previously arranged his plan, he disguised his little troop in the habits of peasants and countrymen, and entered the town on a market day, under the most unsuspicious appearances. He gained an easy admittance into the castle, and strolled about with a careless air, apparently to gratify his curiosity. About thirty of his men entered without the least suspicion, and embracing a favourable oppor- tunity, instantly secured the different sentinels, took possession of the gate, and admitted their remaining companions, who under their exterior garb of country- men had concealed arms. But the triumph of Stafford was of short duration, and the success of his enterprise was the cause of his death ; for he had retained posses- sion only three dsijs, when the earl of Westmorland, with a considerable force, recovered the castle without loss. Stafford, captain Saunders, and three others of the leaders, were taken prisoners, conducted to London, and confined in the tower. They were afterwards tried, and being convicted of high treason, Stafford, on account of his quality, w^as beheaded, and three of his associates, Strelly, Bradford, and Procter, were hanged, 284 SCARBOROUGH CASTLE, drawn, and quartered. From the suddenness of this surprise arose the expression, "A Scarborough warning, a word and a blow, and the blow comes first." The next, and most important historical event con- nected with Scarborough castle, is its siege and capture by the forces of the parliament, during the great civil war. Sir Hugh Cholmley, having deserted the cause of the parliament, received a commisson, in March 1643, to hold Scarborough castle for the king, and persuaded part of the garrison to assist him in his design, and had apparently succeeded in his object ; when, on the last day of March, it was surprised and taken, by captain Brown Bushell, for the parliament. The fortress thus changed hands twice in the course of one week, without the shedding of one drop of blood. Captain Bushell, however, turned traitor, admitted Sir Hugh Cholmley, the former governor, and the castle was again held for the king. Sir William Constable was first ordered to form the siege of the castle, by lord Fairfax ; but making little progress in the under- taking. Sir John Meldrum, a Scottish soldier of fortune, who had lately distinguished himself in the defence of Hull, was sent down by parliament to undertake the siege. On the 18th of February, 1643, the town, with the church of St. Mary, was taken by assault, and Sir Hugh Cholmley, the governor, retired into the castle. The parliamentarians took in the town and church thirty-two pieces of cannon, with a great quantity of arms and ammunition, and one hundred and twenty ships in the harbour. After this success, Sir John SCARBOROUGH CASTLE. 285 Meldrum regularly invested the castle, and having made a lodgment in the church, opened a battery from the east window. The garrison, at the same time, kept up an incessant and well directed fire, by which the choir was demolished ; the ruins at the eastern part of the church yard are a monument of this de- struction. On the 17th of May, 1645, the parliament- arians made a general assault on the castle, but were repulsed with great loss ; several of their best officers were killed, and their commander, Sir John Meldrum, received a mortal wound, of which he died on the 3rd of June. Sir Matthew Boynton was appointed by parliament to succeed Sir John Meldrum, and brought a strong reinforcement to the siege, which was continued with unremitted vigour, till July 22nd, 1645 ; when the fortifications being ruined by incessant battering, the stores nearly exhausted, and the garrison worn out with excessive fatigue and sickness, and entirely dis- pirited, the governor seeing no prospect of relief, after having defended the castle for more than twelve months, surrendered it on honourable terms. The garrison was greatly reduced in number by the scurvy, which had caused a dreadful mortality. Many of the soldiers that remained were in so weak a condition, that some were carried out in sheets, others were supported by two, and the rest were unfit to march. Colonel Boynton, the successor of Sir Matthew, having declared for the king, the castle once more came into the hands of the royalists ; but the garrison 286 SCARBOROUGH CASTLE. growing mutinous, the colonel was obliged to capitu- late, and on the 19th of December, 1648, the fortress was again surrendered to the parliament, and taken possession of, in their name, by colonel Bethel. In 1665 — 6, Sir Jordan Crossland was governor of the castle ; at which time, it was fully garrisoned. At this period, George Fox, founder of the society of Friends, was imprisoned in the castle above twelve months, on account of his religious opinions. The lofty promontory on which the castle stands, presents on the north, east, and south, a vast sweep of craggy perpendicular rocks, totally inaccessible ; the western aspect is bold and majestic ; a high, steep, and rocky slope, thinly covered with verdure, com- mands the town and bay by its superior elevation. The first approach to the castle, is by a gateway on the summit of a high and narrow isthmus, on the western side, above the town. Within this gate, the north and south walls of the castle form an angular projection ; at the western point of which, without the walls, is an outwork on an eminence, where was a battery during the siege of the castle, in 1 644. This entrance, called the barbacan, was without the ditch, which, immediately within, was crossed by a draw-bridge, and formed the only entrance into the castle. The draw-bridge is now removed, and its place supplied with an arch of stone ; beneath which, is the ditch, a deep and perpendicular fosse, which extends southward almost to the beach. Ascending a narrow pass, we come to the great tower, the oldest SCARBOROUGH CASTLE, 287 part of the building, in the Anglo-Norman style of architecture, of a square form, and ninety-seven feet in height. The walls are twelve feet in thickness, cemented with mortar as hard and durable as stone itself. There have been three stories, or very lofty rooms, one over another, each room between twenty and thirty feet high, and thirty feet square, within the walls, with recesses. The remains of a large fire-place are visible in the lower apartment. The subterraneous room, or dungeon, is nearly filled up with stones and earth. The difi'erent stories have been vaulted with strong arches, and private passages are visible in some of the apartments, within the thickness of the wall. The windows have semicircular arches, and are larger than is usually found in such buildings, being six feet high and three feet wide. The area of the ballium, in which this tower stands, is more than half an acre, and is divided from the interior part of the castle field by a ditch and mound, surmounted with a wall. The gateway, placed between two towers, has evidently been machicolated ; the approach to it, by the narrow isthmus, was also flanked by numerous turrets. In the ballium, were situate most of the habitable buildings belonging to the castle ; and adjoining to it, were the towers mentioned by Leland. The embattled wall, which has defended and adorned the summit of the hill on the western side, is flanked and strengthened by numerous semicircular towers, with narrow openings, whence the defenders discharged arrows and other missiles. This wall is 288 SCARBOROUGH CASTLE. hastening to decay, and exhibits Httle more than a scene of venerable ruin. The whole area enclosed between the wall and the sea is upwards of nineteen acres, forming, as Leland says, " a grete green," and gently sloping about twenty feet from the north to the south side. In this field, is a battery fronting the open sea ; another at the southern extremity, and another a little way down the cliJBF on the northern side. Under an arched vault, near the ruins of the ancient chapel, is a reservoir of water, called the Lady's Well. This reservoir, when full, contains about forty tons of water, which is transparent, and of excellent quality. In turning from these mouldering remains of antiquity, the eye is relieved, and the mind exhilarated by the charms of the surrounding prospect. The diversified aspect of the adjacent country, the romantic appearance of the town, the sands enlivened by moving throngs, and the unbounded view of the ocean, form an assemblage, beautiful and interesting beyond conception. "Scarborough is readily admitted to be supreme among northern watering places. No situation on the Yorkshire coast offers the same combination of pictur- esque cliffs, convenient accesses, comfortable dwellings, amusements for invalids, and motives of exercise to the more robust, along pleasant sands, among ancient fortifications, over prominent hills, or through woody valleys." * The country near Scarborough is richly diversified with hills and dales, exhibiting great variety * Phillips' Rivers, Mountains, and Sea Coast of Yorkshire. SCARBOROUGH CASTLE. - 289 of scenery. Towards the north, elevated moors of con- siderable extent raise their bleak and barren summits. To the south and south-west, the wolds present another grand and extensive line of boundary. Oliver's Mount, little more than a mile from the town, possesses every requisite that can render an excursion to the summit delightful ; the ascent is easy, and when on the top, the tourist finds himself on one of the most delightful terraces in England, elevated five hundred feet above the level of the sea ; from which commanding eminence there is a magnificent view of the castle hill, the town, the harbour, the piers, and the ocean, bounded only by the horizon ; and in the western prospect, the moors, the wolds, and the extensive valley stretching out towards Pickering and Malton, exhibit a highly diver- sified scenery. " Nature here Exhausted all her powers. For site she gave A mountain, neighbour to the moon ; for walls, ' A pensile cliff, whence down the boldest eye With dizzy horror looks ; for moat th' abyss Of boundless ocean, spiked with guardian rocks : Then decked the mountain top, a spacious mead, With ever verdant robes." 290 wijitbj) tijH>- This abbey, which was called at its first foundation the abbey of Streoneshalh, was situated on a bleak eminence rising above the German ocean, and over- looking the town and port of Whitby. The monastery was founded in consequence of a vow made by Oswy, king of ISTorthumbria, when about to engage the more numerous forces of Penda, the pagan king of Mercia ; having endeavoured in vain by prayers and entreaties to persuade the invader to withdraw his army he determined to fight, and vowed if he came off victorious to dedicate his infant daughter to God, and give twelve farms to build monasteries. He was successful in the battle, and routed the Mercian army with great slaughter ; Penda, and many of his chief commanders being slain in the fight. In fulfilment of his vow, Oswy gave his daughter Ethel- fleda, then scarcely a year old, into the care of the celebrated Lady Hilda, to be dedicated to God in per- petual virginity ; also twelve small portions of land, each containing ten families, on which to build monas- teries. One of these portions was situate at Whitby, then called Streoneshalh, and the foundation of a convent for monks and nuns of the Benedictine order was laid. The buildings were begun in the year 657 ; WHITBY ABBEY. 291 and though really founded and endowed by Oswy, the honour of the foundation was ascribed to St. Hilda, and the monastery was always called by her name, — a proof of the veneration in which she was held by the people. While lady Hilda was abbess, the famous synod of Whitby was held, A.D. 664, for fixing the time of the celebration of Easter, which, notwithstanding her oppo- sition, and that of the venerable Colman, bishop of Northumbria, was determined in favour of the Roman custom, chiefly through the eloquence of Wilfrid, sub- sequently archbishop of York, Of the number of those who were educated for the ministry in this monastery we may form some idea, from the fact, that six of them were accounted worthy of the episcopal dignity : Bosa, John of Beverley, and Wilfrid II. archbishops of York ; Hedda, bishop of Wessex, and Tatfrid and Oftsor, bishops of Worcester, This abbey had also the honour of producing the father of English poetry, the famous Coedmon, who was here divinely inspired with the gift of song. In the year 680, the lady Hilda died at the age of sixty-six, and was succeeded in the abbacy by the princess Ethelfleda, who ruled the monastery until she was sixty years of age, and then, says the venerable Bide,''^ " departed to the nuptials and embrace of her heavenly bridegroom.^^ In the same monastery she and her father Oswy, her mother Eanfleda, her mother's father Edwin, and many other noble persons, * Eccle. Hist. Book VI. Chap. 24. 292 WHITBY ABBEY. were buried in the church of the holy apostle Peter. This monastery continued in a flourishing state till about the year 867, when an army of Danes under the command of the brothers Hinguar and Hubba, landed at Dunsley Bay, and thence, spreading over the country, plundered and laid waste the monastery of Whitby, and drove away its inmates. For more than two hundred years the place lay in ruins, neglected, and almost forgotten. After the Conquest, the district in which it was situate came into the possession of William de Percy, one of the Norman nobility, when the abbey was refounded in the follow- ing manner : Reinfred, who had formerly been a soldier under the Conqueror, having become a monk at Evesham, set out from that monastery with two companions, to revive monastic institutions in the devastated kingdom of Northumbria. After continuing some time at Newcastle-on-Tyne, then called Monk- chester, they removed to Jarrow, and took up their abode among the ruins of its ancient abbey. Here their numbers began to increase, and they then pro- ceeded to establish themselves in diiferent quarters. Keinfred, with a few associates from among them, departed for Whitby, to revive the desecrated monas- tery of St. Hilda. He came to William de Percy, and from him had an honourable reception, and the gift of the old monastery, with two carucates of land in Whitby in perpetual alms. Reinfred assumed the title of prior, and the establishment began to prosper under his management ; when he met with his death AVHITBY ABBEY. 293 by an accident while travelling on the business of his monastery. Coming to the place called Ormsbridge, where some workmen were constructing a bridge across the Derwent, he alighted from his horse to assist them, when a beam fell upon him, fractured his skull, and he immediately expired. He was buried in the church of Hackness, opposite the altar. Keinfred was succeeded by Stephen of Whitby, who appears by some means to have displeased the patron, William de Percy, who drove away the prior and some of the brethren. Stephen fled to Lastingham, and afterwards to York, where he founded the celebrated abbey of St. Mary. Serlo, brother of William de Percy, was the next prior ; during whose time " great tribula- tion and distress fell upon the brethren ; for there came robbers and plundered by day and by night, from the woods and from the hiding places where they lurked, and plundered all their substance, and laid waste that holy place.'^ The monks retired to Hack- ness, but soon returned to Whitby, where Serlo died about the year 1100. The Conqueror granted to this priory all such liber- ties and customs as could then be granted by the royal power to any other .church, and also exempted the monks and their homagers from all tolls throughout his dominions. Serlo was succeeded in the government of the house by his nephew, William de Percy, son of a brother of the lord of the manor ; he obtained the title of abbot, and governed successfully for twenty years, during 294 WHITBY ABBEY. which period the wealth of the estabhshment rapidly increased, chiefly through the liberality of his relation, Alan de Percy, and others ; so much so, that the whole of the district called Whitby Strand, came into the possession of the monks. Similar privileges to those possessed by the churches of Ripon and Beverley were given to this monastery, by king Henry I., when it was raised to the dignity of an abbey. William de Percy, the second founder, died in the Holy Land, near Jerusalem ; but his body was brought over to England, and interred in Whitby abbey. Henry II. granted to the monks a fair at Whitby, to be holden on St. Hilda's day, together with security to all going and returning from the same. He also gave the church of All Saints', Fishergate, in York, with the same privileges that the men of St. Peter's and St. Cuthbert's had there : as also exclusive jurisdiction in all the woods and forests belonging to the abbey, and into which the king's bailifls were debarred from entering. Archbishop Thurstan exempted the church of Whitby from the payment of synodals, and also the cells of Fishergate and Middlesborough from all episcopal dues and customs. The abbot of Whitby was a spiritual baron, but had no seat in parliament.'" ' Cells at Hackness, Middlesborough, Goatland, and All Saints', Fishergate, York, were dependant on this * Robert de Langtoft, and William de Kirkham, were the only abbots of Whitby ever summoned to parliament. WHITBY ABBEY. 295 liouse ; as were also hermitages at Eskdaleside, Mul- grave, Saltburn, Hood, and Westcroft ; and no fewer than twenty-seven churclies were appropriated to it. This monastery continued to flourish in great wealth and splendour until the general dissolution ; when, on the 14th of December, 1539, Henry De Vail, the abbot, and eighteen monks, surrendered it into the hands of the king's commissioners ; when the yearly revenue was stated to be £505. 9s. Id. gross, and £437. 2s. net. After the surrender the church was stripped of all its furniture, plate, bells,t and ornaments ; the lead and timber were taken from the roof, and sold ; and nothing left but the naked walls, a mere skeleton of its former grandeur, to crumble into ruin, beneath the slow, but certain progress of time, or the more destruc- tive rage of the elements. The site of the abbey was granted, 4th of Edward VI., to John, earl of Warwick, by whom, in 1551, it was sold to Sir Edward Yorke, and in the 1st of Philip and Mary, was sold by him to Sir Hugh Cholmley, Knt. The family of Cholmley has produced several persons eminent both in peace and war. Among which was Sir Hugh Cholmley, who, in the great civil war of the seventeenth century, bravely defended the castle of Scarborough for twelve months against a parliament- arian army ; during the whole of which siege, his lady t Tradition says, that the ship which was appointed to convey the bells to London sunk, with its sacrilegious cargo, outside of Whitby rock, where it yet remains. ^ 296 WHITBY ABBEY. remained with him in the castle, attending to the sick and wounded. Sir Hugh and his family afterwards went into exile ; his estates were sequestered, his mansion at Whitby converted into a garrison, and plundered of everything valuable, by the troops of the parliament. He continued in exile till 1649, when his brother, Sir Henry Cholmley, found means to appease the parliament, and he was permitted to return to England. George Cholmley, Esq., of Howsham Hall, is the present proprietor of the site of the abbey, and lord of the manor of Whitby. This venerable ruin stands in an exposed situation on a high cliff, on the east side of the town which it overlooks. The eminence on which it is seated, is steep towards the town, but declines very gently towards the south-w^est. It is at least eighty yards above the level of the sea, from which it is about a quarter of a mile distant. The prospect, from this spot, is uncommony fine, embracing the town and harbour of Whitby, the castle and woods of Mulgrave, the sea, with its fleets of passing merchantmen, the majestic cliffs, the romantic valley of the Eske, over Ruswarp and Sleights, as far as Grosmont ; the vale of Iburndale, and a country highly picturesque and inter- esting, with the frowning heights of the bleak moors rising in the distant horizon. The offices of the monastery have been taken dov/n, and Whitby hall was built out of the materials, and is supposed to occupy the site of the abbot's house. WHITBY ABBEY. 297 The remains now standing, are those of the church, from which it is easy to see, that when complete, it has been a most magnificent structure. It has been of the usual cruciform shape, having a nave and choir, with aisles, transept with aisle, and a lofty tower at the intersection. The choir remains, with the exception of the south aisle, the north transept, nearly entire, and considerable portions of the north wall of the nave, the grand entrance, and part of the western front. The whole of the southern side of the fabric is in ruins. The tower, which was 104 feet in height, supported by four grand, massive, clustered columns, fell, with a tremendous crash, about one o'clock on Friday, June 25th, 1830. There was no storm at the time, but it had for years previously exhibited symp- toms of rapid decay. In the furious storm of January, 1839, an arch and pillar, on the south side of the choir, fell down. The south wall of the nave was overthrown by a violent storm of wind, December 2nd, 1763 ; it also suffered severely from violent gales, in May, 1804. No traces of the original Saxon church, founded by St. Hilda, can be discovered, nor even of the Anglo- Norman edifice, erected under the auspices of William de Percy, the second founder. The oldest part re- maining, is the chancel, which is in the lancet, or early English style, to which type the whole building some- what assimilates. The eastern front is yet of the full height, lighted by six lancet windows in two tiers, with others of smaller dimensions above, which have lighted 298 WHITBY ABBEY. the roof ; their sides are deeply moulded, and adorned with columns, zigzag, and tooth ornaments. The side aisles are divided from the centre by seven pointed arches, resting on six lofty clustered columns, above which are the triforium and clerestory arcades, yet in a tolerable state of preservation. The groining of the north aisle is yet complete, with the exception of one bay, which has fallen. The keystones, or centre bosses of the groins, are finely sculptured, and different from each other ; one bears a lion rampant, another a ram a third a dragon with a long coiled tail, another a mass of elaborately-carved foliage, and only one is moulded like the ribs of the groin. The north transept jet remains nearly perfect, and is of a later style, approaching the decorated ; it has only had one aisle on the east side; the west and north walls are adorned with a trefoil headed arcade. The front of this transept is yet entire, lighted by three tiers of lancet windows, with a circular window, or Catherine wheel, lighting the roof; at the corners, are two octagonal crocketed turrets ; that at the north-west corner is reached by a winding stone staircase from the corner of the transept below, which, with the exception of a few steps at the bottom, is yet perfect. On the north pillar of this transept, is part of an inscription, now in a mutilated state, and nearly illegible, but is said, when complete, to have been as follows : — Jo/mnes de Brumton quondam famulus Dei in hoc Monasterio ewtructo in honorem Dei Virginis bcatce Marie, — i. e. John of Brompton, formerly a servant of God in his WHITBY ABBEY. 299 monastery, built this in honour of God and the blessed virgin Mary.''' About the year 1740, an illiterate man, not understanding the meaning of the words, conceived that it contained an account of some treasure concealed in the pillar ; to obtain which, he went privately in the night and knocked out the centre stone, but, to his great disappointment, met with no money. The centre stone is yet wanting, which makes it impossible to read the inscription. Two of the columns which supported the tower yet remain ; they are very massive, consisting of sixteen clustered columns. The south transept, which is a mass of un- distinguishable ruin, has probably corresponded to the north. Seven columns and eight arches have divided the nave from the side aisles, but they are all prostrate. The architecture of the western part of the nave is in another style, and seems to have been the latest part of the building. The whole of the western front has fallen, to just above the great doorway. There has also been an entrance on the north side. The walls are of two different kinds of stone — one white, the other brown ; the former, in the older part of the building, has withstood " the wasting sea breeze keen/' much better than the brown in the newer portions. The whole fabric is much wasted by time, the damp sea air, and the tempests, to which, from its lofty * Old Gent, the famous printer and author of York, in the appendix to his History of Eome, gives this inscription thus : — Johannes de Brumton, quondam famulus Domino De la Phe, has columnas erexit in metum et honorera beatse Marias. — John of Brumton, formerly servant to Lord De la Phe, erected these pillars in reference and honour of the blessed Mary. 300 WHITBY ABBEY. situation, it is constantly exposed. Though it yet stands, beautiful in ruin, interesting alike to the artist and antiquary ; no repairs can long keep it up ; a few more years, a few more storms, and Whitby abbey will be crumbled to a pile of shapeless ruin, and be numbered among the things which once were. 301 tMgrate Castle. The remains of this castle are situated on a lofty ridge of land in the Mulgrave woods, about four miles north-west of Whitby, and are the property of the Marquis of Normanby. Here, we are told, was a castle 200 years before the Norman conquest, which belonged to Wade, or Wada, a Saxon. " He was one of the principal conspirators who murdered Ethelred, king of Northumbria ; and afterwards joining the confederates with what forces he could raise, gave battle to his successor, Ardulph, at Whalley, in Lancashire ; but with such ill fortune, that his army was routed, and himself obliged to make a precipitate flight. He fortified his castle at Mulgrave, with an intention to defend himself, but being seized with a distemper, death soon terminated his mortal existence." ^'"^ * Hikdekwell's Hist, of Scarborough, p. 307. " This duke Wada appears to be a very mythical personage ; he is repre- sented as a giant, and is said to have been buried on a high hill in the neighbourhood, between two large blocks of stone, each about seven feet in height, which are yet called ' Wade's graves.' Several traditions are yet preserved about Mulgrave ; for instance, that Wade and his wife. Bell, built Mulgrave and Pickering castles ; that Wade paved the causeway, (the Eoman road across the moors, from the neighbourhood of Whitby, is called the causeway,) and Bell brought the stones in her apron ; that the son, young Wada, could throw a stone several tons weight, and on one occasion, 302 MULGRAVE CASTLE. Many generations after this, Peter de Malo Lacu, commonly called Peter de Mauley, a native of Poictou, in France, in the reign of Richard L, married, in England, the only daughter of Robert de Turnham, and obtained with her the large inheritance which had formerly belonged to duke Wada. The castle being in a ruinous state, he rebuilt it, and on account of its beautiful appearance, gave it the name of Moultgrace. The neighbouring inhabitants, however, finding it in those times a grievance, by the change of a single letter, called it Moultgrave. This castle and estate were enjoyed by seven Peters, lords de Malo Lacu, in succession ; but the seventh Peter dying without issue, the inheritance was divided, by his sisters, between the knightly families of the Salvains and the Bigods. After passing through various other hands, it became the property of Edmund, lord Sheffield, of Butterwick, lord President of the North, who was created earl of Mulgrave, by Charles I., anno. 1646. Of this family, it is recorded, that Sir John Sheffield, knight, and Edmund and Philip, his brothers, were drowned in crossing the Ouse at Whitgift ferry, in December, 1614 ; William was drowned in France, and George broke his neck in a new riding-house which his father had made of an old consecrated chapel.'''" This family hit his mother so hard, that, although she was not much injured, the impres- sion of the stone was indelihle. Wada's wife had also an enormous cow, and a huge rib of the said cow was formerly exhibited at Mulgrave. This after- wards, however, turned out to be the rib of a whale." — Ord's Hist, of Cleveland. * DuGDALE's Baronage, vol 2, p. 387. MULGRAVE CASTLE. 303 became extinct in 1735 ; and the title was revived in the person of Constantino Phipps, a captain in the royal navy, and a descendant of the Anglesey family, who was created baron Mulgrave, in Ireland, in 1767; and in the year 1774, a lease of the Mulgrave estate was confirmed to him for the sum of £3,000., and a quit rent of £1 ,200. per annum. In this family the estate yet continues. " The ancient castle of Mulgrave, having been gar- risoned by the king's forces, in the reign of Charles I., was afterwards dismantled by order of parliament.* '' " Mougreve castelle," says old Leland, '* standeth upon a craggy hill, and on echo side of it, is a hill far higher than that whereon the castle standeth. Upon the summit of the north hill, are certain stones, com- monly called Wadde's grave, whom the common people say was a giant and owner of Mougreve. Near these stones, is a beck, which cometh down out of the moors, supplied by many springs : two becks, one on each side of the castle, and in the valleys of the great hilles. The one is called Sandebeck, the other Estebeck, and soon go into the sea, which is at a little distance.^' The ruins are upon the ridge of a hill between two brooks, in a strong position, and now hid in the solitude of thick woods. The entrance into the baily, or court yard, on the north side, is between two circular towers ; one of them of considerable height, and covered with ivy. Outside the wall which has enclosed this court, is a moat, thickly overgrown with weeds and brush- Baines' Yorkshire, vol. 2, p. 492. 304 MULGRAVE CASTLE. wood. The wall on the western side is flanked with buttresses, and thickly clad with ivy. The main body of the castle, or central keep, is of a square form, with a round tower at each corner ; but the whole is now in such a ruinous condition, that it is almost impossible to discriminate the different apartments ; yet, one fronting the south, with a large square window of seven lights, divided by a transom, may be supposed to have been the banquetting hall. In the south-east rounder, is a large fire-place, with herring-bone brick- work in the back. The whole of the area is overspread with stones and rubbish, thickly overgrown with grass and fern ; tall trees rise above the highest parts of the ruin, and tangled bushes obscure the lower portions. At the south-east angle of the outer wall, are the remains of a square tower, about twelve feet by nine, within, and two stories in height ; the lights are mere arrow-slits ; in the upper room, is a fireplace. Two or three farm houses have been built out of the ruins, and the thick growth of grass, weeds, bushes, and trees, threatens in a few years entirely to conceal the remainder. The present mansion, the residence of the marquis of JSTormanby, is also called Mulgrave castle, and is an elegant castellated mansion, and forms a very con- spicuous object from many points of view. The late Constantine John, lord Mulgrave, made considerable additions to the mansion, and improved the gardens and grounds in the vicinity. In one of the ofilces, in the stable yard, is a splendid specimen of the MULGRAVE CASTLE. 305 Plesiosaurus Macrocephalus, being quite perfect, with the exception of a few joints which are wanting in one of the paddles. The situation of the mansion is elevated, and the views from it are romantic and highly beautiful, em- bracing a wide extent of hill and valley, wood and plain, sea and land. The ground in front, immediately declining to the south-east, opens a fine prospect of the sea, over Sandsend Bay, to the pier and harbour of Whitby, with ships passing and repassing ; the cliffs, with the magnificent ruins of the ancient abbey ; be- yond which rises the black promontory of Saltwick, with the white billows at its foot ; forming altogether a highly interesting and splendid picture. To the south- west is a picturesque view for miles, over lawns and woods agreeably intermixed. A summer day's ramble in this charming domain, is the most agreeable recreation imaginable ; sometimes the eye rests on the shaggy sides of thickly wooded slopes ; then glances down abrupt precipices, among which the tremendous Hell Scar is most prominent ; then again, the gazer is de- hghted by the sparkling flow of murmuring waters, or the calm expanse of artificial lakes ; sometimes the road winds under overarching boughs, like the solemn gloom of a cathedral roof ; then through sunny glades, or on the dizzy verge of steep cliffs ; the whole forming a landscape of the most luxuriant and enchanting kind. 306 #mslj0r0ug]^ llrinrg. Robert de Brus,"^" lord of Skelton, by the counsel and admonition of pope Calixtus IL, and Thurstan, archbishop of York, founded the priory of Guisborough in the year 1129, for canons regular of the order of St. Austin, and dedicated it to the virgin Mary. The founder died in 1141, and was buried in the priory, as were many of his descendants and relations ; it was also the common burial place of most of the nobility of those parts. Peter Fitz Peter de Brus, sixth lord of Skelton, was one of the barons who met at Runnymede, when Magna Charta was extorted from king John. He died in 1222, and was buried at Guisborough. In the reign of Edward IL A.D. 1289, the monas- tery was accidentally destroyed by fire, when all the * When David, king of Scotland, invaded England in 1138, this Robert de Brus had an ineffectual interview with him, near Northallerton, in order to induce him to withdraw his army. The battle of the standard was fought, and the Scottish army completely defeated. Besides founding and endowing the priory at Guisborough, he gave the church at Middlesborough, with large possessions, to Whitby abbey ; also the lordships of Appleton and Hornby to St. Mary's abbey, at York. His father was Robert de Brus, a Norman warrior, who came into England with the Conqueror, who gave him forty-three lordships in the east and west ridings, and fifty-one in the north riding of Yorkshire. The famous Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, was a descendant of this family. GUISBOROUGH PRIORY. 307 >ooks, relics, and goods were consumed. In the 23rd of the same king's reign, the prior was summoned to )arliaraent. During the reign of Edward III. the estabhshment suffered severely from the depredations of pirates, and >ther marauders ; so much so, that, in 1375, the king granted a licence to the prior and canons to fortify md embattle the priory in such a manner as to protect them from further insult. In the same monarch's reign, Walter de Hemingford, the monkish historian, was a canon regular in this ►riory. He compiled a history of England, from the forman Conquest to the year 1308 ; and died in 347. King Henry IV. gave to this house the privilege of 'ankpledge, waifs, strays, return of writs, &c. Some idea may be formed of the extent of the estab- lishment, when in the plenitude of its prosperity, from a MS. in the Cottonian Library, in which it is stated — " That the prior kept a most pompous house, insomuch that the towne, consystinge of five hundred house- holders, hade no lande, but lyved all on the abbay ; " and that, " a steward of theirs was turned out of office, because he had aforehand but oneley four hundred quarters of grayne to serve their house." The order of St. Augustine, to which the monks of this house belonged, originated in the eighth century, and was less strict than the other orders. At first the monks made no vows, but undertook to discharge the functions of the ministry in churches committed to 308 GUISBOROUGli PRIORY. their charge ; but in the twelfth century a stricter rule was introduced ; by which the applicant for admission into the order relinquished all private property ; and should a canon by necessity be obliged to leave the house, he could take nothing away with him. Among other regulations, no one was to eat or drink out of the house ; no idle talk or gossiping was allowed, but they were to sit at their work in silence. Everything was deemed to be held in common. They were not to fix their eyes on women ; and were mutually to preserve each others modesty, when two together in a church where women were. Not to go to the bath, but by two or three, and then with the person appointed by the superior. The superior was to govern in charity ; to be strict in discipline, yet aim more to be loved than feared. The habits of these monks were a white tunic, with a linen gow^n under a black cloak, and a hood covering the head, neck, and shoulders. They wore caps on their heads, and suffered the beard to grow. This establishment flourished until the general disso- lution, when it was surrendered in 1540, by Robert Purseglove, alias Silvester, the last prior, who had a pension of £166. 13s. 4d. per annum, assigned him out of the revenues ; the gross yearly value at that time, was £712. 6s. 6d., and the net, £628. 3s. 4d.* * To this house belonged the churches of Barningham, Danby, Guis- borough, Kirk burn, Kirk Leavington, Marske in Cleveland, Stainton in Cleveland, and Upleatham, which were given by Robert de Brus. Walter Ingelrara gave the churches of Ingleby-ArnclifFe, and Welbury ; Arnold de Percy, the church of Ormsby ; William de Percy, the church of Crathorne ; GUISBOROUGH PRIORY. 309 The site was granted in the fourth year of Edward VI. A.D. 1550, to Sir Thomas Chaloner and his heirs, in which family it has continued ever since, Robert Chaloner, Esq., being the present owner. Few monastic ruins can boast of the stately gran- deur of the remains of this priory. The east end of the church is the chief part now remaining, and from its beauty and majestic proportions, we may form some idea of what the church was when in its complete state. This front is about one hundred feet in length, supported by four massive buttresses, each projecting eight feet from the wall at the base, flanked at the angles by two others, while at the extreme point is another, smaller ; thus making a cluster of three at each corner. The buttresses are finished with triangu- lar caps, crockets and finials, differing slightly from each other in design, but all of the most chaste and beautiful workmanship. The first buttress from the north-east corner is plain ; next to it is a window, into what has been the north aisle of the choir, deeply moulded, and finely foliated at the springing of the arch, the sweep of which has been filled with quatrefoil tracery ; the lower part has been of three hghts ; the Robert Sturmi, the church of Marton in Cleveland ; Roger de Rosel, the church of Easington in Cleveland ; Alverdus, the church of Acklam in Cleve- land ; Robert de Lascell, the church of East Harlsey ; William de Sauncy, the church of Lofthouse ; Henry Fitz Conan, the church of Liverton ; and Peter de Cordeville, the church of Sherburn in Harford-dale. This house had also the church of Hessle, and that of Seamer in Cleveland, Wilton in Cleveland, Thornaby, West Heslerton, with East Heslerton chapel, and Yarm ; also Bridekirk in Cumberland, and several churches in Scotland, Lawton's Religious Houses of Yorkshire, p. 75. 310 GUISBOROUGH PRIORY, mullions are gone, but part of the upper tracery re- mains hanging to the top of the arch. Above this window is a small opening of two trefoil-headed lights, under a square canopy. The next buttress adjoins the great east window ; level with the bottom of which, in the face of the but- tress, is a niche, now tenantless, with a trefoil head, and a triangular crocketed canopy, terminated by a finial ; this buttress has a plain, triangular cap, and above it rises a crocketed octagonal spire. The east window is twenty-four feet wide, and of an enormous height ; the sweep of the arch has been filled with quatrefoil tracery, fragments of which yet remain. The inner mouldings have been ornamented with foilage and niches. The wall beneath the window has been broken down to the ground ; the gap is now filled up with high paling and a gate. Above the large window is another, which has lighted the roof, of five lights, the outer of which have trefoil heads ; above the middle one is a quatrefoild. The windows and buttresses on the south side, are similar in appearance and dimensions to those on the north, with the exception of the second buttress from the centre window, which is elaborately ornamented with trefoil and quatrefoil pannelling. Above each of the four main buttresses are as many crocketed octa- gonal spires, which have a fine effect. The whole front forms a most splendid specimen of decorated architec- ture, and makes us regret that no more of this large and splendid church has escaped the hands of the GUISBOROUGH PRIORY. 811 spoiler. The area of the church is now a level, grassy [lawn, with a double row of walnut trees growing ithin it ; their bulk showing that the church has been 'destroyed to its foundation at a very early period after fthe dissolution. Not a vestige of the transept or nave rremains ; a round headed archway, leading out of the street west of the church, is the only other fragment which can be identified as having belonged to the monastery. A fragment of the ruin is now occupied as a wine vault, from which a subterraneous passage is said to lead to Plantation in Toccotes, a distance of a mile and a half. Such passages are said by tradition exist in all monastic buildings, as well as castles, where we might suppose they would be more necessary. fo doubt in many places such passages existed. There & a peculiarity, however, attending this underground road, which few of the others can boast of. " Midway is an enormous chest of gold, guarded by a raven, or crow, which keeps incessant watch over the precious jontents. Once only was the treasure invaded, by a >erson who hoped to appropriate some of the ingots ; )ut when he had reached the box, its guardian, the 'aven, suddenly became transformed into his Satanic Majesty, who belaboured the intruder with such terrible severity, and otherwise excited such a fright, that neither he, nor any other person, ever ventured within the precincts afterwards.'^ ''^ The situation of Guisborough is very pleasant ; the town consists chiefly of one main street, running * Oed's Cleveland. 312 GUISBOROUGH PRIORY. nearly east and west, and is tolerably well built. It has a railway communication with Middlesborough, and is about eight miles from Eedcar. Among the other attractions of this place, is a mineral spring, discovered in 1822, about a mile south-east of the town ; the water is said to be efficacious in bilious, rheumatic, and scorbutic complaints ; but is not so much frequented as it deserves to be. The town pre- sents ample accommodation for invalids, and the scenery and associations of the surrounding country present abundant sources of enjoyment for the lovers of natural beauty. 31; mnt #raa ^rbrg. About two miles from the village of Osmotherlej, and one from the once busy Cleveland Tontine Inn, are the ruins of the priory of Mount Grace. About the year 1396, Thomas Holland, duke of Surry, earl of Kent, and lord Wake, founded this house for monks of the Carthusian order, and dedicated it to the blessed Virgin and St. Nicholas. He gave to it his own manor of Brodelby, and obtained of king Richard 11. the lands of three alien priories for his new foundation. This beginning of prosperity was, however, soon interrupted ; for the founder was one of the nobles who, in the year 1400, entered into a con- spiracy to dethrone king Henry IV. The project, however, failed, and the earls of Kent and Salisbury were siezed at Cirencester, by the citizens, and next day beheaded without further ceremony, according to the barbarous custom of the times. This fatal event delayed the buildings of the monastery ; and even the right of the monks to their possession was questioned, till Henry VI., in 1449, confirmed in parliament the founder's grant to them. The buildings were then completed, and the austere brethren continued on the spot until the general dissolution. The rule of the Carthusians was the most rigid 314 MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. and severe of all the monastic orders ; only another house of them existed in Yorkshire,'"' and but nine in all England. They were a branch of the Benedictines, whose rule they observed with many austerities. Their order was founded about 1084, by Bruno, a native of Cologne, at Chartreux, in Dauphine. By their rule, which was confirmed by pope Alexander III., about the year 1174, the monks were restrained from eating flesh. King Henry XL brought this order into England about A.D. 1180, and their first house was founded at Witham, in Somersetshire. No nunneries of their order were ever established in this country. Along with their austerities, they practised a great many superstitious gestures and ceremonies, such as having their faces totally hid at the canon of the mass ; (words of consecrating the Eucharist ;) shewn at other times ; fingers not clenched ; legs not extended, spread, or crossed. Private prayer at the altar once a day, ommitted when any frailty had been incurred. Silence in the cell; cell door not open, unless another person was with the inhabitant. If any brother came to the cell, he was interrogated whether he had the prior's, or his substitute's licence ; if not, the butler or porter was to procure it, otherwise they could not be conversed with. 'No conversation with persons coming up without the prior's licence. Not to enter the cells of others with- out licence. No letters to be sent or received. Not to leave the cell, except to confession or conference by * At Kingston-upon-Hull, founded by Michael de la Pole, afterwards earl of Suffolk, in the time of king Edward III. MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. 315 the prior's order. No pottage or pittance, only raw herbs and fruits, to be kept in the cell. Every in- habitant to have two books to read, besides other writing and necessary utensils. In chapter, no speech but at confession, or when the chapter was held. In the refectory, dining bareheaded ; drinking with two hands ; bowing to those who brought or removed any- thing ; no wiping of hands or mouths at the cloth. No speech in the fratry, cloister, or church.'''"^ Such were a few of the rules of this order ; by which it will be seen, that the discipline of their houses much resembled that of a prison ; and by no order of rehgious was their rule kept with so much strictness as by these. The habits of the Carthusians were entirely white, except a plaited black cloak. Their bed was of straw, and on it a felt or coarse cloth ; their covering of sheep skins, and the coarsest cloth ; their clothing, two hair cloths, two cowls, two pairs of hose, cloak, &c., all coarse, f The revenues of this house, at the dissolution, were found to be £882. 5s. Hid. gross, and £323. 2s. lO^d. net. John Wilson was the last prior. The site was granted, 22nd of Henry VIIL, (1540,) to James Straingwaies, who shortly afterwards disposed of it to Thomas Lascelles, who added an embattled entrance, and converted part of it into a mansion ; his initials, T. L., and the date 1569, yet remain over the principal * Fosbroke, Brit. Moiiach., chap. VI. t Ibid, chap. LIX. 816 MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. door. It was subsequently sold by the Rev. Robert Lascelles to the Mauleverers, in the representative of which family it yet remains ; William Mauleverer, Esq., of Arncliffe Hall, being the present owner. The situation of this ruin is gloomy and secluded, at the foot of a steep, thickly-wooded hill. In the winter season, the sun would have to rise high before its beams could disperse the gloom lying around the lonely monastery. This gloom might, however, be congenial to the austere life of its inhabitants. The part converted, by Thomas Lascelles, into a mansion, is now inhabited by workmen on the estate ; its aspect is more modern than the rest, having windows in the Tudor style. The western front is of great length, flanked by more than a dozen buttresses of four stages each. The southern end is mantled with ivy of the most luxuriant growth ; near the entrance, is one gigantic plant of an uncommon kind, distinguished by the smallness of its leaf from the common ivy. The entrance into the enclosure is thirteen feet wide, under a triple arch. The whole area of the buildings is about five acres, divided into two parts, and now devoted to pasturage. Turning to the right of the entrance, we come upon the foundations of a range of buildings eighteen feet wide within, by one hundred in length, extending along the whole of that part of the western front. It has been two stories in height ; the lower of which does not appear to have had any windows into it from the west, and the wall on the other side is broken down. The upper story has been MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. 317 lighted by five square-headed windows of two hghts each, now almost hid by the compact growth of ivy. This room is supposed to have been the refectory, though its distance from the kitchen rather militates against the conjecture. Along the southern side, has also been a range of buildings, twenty feet wide ; the upper part lighted by a range of square-headed win- dows of two lights each, opening to the south ; the outer wall is yet of the original height ; the inner is broken down to the ground ; the gable, at the east end, is yet complete. The lofty outer wall is con- tinued along the east side, close to the foot of the wooded hill. At the south-east corner, a little within the wood, is the well that supplied the monastery, — a spring of pure water, enclosed and covered with a stone dome ; it yet bears the name of St. John's well. The remains of the church are on the north side of this division, and are the most picturesque part of the ruins ; the nave, transept, tower, and north wall of the choir, yet remain of considerable height. It is of the usual cruciform shape, with a slender square tower rising at the junction of the cross. The chancel is about forty feet in length, by thirty in breadth ; the east end, and south side walls, have disappeared, and a large ash tree has grown within since it was abandoned by the austere monks. The north wall yet remains about half its length, of the original height, with two windows of three lights each. The nave is about forty-five feet in length,. by twenty seven in breadth ; the walls are nearly complete. The north transept is 318 MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. nine feet in length from the line of the nave, and twenty-two in breadth. A piscina in the wall yet points out the place where an altar has stood. The south transept is of the same breadth as the north, but twenty-two feet in length. Part of the tracery yet remains in the great south window of this transept ; it has been of five lights, with sixfoil heads, apparently belonging to the perpendicular era. The tower is about fourteen feet square, and stands on the eastern side of the transept, resting on four neat pointed arches. The winding stone staircase, which is very narrow, yet remains nearly perfect, only a few steps on the upper part being broken down. It has only led into the chamber where the bells have been rung, about half way up the tower. The upper part of the tower is so wreathed round with a compact mass of ivy, that no part of the stonework on the outside can be seen. It is apparently of its original height. Passing from the church, by a doorway high in the wall, on the north, we enter another enclosure, which may be denominated the quadrangle ; it is surrounded by a high wall, in which may yet be seen the doorways into the cells of the monks, which have been arranged around it, twenty in number, five on each side of the square. Many of the doorways are now walled up. On one side of the entrance of each is a singular opening, about a foot square, passing about half way through the wall, then turning at a right angle into the doorway, just beyond where the door has been, through which anything of moderate size might be MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. 319 given to the inmate within, without opening the door. Opposite the north transept, in a recess in the wall, is a long, shallow trough, hollowed out of a large stone, about forty inches in length, by ten in breadth, with a semicircular bottom. There are two holes by which water might run out of it, one at the bottom, and another at one end. Our first impression was, that it had been the piscina of an altar ; though perhaps it was only a receptacle for water, in which the monks performed ablutions before entering the church, after leaving their cells. The only shield and arms we saw about the place was carved in stone, on each side of a doorway leading into a cell ; at the south-east corner of this inclosure, a bend, with something like a port- cullis over it. The cells have been ranged completely round this inclosure. They have been about twenty feet square each, and two stories in height ; three windows appear to have lighted the lower rooms, at least those on the gloomy eastern side ; each of them has also had a fire-place ; and upon the whole, do not appear to have been entirely destitute of comfort. There also appears to have been a small chapel, or private confessional, attached to each cell, if we may judge from what appears to have been the piscina of an altar, in a small apartment on the side of every cell. But the arrangement of the ofiices, cells, and all parts of the monastic buildings, are so difi"erent from those of the Benedictine and Cistercian houses, that no elucidation of the distribution of the apartments can be obtained from a comparison with the well 320 MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. known plans, on which they were generally built ; nor, indeed, do any of the monastic ruins in the county present any similarity to this ; it is doubly interesting as the unique specimen of a Carthusian house in Yorkshire. No tombs, or inscriptions of any kind are visible ; an excavation of the site would probably disclose many interesting curiosities, as well as many peculiarities in the economy, of this the most austere of the monastic orders. Nor would it be difficult, or expensive to make the site of this monastery one of the most pleasing and interesting spots in the north riding ; clear out the ruins and rubbish from the church, cells, and other buildings ; form the area into a lawn, or orchard, intersected with walks, and adorned with shrubs and flowers, and it would form an object not easily surpassed in attraction. The kitchen is in the southern inclosure, west of the church, and is in such a complete state, that, if it were roofed in, it would yet answer its original purpose ; the chimney is yet of its full height ; part of the oven for baking bread, built of bricks, yet stands ; and the stones at the back of the ample fire-place are yet red from its former fires. On the western side was situate the mill, that neces- sary adjunct of every monastic establishment ; the remains of the fish-ponds, equally indispensable, can yet be traced ; and it only requires time and industry to develope the whole domestic arrangements of this singular monastic foundation. On the summit of the hill, eastward of the priory, near the place where the MOUNT GRACE PRIORY. 321 building stone has been procured, are the remains of a building called the Lady Chapel, founded in 1515 ; it is not easy of approach, and not much visited. Free access is allowed by the owner of Mount Grace to visitors ; and if it is not so much frequented as some ruins, it is more owing to the remoteness of its situa- tion, and the difficulty of approach by railway, than to any want of attraction on its part, or of liberality on the part of its owner. Three miles south-east of the town of Middleham, close to the river Ure, near the road leading from Masham, and at the bottom of the great valley of Wensley, are the ruins of Jervaux abbey. The beau- ties of this spot are of the softest and most delicious kind ; rich, park-like pastures, with here a clump, and there a single tree ; the noble river winding along, now dark in shade, now gleaming in sunlight ; hills rising around, — not wild and bare, but rich and well culti- vated, — form the outside framing of the picture in which this interesting gem of antiquity is enclosed. The care bestowed on the conservation of the ruins is beyond all praise ; nothing can be neater than the walks and well trimmed lawns, contrasting admirably with the hoary ruins around them ; nature's perennial beauties, softened by culture, are thus mingled with the fading glories of human art. In the reign of king Stephen, about the year 1144, Peter de Quincy, with certain other monks of Savigny, in Normandy, had granted to them by Akar Fitz Bardolph, lands at Fors, near Askrigg ; where they founded a religious house, of the Cistercian order, in 1150; John de Kingston being the first abbot. The grant was confirmed by Alan Niger, earl of Richmond ; JERVAUX ABBEY. 323 subsequently the establishment was made dependant on the abbey of Byland, and a colony of monks was sent from thence to occupy the new monastery. But the monks of Byland did not relish the change ; the climate of Fors was bleak and inhospitable, the lands were sterile, and exposed to inclement winds ; so that the monks suffered greatly, and for five years they were all but starved. In 1156, Conan, fifth earl of Richmond, granted them lands at East Witton, to which they removed, bearing the bones of Akar and his lady along with them. This was done with the consent of Harveus, son of Akar, who took care to reserve to himself the patronage of the abbey, as well as the prayers of the monks, usually offered up for the founder and his relations. In a well selected situation they built a stately church, and all the other necessary monastic buildings ; where they continued, in wealth and prosperity, until the despoiler Henry laid his rapacious hands on the house, scattered the monks, and seized their posses- sions, in the year 1538. The gross value at that time, in temporalities and spiritualities, was £455. 10s. 5d. and the net £234. 18s. 5d. There was a succession of twenty-three abbots at Jervaux, the last of whom was Adam Sedbergh, who took part in the Pilgrimage of Grace, and was executed at Tyburn, with others of Aske's misguided followers, in 1537. The lead was then taken off the roof, the fabric despoiled of its valuables, and the walls after- wards broken down and demolished. 324 JERVAUX ABBEY. The site of the abbey was leased for twenty-one years to Lancelot Harrison ; and in the 30th of Henry Vni. it was granted to Matthew, earl of Lennox, and Margaret, his wife. It is now the property of the earl of Ailesbury. In the church were buried many of the neighbouring nobility and patrons of the abbey ; — as the founder, Akar, and his lad}^ ; Harveus Fitz Akar, who died in 1182 ; Henry Fitz Randolph, in 1262 ; and his daughter-in-law, Albreda, wife of Hugh Fitz Henry, lord of Ravensworth. Henry Fitz Henry, grandson of Hugh and Albreda, died in his father's life time, 1352, and was buried at the foot of the high altar. His second son and heir, Henry, was likewise buried before the high altar, October 25th, 1386. Henry, lord Fitz Hugh, his son and successor, who accompanied Henry V. in his wars in France, who died January 11th, 1424 ; and his lady, who died three years afterwards, were both buried here. It is the mutilated effigy of this illustrious warrior which is yet seen at the eastern extremity of the centre aisle. So complete had been the work of demolition, that, with the exception of some few arches and fragments of wall, nothing was to be seen where the abbey had stood, but rough wood, briars, and a succession of green mounds. The stones had been employed in the build- ing of walls and houses in the neighbourhood, and even for repairing the roads. This state of things continued until the late earl of Ailesbury visited the place in 1805 ; and amongst a great variety of improvements JERYAIJX ABBEY. 325 projected upon his estate, was much pleased with an experiment made by his steward, in digging down to the bottom of one of the arches, which proved to be the door of the abbey church, and led to a beautiful tesselated floor. His lordship directed the whole of the ruin to be explored and cleared out ; which was done in 1806, and the following year, at a considerable expense. The site was then enclosed, partly by a sunk fence, and partly by a wall ; and the grounds, with the exception of the interior of the buildings, tastefully planted with evergreens and flowers. The site of the abbey church, with its aisles, choir, and transepts, the chapter house, abbot's house, garden, kitchen, refectory, cloisters, and other offices, can all be easily and distinctly identified. No monastic ruin in the kingdom presents a more complete ground-plan than this. The church is 270 feet in length, and of ample breadth ; the bases of the columns which sustained the roof, and divided the aisles from the nave, are yet remaining. The side walls are very little elevated above the soil. A gravel walk now leads down the centre aisle. When the ruins were first excavated, this aisle was found laid with a tesselated pavement, in. geometrical figures ; but, though the covering which had shut it out from the light of the sun had preserved it from actual decomposition, the hand of time, though unseen, had been at work, and rendered the beautiful mosaic so frail, that the action of the air, and the rude blasts of winter, soon reduced it to dust. In this aisle, 3^6 JERVAUX ABBEY. many monuments of the dead were uncovered, and yet remain, telling the tale of ages past unto the present. Proceeding from the west entrance towards the high altar, the first we come to is a mutilated slab, without inscription. The next is a slab bearing a cross. The third bears a cross and chalice, with the inscription T. DVNWELL CANO^ SCI. LEONARDI EBOR. Other two slabs, one of them broken, bear crosses ; the next, in good preservation, bears a floriated cross, chalice, and host, with this inscription : — ASKARTH CONTEGITUR SAXI HOC SUB MOLE BRIANUS CUI DEUS ETERNA DET LUCE FRUI. Other two slabs bear crosses. In the south transept is a large slab, charged with a cross, and a sword on the right side. Before the high altar lies a statue of lord Fitz Hugh, the crusader, in link mail ; the armo- rial bearings on his shield are distinctly visible. Dr. Whitaker says, he saw another fragment, bearing the same arms impaling Marmion. Behind the high altar, under the east window of the south aisle, is a stone, with a cross and chalice, and inscribed f it jaat in tomta SKills. nmim Saltoj C0nBta^it tatafa in kxmu totena. Under the window, at the east end of the north aisle, stands an altar, yet entire, with five crosses cut upon the top, and the recess in front, whence the relics were torn. There were seven altars besides this in the church. There is a stone coffin in the north aisle of JERVAUX ABBEY. 327 the choir, near seven feet long, but very narrow. From these monuments we may form some idea of what this great church was in the day of its completeness and splendour. The chapter-house, adjoining the end of the south transept, has been a noble apartment, of an oblong form, forty-eight feet by thirty-five feet ; the roof has been supported by six hexagonal columns of grey marble, with richly foliated capitals, from which sprung the ribs of a groined arch. The stone benches, on which the brethren sat in council, yet remain round the sides of the apartment. So much of the stone work yet remains comparatively uninjured, that it would not be difficult to restore this noble apartment. Here has been the burial place of the abbots ; five plain stones yet remain, commemorating as many of the superiors of the house. The inscription on the tomb of John de Kingston, the first abbot, and builder of the abbey, is quite legible, though seven hundred years old. TUMBA : JOH'eS I p'mI I ABB'iS : JORVALLIS. William, the third abbot, is yet remembered in brief terms ; TUMBA : will'i tercii : abb'is : joreval. Eustache, the fifth abbot, Hes beneath a stone in- scribed, — TUMBA : EU — CHii : q'nti : ABBATIS DE jorevall. John, the eighth abbot's tombstone, bears, — TUMBA : JOH'iS : OCTABIS : JOREVALL : DEFUNCTL 328 JERVAUX ABBEY. Another stone bears a cross and chalice, between a croiser and mitre, and in old English characters, — ®wmta: I'ri k —^t Jtbtafo |f||. |0rtal This was Peter de Snape, the seventeenth abbot, who died about 1430. The chronicler called John of Brompton, was the nineteenth abbot of this house, but here is no memo- rial of him. His history extends from the arrival of Augustine, A. D. 588, to the death of Richard I. A. D. 1198. Its principal value is the information it gives relative to the Saxon times. The great kitchen is easily distinguished by its gigantic fire-place ; the apertures in the wall yet re- main, through which the viands, when prepared, were handed into the refectory for consumption. The cloisters are marked by the bases of a row of pillars, running down the middle of the space they have occupied. The quadrangle is now a smooth lawn. The refectory is easily found, from its proximity to the kitchen. The walls here are a little higher than in any other part of the building, and exhibit the transi- tion style from Norman to early English. The abbot's house stood on the south-east of the other buildings, and appears to have consisted of a great number of small apartments. Though Jervaux exhibits little more than a ground plan, it is full of sepulchral monuments, and in many respects yields in interest to no abbey in the county. 32.9 Coijjerl^am ^tkg. At a distance of three miles from Jervaux, in the otherwise not very interesting valley of Coverdale, lie scattered the remains of the abbey of Coverham. This was a house of Premonstratention canons ; first found- ed at Swainby, in the parish of Pickhill, by Helewisia, daughter and heiress of Ralph de Glanville, lord chief justice of England, in the latter part of the reign of Henry 11. In 1214, Ralph Fitz Robert, her son, translated the establishment from Swainby to Cover- ham, near to his manor-house at Middleham, where an abbey was built, which flourished until the suppression of the lesser monasteries in 1538. This house had the churches of Coverham, given by Ralph Fitz Robert, of Middleham ; Downholme, by the lords Scrope of Bolton ; Kettlewell, by the lords Gray, of Rotherfield ; and Sedburgh, by Sir Ralph de Scrope. It had also the rectory of Seaham, in the county of Durhani. They were also possessed of nearly all Coverdale. Fitz Robert, the founder, gave them all his lands there, from Harebec to Tadike, across the valley from Whernside to Waldene. In the reign of Edward II., the incursions of the Scots upon their lands, reduced the canons to poverty ; when the king granted them license to acquire lands 330 COVERHAM ABBEY. of ten marks value. Their last acquisition was Cover- head or Slapegill. Christopher Rokesby, who was elected in 1528, was the last abbot of this house. The gross annual reve- nues were £207. 14s. 7d. per annum, and the net £160. 18s. 3d. The site of the abbey was granted, 3rd and 4th Philip and Mary, to Humphrey Orme and Cicilia his wife. The remains of the building are but few ; a hand- some modern house having been erected out of the ruins. The outline of the church can yet be traced, and four arches of the nave remain ; but the greater part of the site is occupied by farm buildings, or rubbish. The outline of the cloister quadrangle is also perceptible. At a little distance from the house is a beautiful arched gateway, yet entire, under which the high road passes. In the walls of Mrs. Lister's house are many inscribed stones, among which may be men- tioned one with a sacred monogram, surmounted by a cornet, with a falcon on the right, and the letter A on the left ; beneath is inscribed, — W^mi fjmt pM. $nm g^tii, W piptea'0 i|||/ ist' Umum fdidUx fintoit Some buildings now occupied as cottages may have formed part of the abbot's lodgings. Over one door is inscribed, — Over another is the falcon and A, with %, J[, S» COVERHAM ABBEY. 331 Also three shields, with T. M. and a cross patonce. On a broken stone is this imperfect inscription, — DEI. REGINA. C(ELI. d'nA OR ADVOCATiE FIDELIUM. Here are also three monumental effigies ; two of them, placed on the sides of a gateway, are nearly perfect ; they have most probably adorned the tombs of three of Middleham's early lords. The figures are in armour, with surcoats ; the hands of one of them are folded in the attitude of prayer ; the other seems to have had his hand on the hilt of his sword, but it is broken ; at his side are represented two dogs chasing a stag, whilst a third playfully bites the knight's scab- bard. Both are cross-legged. The third is merely a torso. Of the church-yard at Coverham, which contains little more than an acre of land, it is truly said, that in one place in it, you can neither see the church, nor hear the sound of the bells ; a sudden descent on the south side completely obstructing the view, and the noise of a rapid stream, and water mill, completely drowns the music of the bells. 332 Mkl^am Castk Proudly overlooking the little town that nestles at its foot, and commanding extensive and beautiful views of the valley of Wensleydale, stands the castle of Middleham ; like some old time-worn warrior, frowning in grim majesty upon the peaceful scenes around him ; carrying back the mind to the distant days when force and fraud alternately ruled a suffering land. Here dwelt the mighty Nevilles, one of the most potent families in the north, one of whose members was the renowned Richard, earl of Warwick, the " king maker." In the time of Edward the Confessor, the manor of Middleham was in the hands of Ghilepatric. The exterminating sword of the Norman Conqueror laid it waste ; and in that condition it was given to Alan, earl of Richmond, along with the other domains of the Saxon earl Edwin. Alan gave Middleham to his brother Ribald ; who, after the death of his wife Beatrix, be- came a monk of St. Mary's, at York. Ralph Fitz Ribald, had confirmation of Middleham, and all lands his father possessed when he became a monk, from his uncle Stephen, earl of Richmond, by charter, and delivery of a Danish axe. Ralph, by his wife, Agatha, daughter of Robert de Brus, of Skelton, had a son, named Robert Fitz Ralph ; MIDDLEHAM CASTLE. 333 who founded and built the castle of Middleham. He probably also founded and built the church at Middle- ham. He married Helewisa, daughter of the famous justiciary of Henry II., Ralph de Glanville. She, in her widowhood, founded the monastery of Swainby, near Pickhill, which her son, Ranulph Fitz Robert, removed to Coverham. Ralph Fitz Ranulph, his son, was founder of the Friar's Minor, at Richmond. He was the last male of these lords of Middleham, and dying in 1270, was interred at two places, — ^his bones in the choir of Coverham, among his ancestors ; but his heart in the place of his affections, in the choir of the Grey Friars, at Richmond. The lordship of Middleham now passed to the fair and gentle Mary, daughter of the last lord. She mar- ried Robert Neville, lord of Raby ; w^hom she saw sink into a premature grave, the victim of an outraged husband's revenge ; for being detected in a criminal conversation with a lady in Craven, he was emasculated by the enraged husband ; of which he soon after died, June 9th, 1270, and was buried in the choir of Cover- ham abbey. In 1316, his widow founded a chantry for the health of his soul, her own, and those of her father and mother, and all their ancestors and heirs. Mary remained a widow nearly fifty years, and dying in 1320, was buried in Coverham choir, beside her husband. Ralph Neville, her only child, had succeeded his grandfather at Raby ; but paid little attention to 334 MIDDLEHAM CASTLE. secular business, and was fonder of the society of the canons of Coverham, than of enjoying the high Kfe of the day in his castles and manors. His indolence induced Mary to settle her manors on her grandson, Robert Neville, a brave, but vain and lawless man, commonly called " the Peacock of the North." He died in a border fight, to which he had dared the earl of Douglas. Ralph Neville, his younger brother, was the hero of " Neville's Cross," and gained a more noble place of sepulture than the abbey of Coverham, — the nave of Durham cathedral. John, lord Neville, was a highly chivalrous character, serving in the wars in Scotland, France, and even Turkey. He was retained by John of Gaunt, to serve him during life. At his death, in 1388, he was seized of more than sixty manors. Ralph Neville, the great earl of Westmorland, was the next lord of Middleham. He obtained a charter from Richard II. for a weekly market here, and a yearly fair on the feast of St. Alkelda the virgin ; a local saint, of whom nothing certain appears to be known. It was he who enlarged the castle of Middle- ham, as the old square tower of Fitz Ranulph was found incapable of accommodating his large train of followers and retainers. This earl deserted Richard II. when the sun of his prosperity was near setting, to ally himself to Henry Bolingbroke, afterwards king Henry IV. He it was who circumvented, and took prisoner, archbishop Scrope, and his principal followers, MIDDLEHAM CASTLE. 335 in the forest of Galtres, near York, when in arms against his patron Henry, in the year 1405. His character is well known, from Shakespere's skilful de- lineation, in the first part of Henry IV. Richard, earl of Salisbury, who had married the heiress of the Montacutes, succeeded to Middleham, on his father's death, in 1425. It was on the towers of Middleham castle that he displayed the standard of the white rose, in 1459 ; and from thence he marched up Coverdale, and through Craven, into Lancashire, at the head of four thousand Richmondshire men. Shortly afterwards, he fought the battle of Bloreheath, in Staffordshire, in which the forces of king Henry YI. were defeated, with the loss of 2,400 men, and the death of lord Audley, their leader. The earl following the fortunes of Richard, duke of York, in the following year was wounded and taken prisoner, at the battle of Wakefield Green, and soon after beheaded by the red rose faction. Sir John Neville, brother of the second earl of West- morland, was appointed constable of Middleham castle, in the 38th of Henry VI., it being then in the king's hands by Sahsbury's forfeiture. The ascendancy of the house of York again restored Middleham to its rightful owners ; and Richard Neville, the dreaded " king maker,'' was its lord ; and having married the wealthy heiress of the Beauchamps, had through her, the fortress of the Baliols, at Barnard castle. Edward IV. was frequently at Middleham, the guest of Warwick, before the defection of that 336 MIDDLEHAM CASTLE. nobleman. The story of Edward's confinement in the castle is now proved, by authentic documents, to be a fiction. Richard, duke of Gloucester, brother of king Edward, having married Ann, daughter and heiress of the king making earl, and the latter having been slain at the the battle of Barnet, became lord of the towers of Middleham. In September, 1471, the captain of the earl of Warwick's navy, commonly called the bastard Falcon- bridge, was beheaded in Middleham castle, by order of the duke of Gloucester, although he had the king's pardon. Richard loved to reside in his northern castles ; and at Middleham, his only son Edward was born, in 1473. It was the intention of Richard to have founded a college at this place ; but that design was frustrated by his death ; he however made the church collegiate, and raised the rectory to a deanery. From the death of Richard, to the present time, this castle is scarcely mentioned in history. In the first year of Henry YIII. Sir William Conyers was made constable of Middleham castle ; from whom the claim of the dukes of Leeds to hold that ofiice is derived. In 1609, the castle was inhabited by Sir Henry Lindley ; and it was probably occupied until about 1644. It does not appear that it was garrisoned by either party, during the great civil war ; yet tradition says that it was taken by Oliver Cromwell. But this is MIDDLEHAM CASTLE. 037 not supported bj written evidence. Besides, Cromwell's name is associated with the destruction of almost every castle and abbev in the county. In 1646, the committee sitting at York ordered this castle to be made untenable, and no garrison to be maintained therein. Gunpowder has been the agent employed, and even with that the work of demolition has been very imperfectly done ; the excellent cement and great thickness of the walls having resisted the miner's blast. The destroyers have been at great pains in extracting the lead and iron, forming the fastenings of the doors and windows, from the walls. The ruins are to the south of the town, lofty and extensive ; in the form of a parallelogram, measuring 210 feet by 175 feet; with a square tower at each angle, with the exception of that at the south-west corner, which is semicircular ; there is also a tower in the middle of the western side. The central part of the building is that which was built by Fitz Ranulph. The outer work completely environs the keep, and is of more modern date, being the erection of the lord Neville. " As a specimen of architecture," says Whitaker " Middleham castle is an unique, but not a happy work. The Norman keep, the fortress of the first lords, not being sufficient for the vast trains and princely habits of the Nevilles, was enclosed, at no long period before Leland's time, by a complete quadrangle, which almost entirely darkened what was dark enough before ; and the first structure now stands completely insulated in the centre of a later work, of no verv 338 MIDDLEHAM CASTLE. ample dimensions within, and nearly as high as itself. I must, however, suppose, that the original keep was surrounded by a baily, occupying nearly the same space as the present quadrangular work. Within the original building are the remains of a magnificent hall and chapel ; but it might be difiicult to pronounce whether the first or second work consists of the more massive and indissoluble grout work." The grand entrance is through the north-east tower, the top of which has been machicolated for defence ; close to which is a room called " the king's chamber." The keep corresponds in shape with the walls of the outer building, and is of considerable height. The grand staircase, which led to the banquetting hall, yet remains, though many of the steps have been destroyed. '''''■ The arch over it, composed of very small stones, is a piece of curious workmanship. The pomp and splendour of the great hall have departed ; naked and desolate, the wind whistles a melancholy tune in the deserted chambers. The walls are of great thick- ness, and grouted with mortar as hard as stone itself. Numerous fire-places are to be seen in the apartments, with flues running up the thick walls. Fragments of the upper parts of walls and towers appear to hang in such an unsupported state, that it is surprising they do * Up this staircase, many years ago, an adventurous cow made her way, to her owner's great consternation. A council speedily assembled, and various expedients Avere proposed for deposing the animal from her singular elevation ; none apparently feasible, it was wisely resolved to leave her to herself; when, to the amusement of the bystanders, she effected her descent in safety. — Grose. MIDDLEHAM CASTLE. 331) not fall to the ground. The south-west tower has apparently been improved after the first building, the windows being larger, and the finishing more ornate than in many of the other parts. The best view of the ruins is on the south-west, the walls being there the most perfect, nearly of their original height, and occasionally ornamented with masses of ivy. The moat on this side can be traced, though parts of it are built over, and parts of it occupied as gardens ; when the soil in the latter was first opened, numerous horns of deer were found. On the south side of the castle is a remarkable echo ; the rephes, apparently from the interior, being clear and distinct, and the repetition of the notes of a French horn uncommonly fine. In the field to the south are two mounds, called *' William's Hills,"* evidently of artificial formation, and probably raised as an outwork for the defence of the castle, on this the most assailable side. During a rapid thaw, a few winters ago, water flowed in a torrent from these hills, and then suddenly shot into the ground and disappeared. On examining the place afterwards, part of an arched passage was found, appa- * " South of the castle is ' William's Hill,' Ghilpatric the Dane's fort ; round which, tradition fahles, whoever shall run nine times without stopping, will find a door open in the mound, which shall admit him to marvellous treasures. But this feat has never been attempted, simply because it is physically impossible ; to say nothing of the absurdity. The mound un- doubtedly contains a mine of treasure to the antiquary and archaeologist, if it were allowed to be opened." — The Three Days of Wensleydale. 340 MIDDLEHAM CASTLE. rently leading from these hills, under the moat into the castle ; only a part could be explored, a fall of earth and stones having choked up the remainder. A tradition exists of a subterraneous passage from the castle to Jervaux abbey ; a thing, from the distance and nature of the ground, not very probable. No relics of armour, or weapons of any kind, have been found in excavations among the ruins. The remains of this once formidable fortress, are now carefully preserved from further dilapidation. 341 Bolton Castle, declared by Leiand to be the fairest castle in Richmondshire, stands on the slope of a bleak, barren hill, at a distance of four miles from Middleham. It was built by Richard, lord Scrope, High Chancellor of England ; who, in the third year of Richard 11.^ obtained the king's hcence to convert his manor house at Bolton into a castle. The Scropes, next to the Nevilles, were the most distinguished family in the north. In the space of three hundred years, between 1330 and 1630, the house of Scrope produced two earls, twenty barons, one lord chancellor, four treasurers, two chief justices, one archbishop, two bishops, five knights of the garter, and numerous bannerets. Richard, the first lord Scrope, was the second son and eventual heir of Henry le Scrope, of Bolton, chief justice of King's Bench. During the most brilliant period of our annals, from the battle of Cressy, for the next forty years, there was scarcely one battle of note in which lord Richard did not distinguish himself.* He survived his eldest son, the earl of Wiltshire, who was beheaded at Bristol in 1400, for fidelity to his fallen master, Richard 11. When the attainder of the * Longstaff's Richmond and Richmondshire, p. 31. 842 BOLTON CASTLE. earl was confirmed bj parliament, his father, grey headed, and still commanding the respect of his sove- reign and peers, arose from his seat, his eyes streaming with tears, and implored that the proceedings might not affect the inheritance of himself, or his other children ; and was consoled by the king, who assured him, that their interests should never suffer for the sentence ; for he now, as always before, deemed him a loyal knight. He died in 1403, (before his son, the archbishop of York, was beheaded for treason,) full of honours, with a character untainted by the temptation of such offices as treasurer and chancellor. The intrepidity of this great man may be judged of, by the fact, that he was once deprived of the great seal, for refusing to affix it to an improvident grant of the weak Richard. Yet, his attachment to this unhappy king- was such, that he richly endowed a chantry in his castle of Bolton, in which divine service was said daily for the soul of king Richard. The ninth lord Scrope, of Bolton, was one of the heroes of Flodden Field, in 1513, and is commemorated in the old warlike ballad of that name. May 16th, 1568, Mary, queen of Scots, landed at Workington, in Cumberland ; and on the 18th was conducted to Carlisle castle, where she remained a short time, in the custody of Henry, eleventh lord Scrope of Bolton, warden of the Marches. Queen Eli- zabeth, fearing she might escape to Scotland, directed her removal to Bolton, where she arrived in July. In this castle she was imprisoned, under the joint care of BOLTON CASTLE. 843 lord Scrope and Sir Francis Knollys, till the end of January, 1569. A tradition has existed in Wensley- dale, ever since the queen's day, that she escaped from the castle, and attempted to flee into Scotland ; but Was re-taken at a pass on Leyburn Shawl, while at- tempting to urge her horse through the narrow ravine ; hence to this day the pass is called ''The Queen's Gap." On the 26th of January, 1569, she was removed from Bolton, to Tutbury, in Staflbrdshire. It was while confined in Bolton castle, that the duke of Norfolk found access to Mary, and proposed the " fatal mar- riage," forerunner of his death. How dift'erent might have been the lot of this woman had she lived in happier times ! But — " Eest to thine ashes, thou beautiful one ! " In the great civil war of the seventeenth century, Bolton castle Avas a garrison for the king ; and was long and gallantly defended against the arms of the parliament, by a party of Richmondshire cavaliers, commanded by colonel Scrope, and afterwards by colonel Henry Chaytor, who held it until reduced to eat horseflesh ; when he capitulated, Nov. 5th, 1645, and the garrison marched to Pontefract. The committee at York ordered this fortress to be made untenable, in 1647. But it does not appear that the order was ever completely carried into effect ; yet from that period it has been neglected, and falHng into greater dilapidation. The north-eastern tower, which had been most damaged by the fire of the besiegers, fell suddenly to the ground in 1649. 344 BOLTON CASTLE. The last of the family of Scrope who resided here, was Emanuel, thirteenth lord of that name, and earl of Sunderland, who died in 1.630 ; and, leaving no lawful issue, the honours of the family died with hira. Lord Bolton, the present owner of the castle, is des- cended in an indirect line from this earl. Leland says, Bolton castle was eighteen years in building ; and cost 18,000 marks, or £12,000., an enormous sum in those days ; so great, that we must suppose the old topographer has made a mistake. He also says, that the timber was fetched out of the forest of Engleby, in Cumberland, "by dyvers draughts of oxen layde by the way to carry it from place to place, until it came to Bolton." He further remarks : " One thinge I much notyd in the hauU of Bolton, how chim- neys were conveyed by tunnills made in the syds of the walls, betwixt the lights in the hauU. And by this means, and by no covers, is the smoke of the hearthe in the hauU wonder strangely conveyed. Ther is a fair clock at Bolton, ami motu solis et lunce, and other conclusions." The situation of the castle is truly cold and comfort- less ; and possessed of no advantages for defence, but rather the reverse ; the rising grounds on the north, since the invention of artillery, greatly favouring an assailing force ; though, before that period, from its lofty strong walls, and narrow, loop-hole hghts, it had not much to fear from an enemv. When complete, it has consisted of four lofty towers, (now only three remain,) with a curtain wall connecting BOLTON CASTLE. 845 them. The form is quadrangular ; but on measuring it, no two sides are found equal ; the length of the south being 184 feet, the north 187 feet, the west 131 feet, and the east 125. The same irregularity is preserved in the towers ; neither their faces nor flanks are equal. In the middle of the curtain wall between the angle towers, on the north and south sides, is a large projecting turret, also unequal sided. As these turrets stand at right angles to the building, neither north nor south curtains are one continued right line. The grand entrance is in the east curtain, near the south tower, and has been defended by a portcullis ; there have been three other small doors besides, one on the north, and two on the west side. In the centre is an open court, giving light and air to the interior apartments. The rooms are small, and very numerous: in one is a well of excellent water ; another is called the dungeon, a term which might be properly applied to a great many of them. The great hall has occupied the upper story on the south side, and has been hghted by tall narrow windows ; yet wide, compared with the loop-holes, which have been intended to give light to the other apartments. A corresponding room on the north side is called the chapel ; it was the chantry en- dowed by the founder, for six priests to say mass daily for the soul of king Richard II. Four or five families now reside in the different parts of the castle. The south-west tower is that ascended by visitors, and is occupied from " turret to basement." Close to this tower, is the room in which 346 BOLTON CASTLE. tradition says " the beauteous hapless Mary " of Scot- land was confined. It has two narrow windows '"' through the thick wall ; one to the east, looking into the court ; the other to the west, overlooking the open country. It was through this last that she made her escape, being lowered from it by an attendant, to the ground beneath. The room has a low fire-place ; the floor is of mortar, now partly broken up ; and the whole apartment gives us a very low idea of the com- forts of the ancient nobility. The stone staircase, leading to the top of the tower, is in good condition ; the rooms clean and orderly, but sadly deficient in light. The view from the top is one of uncommon beauty. At each corner of the tower, there has been a watch turret, the steps leading up to them yet remaining. The chimneys not in use are covered over, to keep out the jackdaws, who have a great partiality for the old building. On the north side, we look down upon queen Mary's room, which yet retains its original roof ; the lead being scratched and scrawled all over with the names of visitors, who have thus sought to gratify their love of fame. Look- ing over into the country on this side, we only see the bleak, bare hill, which divides Wensleydale from Swale- dale. To the west, we look down upon the village of Carperby ; beyond which, is Aysgarth, with the tower of its fine church rising above " the copsewood green." * A pane of glass, in one of these windows, is said to have had the name of Mary queen of Scots written npon it with a diamond ring by herself. It was long preserved with care ; but having been removed to Bolton Hall, was accidentally broken. BOLTON CASTLE. 347 In the back ground, the giant bulk of Addleborough forms a very conspicuous object. To the south-west, we see the openings of the valleys of Bishopdale and Walden, with the villages of West Burton and Thoresby. The huge mass of Penhill rises to the south, with the town of West Witton at its foot. To the east, are the villages of E-edmire and Preston XJn- derscar, the glorious woods around Bolton Hall, and the pleasant village of Wensley. The valley below appears in all its beauty, smiling in sunshine, with the "yellow-sanded Yore^' winding along through rich fields and noble woods. The whole forming a land- scape of the most varied and enchanting kind. 348 ^xrl^mnniJ €mtlt Proudly pre-eminent among its kindred structures, in massive Norman architecture, stands Richmond castle ; the most interesting object in a most interest- ing town. Though more than eight centuries and a half have elapsed since its foundations were laid, parts of it appear calculated to endure for an equal time to come. Though of great note, both from its peculiar strength, and the high rank of its princely owners, it does not occupy a prominent place in history. Before the JSTorman conquest, a large district in the North Riding of Yorkshire, since known under the name of Richmondshire, was the property of the beau- tiful Edwin, one of the great Saxon nobility. After the conquest, this valuable estate was bestowed by the conqueror upon Alan Rufus his nephew, one of the sons of Eudo, earl of Bretagne ; who had accompanied his uncle in the invasion of England, and commanded the rear-guard at the battle of Hastings. The charter for dispossessing earl Edwin of his Yorkshire estates, and conferring them on Alan, was granted by William at the siege of York, A. D. 1069, and is one of the briefest of legal documents. " I, William, surnamed the Bastard, do give and grant to thee Alan, my nephew, earl of Bretagne, and RICHMOND CASTLE. 349 to thy heirs for ever, all the towns and lands which lately belonged to earl Edwyn in Yorkshire ; with the knight's fees, churches, and other privileges and customs, in as free and honourable a manner as the said Edwyn held them. " Given from the siege before York.'' This .gift consisted of 140 knight's fees, each con- taining twelve plough lands, or 640 acres ; and Rich- mondshire, the seat of these possessions, contained 104 parishes. Yet this was not the whole of the con- queror's gift to his nephew ; for Alan's estate, in the whole, consisted of 440 manors. A noble patrimony! implying extraordinary merit or service in the fortu- nate receiver. In fixing upon a site for his castle, which was to serve as a place of residence, and a fortress of defence, Alan selected one of the strongest points in his dominions, and laid the foundations on an almost perpendicular rock, on the left bank of the Swale ; and the selection of the spot showed the judgment of the founder. It was in a central situation, on the confines of the low country and the mountains, on a site almost impreg- nable, on which was practised all the skill of Norman fortification ; and of such an extent, as would aJBford accommodation, as well as protection, to the faithful vassals of the earl ; who, by any sudden insurrection, might be driven to seek refuge within its walls. Such was the felicity, says Dr. Whitaker, with which the site was chosen for the capital and fortress of the province, that if a disturbance should happen in the 350 RICHMOND CASTLE. low country, within half an hour, a body of horse would be on the plain, ready to chase the insurgents. Or if, as was more probable, the ruder and more hardy natives of the valleys, trusting to the fastnesses of their neighbouring mountains, presumed to rebel ; an active and disciplined body of infantry would have no time to waste in traversing plains, while their enemies above were gathering strength and courage from delay. The buildings were probably begun about 1087 ; '"' but only a very small part, if indeed any that we now see, was the work of the founder. To increase its security, his successors, Alan the younger, and Stephen Fergaunt, encompassed it with a strong wall, eight hundred yards in length, embattled, and flanked with lofty towers. To the south, the west, and east, the fortress was rendered impregnable by the combined operations of nature and art. And on the north, which was the weakest side, Conan, the fourth earl of Rich- mond, built the great square tower or keep, in 1 146 ; the walls of which, from their extraordinary thickness, have braved the dilapidating eff'ects of time, and retain at this day, their original dimensions and stability. From this tower, which is ninety-nine feet high, with walls eleven feet thick, the defenders of the castle had a commanding view of the surrounding country ; and, in case of attack, all the movements of their enemies would be as visible to them, as if they had been made in the court yard of the fortress. To strengthen this * Gale says in 1071. RICHMOND CASTLE. 351 entrance, an outwork, called the barbacan, was erected, which defended the gate and the drawbridge. In the year 1174, William, king of Scotland, sur- named the Lion, invaded England ; but was surprised and captured, near Alnwick, by Ralph de Glanville, and the Anglo-Norman chiefs ; carried prisoner to Richmond castle, and there confined in a narrow dungeon. Notwithstanding its strength and consequence, this castle has never been beseiged ; nor has war, in any manner, contributed to its ruin. The earldom of Richmond, of which this castle was the capital, has frequently changed hands. The large extent and wealth of its territory, made the early sovereigns of England glad to seize every pretext for taking it to themselves ; and when they possessed it, they were often induced by policy to present it to such of their adherents as were most serviceable to them. Until the death of Conan, the fourth earl, it was pos- sessed by the earls of Bretagne, in France. It was seized by Richard I., on a very slender pretence, and retained by him for some years. His successor, king- John, continued also in possession of it ; but ultimately gave it to Peter de Dreux, who became earl of Rich- mond in 1216. From this family it was transferred, in 1241, to Peter of Savoy, uncle to the queen of Henry III, but not for any considerable period ; for the interests of Henry induced him to contrive that it should pass into the hands of the dukes of Bretagne, whose ancestors had formerly possessed it. 352 RICHMOND CASTLE. John, earl of Richmond, was taken prisoner at the battle of Bannockburn, July 25th, 1314 ; and the queen of France, and the bishop of Glasgow, were given up as his ransom. " Whatever their rank might be, a woman and an ecclesiastic were no adequate compensation for an active and warlike earl." In 1343, Edward III. seized the earldom, and con- ferred it upon his son John of Gaunt, who was then but three years old. The honour of Richmond was finally severed from the house of Bretagne, in the reign of Richard II. It was held without the earldom by Ralph Neville, the great earl of Westmorland, for life. Edmund Tudor was created earl, in 1453 ; and in 1489, when Henry, son of Edmund, earl of Rich- mond, became king of England, under the title of Henry VII., the earldom finally settled in the crown. In 1525, Henry Fitzroy, a natural son of Henr}^ VIII., was created duke of Richmond. He died with- out issue. In 1613, Lodowic Stewart, duke of Lennox, was created earl ; and, in 1 623, duke of Richmond. In 1672, the title expired in the person of Charles, earl of Lichfield, to whom it had descended. In 1674, Charles II. created his natural son, Charles Lennox, duke of Richmond ; from whom the present ducal family is descended. No estates were granted with the title, except a few acres of land encircled by the walls and moat of the castle of Richmond. In every point of view the castle is a magnificent object ; and in ancient times, on its almost perpen- dicular rock, must have been considered next to RICHMOND CASTLE. 353 impregnable. Its imposing dimensions, the freshness of its masonry, the pertinacious dislike to vegetation on its exterior, strike the eye as it gazes on the towering stronghold ; and are evidences of an almost indestruc- tible durability. The hand of time is certain in its effects on all around ; the ivy clings to the mouldering walls, and clothes them with a beauty which the keep despises, — proud in its sternness, reluctant to boast of prettinesses."' The view of the town and castle from the railway station in the valley below, is grand and imposing ; the town rising up the slope and crowning the crest of the hill ; the castle, — like some veteran grey, in arms, — keeping watch on the steep promontory, above the river on the south. The great keep is the most majestic tower in York- shire, presenting on the outside no traces of ruin or decay. It is ninety-nine feet in height, and the walls are eleven feet thick. Flat buttresses, in the Norman style, flank the sides, and are continued at the angles in the form of square turrets. The entrance into the castle yard is at the foot of the noble keep ; and turn- ing to the right, we . are soon on the ground-floor of that majestic tower. In the centre is an octagonal pillar, from which spring the circular arches of the groined roof. At the foot of this pillar is a w^ell of water, which has evidently been formed when the tower was built, a cavity having been left in the column for its reception. The floor is of the natural rock, * Loxgstaffk's EiclimondiBhire. 2 A 354 RICHMOND CASTLE. appearing like large, rough, irregular flags. No light has been admitted into this apartment, but what entered by the spacious doorway. During the night it has been lighted by lamps, suspended from the arches above ; the rings for that purpose yet remain- ing. On the left of the entrance, a staircase, project- ing into the room, leads to the second story ; in which the central pillar is a cylinder. All the floors above this are broken down, of which there appears to have been three. In the thickness of the walls are many small rooms and passages, lighted by narrow loop-holes. Partly by means of the original staircase, partly by means of wooden ladders, the summit of the tower is reached ; then, what a splendid prospect meets the eye ! To describe it is impossible ; it seems to include half a kingdom ; extending from the mouth of the Tees, to the minster of York, in one vast sweep, eastward; while, to the west, hills peep over hills in grand confu- sion. The view must be seen, to be properly appre- ciated, and once seen, will not readily be forgotten. Leaving this mighty tower, *^ silent in its strength," we turn to the left, and next stop at " Robin Hood's tower,'' a dwarf indeed, compared to the giant we have lately left. How it obtained the name of England's most famous outlaw, we know not ; but it is said, on good authority, to have been the station of the lords of Middleham, subfeudatories of the earls of Richmond. The ground-floor forms a vaulted chapel, of small dimensions, exhibiting many of the peculiarities of RICHMOND CASTLE. 355 Norman carchitecture. It is arcaded round, and the east window is a long loop-hole, the sill of which has formed the altar. The next tower is called "the gold hole," from a tra- dition of treasure having been found in it. Report says, that there is, or rather was, a subterraneous passage, leading under the bed of the river, from this tower to the priory of St. Martin, on the opposite bank. We next reach the hall of ScoUand, which was the station of the lords of Bedale, who performed miKtary service in the castle of their superior lord. This has been the great banquetting hall, the windows being larger than in any other part of the castle. The carved cornices and brackets, with the chimneys car- ried up in the thickness of the walls, seem to point out this portion of the fortress as the residence of its princely owners. On the outside of this building? towards the west, are some pieces of herring-bone masonry. In the basement of the corner tower is a room, without either door, window, or loop-hole, and which is generally said to have been a dungeon ; with some probability, as it is adapted for no other purpose. How the victims who were so unfortunate as to be cast into this den could ever escape, is not so easy of explanation. From a window at this corner of the castle, is a most exquisite view of the river and valley below ; a panorama of natural beauty. The south side of the castle, which overhangs the Swale, might be considered as impregnable in any age. The area 356 RICHMOND CASTLE. inclosed within the walls of the castle includes about five acres of ground, and is of a triangular form. The walls do not appear to have been thrown down by violence, but to have crumbled into ruin through time and neglect. When complete, with the banner of the princely earl and his lordly retainers proudly floating from its walls, it would present a grand and imposing spectacle; now, it is only the most interesting feature in a most interesting landscape. The abode of princes, the battlements that once defended a province, now only offer a subject of study to the delighted antiquary, employment for the enthusiastic artist, or philosophic lessons to the contemplative moralist. 357 6xtg f\xmxB Cnkrer. On the right of the northern entrance into the town of Richmond, stands the soKtary tower of the church of the establishment of the Franciscan or Grey Friars. It is said to have been founded by Ralph Fitz Randal, lord of Middleham, in 1258, and where, on his death, in 1 270, his heart was buried. Many members of the families of Scrope, Plessy, and Frank, were also buried here. These houses, with the exception of their sites and precincts, were unendowed, and disqualified, b}^ the rule of their order, from taking any donations in land. Hence there was no real estate belonging to this hou^e, except its site and the Friars' close, containing about eighteen acres, and even these were given to the town in trust for their use. Legacies, however, in money, they might and did receive ; besides which the reputa- tion of their poverty and merits, and perhaps their importunity, supplied them with sufficient for their daily use. ^ To this house, in 1423, Robert Wyclyf, master of Kepyer Hospital, near Durham, and rector of Hutton Rudby, gave, by his will, twenty shillings. Ralph Fitz Randolph, knight, in 1457, bequeathed seven marks to the friars of Richmond, to celebrate mass during one 358 GREY friars' tower. year for his own soul, and for the souls of all the faithful departed. In 1470, Robert Dale, alias Flesher, of Great Fencote, leaves five shillings to these friars. This establishment continued in a flourishing state till the dissolution in 1539, when it was surrendered by Robert Sanderson, the master or warden, and fourteen brethren. The inmates of this house were treated with great severity by Henry VIII. " All the difficult,'^ says Bishop ]3urnet, "that I find made against owning of the king's supremacy, was at Rich- mond, by the Franciscan friars." They said that it concerned their consciences, " that they had sworn to follow the rule of St. Francis, and in it they would live and die." They cited a chapter of their rule, — "that their order should have a cardinal for their protector, by whose directions they might be governed in their obedience to the Holy See." Many of the Franciscans suffered death in the cause, and others ended their days miserably in gaol. The site of the monastery is now the property of John James Robinson, Esq., to whose family it has belonged since the year 1713. The magnificent central tower, all that remains of the buildings, is lofty, well proportioned, and of the lightest and richest style of late Gothic architecture ; rising from four of the most beautiful arches in the north. The buttresses are corbelled out in a singular manner. The east end of the south aisle alone remains. GREY friars' TOWER. 359 Tradition states that the present remains are part of a building which was never finished ; and from their appearance, it is more probable that this tower is the beginning of a new church, than the remnant of an old one. Next to the keep of the castle, it is one of the most interesting remains of antiquity, and one of the greatest ornaments of the town of Richmond. 360 €mhn |ibkp. The ruins of this monastery are situate in a pleasant spot, about a mile below Richmond, almost close to the northern bank of the river Swale, surrounded by hills partly clothed with wood ; the whole forming a scene of calm seclusion and beauty. This house was founded by Roald, or Roaldus, con- stable of Richmond castle, son of Emsart Wesard, the first grantee of the estates belonging to Tor, under the earl of Richmond, about the year 1152. He gave to it such of the enclosed lands and open pastures in Hudswell, as he had not previously bestowed on the priory of St. Martin ; with two carucates and three bovates of land in Easby, and certain estates at Wait- wath. Roger de Mowbray was also a benefactor to this house ; and all the grants made to it were con- firmed by king Edward III. This abbey had also belonging to it the rectories of Easby, Stanwix, and Manfield. The monks of this estabhshment were regular canons of the Premonstratensian order ; commonly called *' white canons,'^ from the colour of their habit. In the reign of Edward III, Thomas de Burton, then representative of the family of Roald, sold the fee of Tor to Henry le Scrope, lord of Bolton ; and, from EASBY ABBEY. 361 that period to the dissolution, the Scropes were respected as the founders of the monastery. Richard, son of Henry le Scrope, high chancellor to Eichard II. , assigned to the canons the manor of Brompton ; and in the sixteenth of the same king's reign, received the royal licence to bestow on this house an annual rent of £150. ; for the maintenance of ten additional canons and two secular ones, to cele- brate divine service for the prosperity of king Eichard and his heirs during their lives, and for their souls after their decease ; for his own soul, those of his pre- decessors, and all the departed ; and for the support of twenty poor men in the abbey for ever. His body was laid in the church of this abbey, where the remains of many of this noble family were deposited for many generations. On the iT'th of May, 1424, a commission was directed to Nicholas, bishop of Dromore, suffragan of the archbishop of York, to dedicate the conventual church of St. Agatha, juMa Eichmond, and the area of the churchyard. In 1534, John, lord Scrope, was received as the very true and undoubted founder, by the monastery, with procession, and all such solemnity and ceremonies as appertained thereto, according as his noble ancestors had been before him ; and his heirs /or ever were to be partakers of all the prayers and suffrages of the brethren, and all other customs, duties, pleasures, and commodities belonging to the just title and right of a founder. 862 EASBY ABBEY. When Henry VIIL, in the 26th of his reign, had determined to suppress all religions houses whose revenues were, in clear yearly value, less than £200., commissioners were appointed to enquire into the revenues of the abbey of St. Agatha. They declared that the annual income of the house amounted to £188. 16s. 2d. ; but that the revenue was liable to great deductions,* which reduced the sum to £111. 17s. lOd. The abbey was thereupon suppressed, and the monks dispersed into other houses. Robert Bampton, who was elected in 1511, was the last abbot, and, along with seventeen canons, surrendered the abbey in 1535. The site, with the possessions of the monastery, were soon after leased for thirty years to John, lord Scrope, reserving to the king advowsons, and great fees and woods, at the annual rent of £283. 13s. Id. ; nearly double the amount at which the commissioners had valued the property. In 1557, it was sold by Philip and Mary to Ralph * Tlie following are a few of the deductions. They were bound by various grants to distribute once a week to five poor and indigent persons, for the soul of John Eomaine, archdeacon of Richmond, as much meat and drink as came to 55s. lid. a year ; and a like alms of the value of 15s. a year, to one poor person, every day, for the soul of the aforesaid John ; to give to ten poor persons on the day of his obit, one meal of the value of ten pence ; and to divers chaplains on the day^of his obit, 10s. They were also bound to spend 26s. 8d. in giving one loaf of bread, called Paysloffe, or loaf of peace, one flaggon of ale, and one mess of food, to one pauper every day, from the feast of All Souls to the feast of the Grcumcision. To give the value of £4. in corn, and red and white salted fish, to every poor and indigent person, on the day of St. Agatha, from an ancient custom of religion ; and to give and distribute to the poor a similar alms, according to an old custom and precept of religion, at the Supper of the Lord, and two following days. EASBY ABBEY. 363 Gower, of Richmond, for £660. 3s. 4d. ; the tenure in chief for knight's service. He dying, bequeathed the same to his son John ; who being attained of high treason, all his estates were confiscated to the crown. In the reign of Elizabeth and James I., it was again in possession of the Scro.pes, of Bolton, and was subse- quently purchased by Robert Jaques, Esq., for £45,000. The remains of this abbey cover a large space of ground, and, combined with the beauty of the surround- ing scenery, form a very interesting picture. The first group of buildings approached by the visitor from Richmond, are evidently the oldest part of the struc- ture, and may be referred to the first foundation of Roald ; but having been placed on the shelving bank of the Swale, has long been gradually detaching itself from the adjoining parts, and threatens, at no distant period, to fall. Passing near the kitchen, easily dis- tinguished by its large fire-place and chimney, we reach the refectory, a noble room, standing near the parish church."""' The great window at the east end, in the decorated style, is highly beautiful, and much of its elegant tracery remains. In the south wall of this apartment, there are six other windows, in the same style. The second window^ — from the projection of * " The little church of Easby is a gem of rusticity. It realizes all our ideas of model village temples, shown us in pretty story books. Ivy floats around the chancel, to the grief of the antiquarians, and a large trunk comes bursting out of its north side, we know not from what hidden birth-place. A scrap of Saxon, or early Norman sculpture, peeps from above the western lights, in the form of a knot, more elaborate than that of a true lover, and makes all the people admire. Dim shields of Scrope, Aske, and Conyers, 364 EASBY ABBEY. the wall beneath it into the room, — is supposed to have been used as a reading gallery. This apartment is 102 feet in length, by twenty-seven in breadth ; the floor has been supported on groined arches, resting in the centre of the basement story, on a row of seven pillars. The lower room has been divided into cells or offices, traces of which remain on the walls. On the north side of the refectory, is a large room, supposed to have been the chapter-house, roofed with pointed arches. The cloister-court, of which one side was formed by the northern wall of the refectory, was entered at the west end by a curious doorway, which displays the fanta^ic taste of Norman enrichments in perfection. The site of the abbey church can yet be traced. The elegant remains of the clustered columns, which supported the entrances to the north and south tran- septs, are still visible. Three windows remain on the east side of the south transept, and three at the northern end of the north transept. The abbot's lodgings, instead of occupying their usual situation to the south-east of the choir, and been connected with the east side of the cloister-court, are here placed most injudiciously, says Dr. Whitaker, to surround the porcli entrance ; and this, forsooth, is the only memorial of the Scropes at their pet resting spot. A melancholy broken statue of St. Agatha graces the wall near the chancel door, the iron work of which will repa}^ attention, the elegant turn of a leaf to form a handle being remarkably clever. The architecture was originally plain transition Norman, and the east window gives a very early example of tracery, consisting of three lancet lights, under one round arch, the eyes open.'" — Long.staffe's Richmondshirc. EASBY ABBEY. 365 the north of the church, and therefore deprived, by the great elevation of the latter, of warmth and sun- shine. The abbot's private entrance into the church was by a doorway, yet remaining, into the north aisle of the nave. To compensate, however, for the dark- ness of his lodgings, he had a pleasant gardqn open to the morning sun, with a beautiful solarium, highly adorned with gothic groining, of which some fragments were remaining a few years ago ; but time and neglect have produced their usual fruits, and the whole has now fallen to ruin. At the dissolution, the lattice work from the chantry of the Scropes was removed to Wensley church, where much of it yet remains. The stalls of the canons were removed to the parish church of Richmond, and are now set apart for the use of the corporation. The gateway of the abbey, a square building, under which the road formerly passed, is in good repair ; a large room in the upper story is used as a granary. The mill-race runs underneath part of the ruins, and passing the old and perfect granary of the abbey, flows into the Swale. Midway between the gateway and the village of Easby, near the centre of the road, is a remarkable echo given by the ruins. On the green, not far from the gateway, is a venerable and picturesque elm, known as " the abbot's elm," nor is it improbable from its antique appearance, that some of the venerable superiors of the monastery may have said their evening office under its shade. 366 §lateitsfo0rllj Castle. At a distance of five miles north-west of Richmond are the remains of Ravensworth castle, once the home of the chivalric family of Fitz Hugh, subfeudatories of the earls of Richmond. Of the builder of this castle, or the time of its erec- tion, we have no account ; but it is said to have existed before the Conquest. However that may be, at that period it belonged to a baron, named Bardolph, who, in his old age, became a monk of St. Mary's abbey, near York. Camden says, " it belonged to the barons called Fitzhugh, (descended from those Saxons who were lords of the place before the Conquest,) who flourished till the time of Henry VH." The Fitzhughs might be styled the founders of Jervaux abbey, and many of that illustrious line were buried there ; among which was the founder, Akar, who died in 1161, and his son, Harveus Fitz Akary, in 1182 ; Henry Fitz Randolph, who died in 1260 ; and his daughter-in-law, Albreda, wife of Hugh Fitz Henry, lord of Ravens- worth, who was buried Feb. 22nd, 1302. Hugh Fitz Henry died in 1304. His tomb, bearing the cross- legged effigy of a knight crusader, may yet be seen in the north transept of Romaldkirk church. RAVENSWORTH CASTLE. 367 Henry Fitz Henry, grandson of Hugh and Albreda, died in his father's lifetime, 1352, and was buried at the foot of the high altar at Jervaux. The second son, and eventual heir, Henry, who married Joan, daughter of Henry, lord Scrope, of Masham, was also buried before the altar, at Jervaux. Henry, lord Fitzhugh^ K.G., his son and successor, aged twenty-three years at his father's death, attended Henry V. in his wars in France, with sixty-six men at arms, and 209 archers ; he is described as a brave and noble knight, the beau ideal of chivalry. He visited Jerusalem on pilgrimage, and also Cairo ; and fought against the Saracens and Turks. He married Elizabeth Gray, heiress of the Marmions of Tanfield ; and dying at Eavensworth, Jan. 11th, 1424, was interred with his ancestors at Jervaux. A mutilated effigy of this illustrious warrior is yet to be seen, at the eastern extremity of the centre aisle of the ruins of that abbey. His lady died in 1427, and was buried there also. In her will she desired her body to be carried, in all goodly haste after her death, to be buried before the high altar, near her departed lord ; when at the exeques and mass the next day, twenty-four torches were to burn round the hearse, and fifteen tapers, each a pound in weight, before the high altar. She left to her son, Eobert, who was destined to the bishopric of London, a psalter, covered with red velvet, and a ring, with a relic of St. Peter's finger. She wished one thousand masses to be performed for her within three months. And after giving her executors directions to pay her debts the 368 RAVENSWORTH CASTLE. first thing, and disposing of the remainder towards marrying her children, she entreats them to " do for her soul as they would answer to God." In Leland's time, this castle belonged to Lord Parr ; he says, — " The castle, excepting two or three towers, and a faire stable, with a conduct coming to the hull side, had no thing memorable." This castle was held by the crown from 1571 to 1629 ; when by letters patent it was granted to Edward Dichfield, and other trustees. In 1677, it was in possession of Sir Thomas Wharton ; by whose daughter it passed to Robert Byerley, Esq. It was afterwards in possession of Humphrey Fletcher, Esq. After his death it was sold to Mr. Lax, and is now in the possession of Mr. Page. The ruins of this castle stand in a low, marshy situation, with no advantages of defence, except what might be derived from the depth and fulness of its moat ; which, indeed, appears from its remains to have been of considerable dimensions, and from its situation would always be well supplied with water, as the land rises from it nearly on all sides. The whole area may have occupied rather more than two acres ; and the few fragments that remain are in a dilapidated and neglected state. A square tower, at the north-west corner, is the chief portion now standing. It is about seventeen feet square within, and three stories in height ; the rooms have been low, each occupying the whole breadth of the tower, and each has been fur- nished with a fire-place, and lighted by two windows, RAVENSWORTH CASTLE, 369 about nine inches wide, bj three feet six inches in height. The walls are five feet thick, and of good ashler work. A winding stone staircase has ascended at the north-east corner to the second story, and then passed, by a flight of steps in the thickness of the wall, to the opposite corner ; and there another winding stair has conducted to the top. Close to this tower has been the main entrance ; the gateway yet remain- ing, about twelve feet wide, and high enough to admit a man on horseback. It has been defended by a port- cullis, the groove of which yet remains. In the centre of the area is a small square tower, not more than nine feet by five inside. A small room on the top has been very carefully finished ; three of its sides have each a window of two trefoil-headed lights, with a quatrefoil in the arch above. The tracery of two of them yet remains. Around the outside wall is an in- scription, in bold, black letter, which reads as follows — ^'t. yu*L iVt. ^iit tmxL & mip, nl^\i\ & m. Christus dominus, Ihesus, via, fons et origo, alpha el omega. There are other three fragments of ruin remaining, one near the last mentioned tower, somewhat like a broken down barn, in shape ; another at the north-east corner, covered with ivy, with a small window looking out from a deep recess ; the other is at the north- western corner, and consists of a piece of blank wall, about sixteen yards in length, and about twenty feet 2b 370 RAVENSWORTH CASTLE. high. This probably formed part of the "faire stable '' that Leland saw. No part of the remaining fragments appear to indicate an Anglo-Norman origin. The south front has been semicircular. The whole area is full of ridges and hillocks, indicating the remains of foundations ; and the place where the warlike knight and his retainers dwelt, is now devoted to the pastur- age of cattle. 371 ^00[cst0n %hhti2^ Though comparatively remote from the great routes of traffic, few of the Yorkshire abbeys are better known by name than that of Eggleston. Touched by the wizard pencil of Sir Walter Scott, the district around has become classic ground ; and, independent of its associations with the lays of Scotland's mightiest minstrel, it is well worth a visit, from its own intrinsic beauties. In this abbey, is laid one of the most stirring scenes in " Rokeby ; " the grand climax of interest reserved for the last canto is developed here. " The reverend pile lay wild and waste, Profan'd, distonour'd, and defac'd. Through storied lattices no more In soften' d light the sunbeams pour, Gilding the Gothic sculpture rich, Of shrine, and monument, and niche. The cruel fury of the time Made sport of sacrilegious crime ; And dark 'Fanaticism rent Altar, and screen, and ornament, And peasant hands the tombs o'erthrew, Of Bowes, of Rokeby, and Fitzhugh," Here died the gentle Wilfrid of the poet's song ; (look not for his tomb — he is a thing of immortalityj and cannot be buried ;) here the arts of the wily Oswald Wycliife " burst upon their artist's head ; '^ and '?>72 EGGLESTON ABBEY. here the wild buccaneer, Bertram Eisingham, (not all a villain,) expiated his treachery to his leader by killing his enemy, and escaped further crime by being killed himself. " Fell as he was, in act and mind, He left no bolder lieart behind ; Then give him for a soldier meet, A soldier's cloak for winding sheet." These are but creatures of the imagination, — nothing more ; but they are creatures of the imagination of Scott, and this is the place where he made them per- form their parts, and where you may see them also, in the same manner as he did ; the scenes are around you, the actors are only wanting. This abbey was founded, according to Bishop Tanner, by Ralph de Multon, in the latter end of the reign of king Henry II., or in the beginning of that of Richard I. ; but according to another account, it was founded by Conan, earl of Richmond, who died A.D. 1171. The churches of Rokeby and Great Ouseburn were appropriated to this house by archbishop Zouch. It had also the church of Startforth, given by Helen de Hastings. The religious settled here were Premonstratenses, or white canons. This order was first brought into England about the year 1140; and their first estab- lishment was at Newhouse, in Lincolnshire. These canons followed the rule of St. Augustine, as reformed by St. Norbert, about the year 1120; and they derived their name from Premonstre, in Picardy, the abbot of which was head of the order. EGGLESTON ABBEY. 373 The followers of this order were at first so poor, that thej had nothing they could call their own but a single ass ; which served to cany the wood they cut down every morning and sent to Laon, in order to purchase bread. The order, however, increased so much, that they had in Christendom 1000 abbeys, 300 provost- ships, a great number of priories, and 300 nunneries. The object of the order was to ensure a pure contem- plative life. Their habit was a white cassock, a rochet, and over it a long white cloak, and white cap. From this dress the monks were often called " white canons.'' Leland, in his Itinerary, calls this abbey a prior >', and gives the following description of it : '' The priory of Eggieston joineth hard to Thulesgylle bek, and hangeth over the high banke of Tese. I saw, in the body of the church, two very faire tumbs of grey marble. In the greater was buried, as I learned, one Sir Ralph Bowes ; an yn the lesser, one of the Rokes- bys. Hard under the clifFe by Eglestone is found, on eche side of Tese, very fair marble, wont to be taken up both by marbelers of Barnardes castle and of Egle- ston ; and partly wrought by them, and partly sold unwrought to others." Thomas Darneton, who had been elected A.D. 1519, was the last abbot. Lord Dacre, who married the heiress of Thomas de Multon, was the patron at the period of the dissolution. The gross annual value of the revenues, in the 26th of Henry VIIL, vv^as £65. 5s. 6d., and the net £36. 7s. 2d. 874 EGGLESTON ABBEY. The site of the abbey was granted, 2nd of Edward VI., to Robert Shelly a Shelly ; it is now the property of W. B. S. Morritt, Esq., of Rokeby Park. The ruins of this abbey stand on a beautiful swell of land almost close to the river Tees, near the junction of the romantic Thorsgill with the master stream. The situation is one of romantic and pictorial beauty ; on one side the Tees pours its rapid stream, at the bottom of a deep rocky dell, worn by the fury of the current ; the banks are finely overhung with wood, and the river flows with an everlasting murmur, along ^ "That mighty trench of living stone. Condemned to mine a channell'd way O'er solid streets of marble grey." On another side is the beautiful Thorsgill, so named from the northern god of war ; a finely wooded glen, with a slender stream flowing at the bottom, — " The faiiy Thorsgill's murmuring child." This narrow valley was a choice place for Scott ; and he has viewed it with a poet's eye, and described it with the fidelity of a painter's pencil. A large range of buildings, including the dormitory and other ofiices, are yet entire, and converted into cottages ; the interior has been somewhat modernized, but the exterior presents much the same appearance as when left bv its monkish builders. The cloister has probably been of the penthouse kind, and is now occupied as a farm-yard. The church has suffered severely ; yet the shell is nearly entire, and of the usual cruciform shape, without aisles. The greatest EGGLESTON ABBEY. 375 part of the walls of the nave and choir are yet of their original height, of early English architecture. The south side of the nave has been lighted by five windows of two lights each, the tracery yet remaining. The other side, which has adjoined the conventual buildings, is a blank wall. The corbels yet remain, to which side beams from the roof have descended. The transept is nearly all gone. The great eastern window of the choir is yet complete, and divided into five lights by perpendicular mullions, and is far from elegant ; the mouldings on the outside are ornamented with slender banded shafts. The piscinse of two altars yet remain. The late J. B. S. Morritt, Esq., caused all the fragments accumulated inside to be removed, when several ancient tombstones were exposed to view ; two of them bearing inscriptions in old English characters, and one a richly ornamented cross. The bases of the pillars which have sustained the central tower were also laid bare. Some parts of the walls threaten to fall at no very distant period, some parts are thickly overgrown with ivy, and some parts are shaded by a fine grove of trees. From various causes, this abbey must always be a choice spot for the tourist and- the lover of natural beauty. 376 §0foes €milL Besides the attraction of its Norman castle, or tower, Bowes has also the additional interest of having been a Roman station, on the great military road leading from Catteractonum, (Catterick,) to Luguvallium, (Carlisle;) known by the name of Lavatrse, or Lavatris.* The station does not appear to have been of great extent, as part of the ditch by which it was environed may yet be traced. * It is mentioned in the II. and V. Iters, of Antoninus, in the following manner : — Itek. II. From Verterse Brough, in Westmorland, m. p, to Lavatrse . . 14 . . Bowes, to Catteractonum 13 . . Catterick. Iter. V. From Catteractonum Catterick, m. p. to Lavatrse . . 18 . . Bowes. to Yeterse . . 14 . . Brough. Thus making a difference of five miles in the different Iters between Catterick and Bowes, and shewing that even those valuable records are not infallible guides in fixing the sites of Eoman stations and towns. In the Itinerary of Kichard of Cirencester, the distances are — Iter VIII. m. p. From Catteractoni (Catterick) to Lataris (Bowes) . . 16 From Lataris to Vataris (Brough) . . 16 In the Notitia, where the stations of the Eoman soldiers in Britain are mentioned, we find, — Perfectus numeri, Exploratorum, Lavatris. BOWES CASTLE. 377 On the inclosure of the common lands of the parish, an ancient aqueduct was discovered, leading from a place called Laver, or Laverpool, near two miles distant from the toVn, and which is supposed to have supplied the garrison and bath with water. Camden recorded the following inscription, found at Bowes ; the stone on which it was inscribed, having for a long time served as the communion table in the parish church. Imp. Csesari Divi Traiani Parthici Divi. Nervoe nepoti Traiano. 'No. Aug. Pont. Maxm. Cos. I P. P. Coh. nil. F. lo. Sev. And another, which narrates the reparation of a bath for the first Thracian cohort, in the time of Severus, by Virius Lupus, legate and proprsetor of Britain : his agent being Valerius Pronto, prsefect of Horse, of the Ala Yettonum."^^' Bowes is unnoticed in Saxon records, or in Domes- day. When this district came into the possession of the earls of Richmond, a huge, massive, Gorman keep, or tower, was erected, which they kept in their own hands It is supposed to have been built on the ruins of the Roman station, by Alan Niger, the first earl ; * A remarkable group of six massive gold rings, with disunit-ed ends, were found at Bowes, in January, 1850. The dilated edges of the ends are ex- tended to the inner side of the rings, in a way that must have rendered them exceedingly uncomfortable if worn as armlets. They lay close together, with what was thought to be the remains of a bag. They differed materially in weight ; varying from 15 dwts. to 6 oz. 878 BOWES CASTLE. who placed therein his cousin WiUiam, with five hund- red archers, to defend the honor against the men of Cumberland and Westmorland, who had rebelled against the Conqueror, and with GospatHc, earl of ISTorthumberland, had entered into a league with the king of Scots. This place, the Turrim d' arcbus, appears to have belonged to John de Dreux, earl of Richmond, in the reign of Edward III., who granted it to Mary St. Paul, the countess of Pembroke, in the 15th of the same reign. Ten years afterwards, it was ruinous, unten- able, and of no value ; but the ground within the ditches was estimated at £5. From the countess of Pembroke, it passed to John, duke of Bedford, third son of Henry IV., who died possessed of it. It was afterwards held by Henry YI. It is now, with the toll of cattle passing through the manor, the property of the Pulleine family. The castle stands on the crest of a hill, to the south of the town, overlooking the valley watered by the Greta, and its tributary streams, having the shapeless mass of Stainmoor rising bleak and bare to the west, Teesdale on the north, the hills of Swaledale on the south, and an extensive prospect, over a fruitful and interesting country, to the eastward. The plan of the castle is a square, the south and north fronts being about ninety feet each in length, and the east and west about forty-four feet each. The walls are twelve feet in thickness, faced with hewn stone of excellent quality, flanked by shallow Gorman BOWES CASTLE. 379 buttresses. The east and south sides are quite perfect ; the outer coating has been stripped from off the other sides, leaving the inner grouting exposed, which is. hard and durable as stone itself. The thick walls are pierced by loop holes, three inches wide on the exterior, but widening within so as to allow a bowman to stand and discharge his arrows through them. There has been no entrance from the outside into the lower story, all ingress into it must have been from the room im- mediately above it. The principal entrance appears to have been into the second story, by a flight of steps, now destroj^ed, on the east of the castle. Three large round-headed windows, of nearly similar proportions with the doorway, on the other three sides of the building, have admitted light into this story, which has contained the principal apartments. It is easy to see that the building has been three stories in height ; and probably little more than the battlements on the top have been broken down. On each side of what we have styled the entrance, is a small, square, arched room, about fifteen feet in length, by seven in breadth ; each of them provided with a fire-place, both the rooms being formed in the thickness of the wall. In the south-western side, is another room of similar dimensions, also formed in the thickness of the wall. In the south wall, is a passage two feet six inches wide, leading from one loop hole to another, so that these openings could be approached without entering the principal room ; such passages might also be used for other purposes. A circular 8S0 BOWES CASTLE. stone staircase, of good Avorkmanship and large pro- portions, at the south-east corner, has ascended from the basement story to the top of the tower. The height of the existing walls is more than fifty feet. Although but of small dimensions, this has been a place of great strength, and no doubt of equal im- portance. At a distance of about twenty yards from the foot of the tower, are traces of a moat, wdiich has been neither wide nor deep, and probably has not contained w^ater. It is supposed to have been the ditch around the Roman station, and this tower probably stands on the site of the Castrum Ewflora- torum once occupied by the Ala Vettonum. In the neighbourhood of Bowes, are other interesting objects, as a natural bridge across the river Greta, called " God's Bridge ; " it is of immense thickness, and has a complete arch-like perforation over the bed of the stream, and the carriage road passes over it. A few miles further west, on the bleak ridge of Stain- moor, is the ancient camp known as Berecross, and somewhat famous in early British history. The church yard of Bowes has some claims to attention, for in it rest the remains of tw^o true lovers — Boger Wrightson and Martha Bailton, who died for love of each other. Their hapless fate has been com- memorated in verse, and formed the foundation of Mallet's affecting ballad of " Edwin and Emma." The elder Wrightson was a hard old man, who had acquired a handsome competency, and required that his son should marry a fortune ; but in vain ; his affections BOWES CASTLE. 381 were fixed on the pretty, but poor Martha Railton. Their courtship continued by stealth for more than a year. When it was found out, old Wrightson, his wife, and particularly their daughter, Hannah, treated the poor girl with the most notable contempt. The young lover sickened, and took to his bed about Shrove Tues- day, and died the Sunday sennight following. On the last day of his illness, he desired to see his mistress. She was civilly received by the mother, who bid her welcome when it was too late. But her daughter, Han- nah, who was present, would give them no opportunity of exchanging their thoughts. On her return home, on hearing the passing bell toll for her lover's departure, she screamed aloud that her heart was burst, and expired some moments after. " Just when she reach'd, with trembling step, Her aged mother's door, — ' He's gone,' she cried, ' and I shall see That angel face no more. '"I feel ! I feel this bursting heart Beat high against my side ' From her w^hite arm down sunk her head ; She shivering, sighed and died." The simple record in the parish register, is a most touching and truthful witness of this domestic tragedy. " Hodger Wrightson, Jun., and Martha Railton, of Bowes, Buried in one grave : He died in a Fever, upon tolhng his passing Bell she cryed out My heart is broke, and in a Few hours expired, purely through Love. March 15. 1715. Aged about twenty years each." 382 BOWES CASTLE. (*^f^- */^ " At the west end of the church is a stone, erected at the expense of F. T. Dinsdale, Esq., author of the Teesdale glossary, bearing the simple and appropriate entry, copied from the parish register. Such is the evidence on which rests this tale, — " So tender and so true." J. SAMPSON, CONEY-STKEET, YORK. "^JST'm) 022 120 567 4 ^i;ui i»",n Ml »i--'-ji K J; I'm. m ^I'.n i-Hi