378 KNARESBOROUGH RIPON. III. to his son, the celebrated John of Gaunt, and was afterwards one of the places in which Richard II. was imprisoned. During the civil wars it sustained a siege from the parliamentary forces under Lord Fairfax, and at last surrendered upon honourable terms. It was afterwards dismantled by order of the parliament. Part of the principal tower is still remaining. In the walk along the bank of the Nidd, opposite the ruins of the castle, is a celebrated petrifying or dropping well, springing in a declivity at the foot of a limestone rock. Near it is a curious excavation called St Robert's Chapel, hollowed out of the solid rock; its roof is groined, and the altar adorned with Gothic ornaments. About half a mile lower down the river are the remains of a priory founded by Richard Plantagenet. A mile to the east is St Robert's Cave, remarkable on account of the discovery of a skeleton here in 1759, which led to the conviction and execution of the celebrated Eugene Aram. Knaresborough has manufactories of linen and cotton, and its corn-market is one of the largest in the county. Two M.P. Pop. 1851, 5536. Knaresborough was the birth-place of the famous blind guide John Metcalf. He had lost his sight in infancy, and yet frequently acted as a guide over the forest during the night, or when the paths were covered with snow,contracted for making roads, building bridges, &c. He died 1810, aged ninetythree years. RIPON is a town of considerable antiquity, situated between the rivers Ure and Skell, over the former of which there is a handsome stone bridge of seventeen arches. At an early period it was pillaged and burnt by the Danes, and here they defeated an army of the Saxons. A conical tumulus called Ellshaw or Ailcey Hill, near the cathedral, is supposed to cover the remains of those who fell in the battle. In 1695, several Saxon coins were found on digging into this Ripon suffered severely from the plague in 1534, and again in 1625. Here in 1640, commissioners were deputed by Charles I. to meet with the Scots to treat with them, and endeavour to obtain a peace. In 1643, Sir Thomas Mauleverer, with a detachment of the parliamentary army, took possession of the town, and committed many outrages on the inhabitants, but was put to flight by a detachment of Royalists under Sir John Mallory of Studley, then governor of Skipton Castle. hill. The most interesting building in Ripon is the cathedral, the first stone of which was laid in 1331, but the choir was probably not finished till 1494. The chapter house, however, with the crypts beneath, are supposed to be much more ancient. It is said to be one of the best proportioned churches in the kingdom. It has two uniform towers at the west end, each 110 feet high, besides the great tower called St Wilfred's tower; each of these towers originally supported a spire of wood covered with lead. Under the chapter house is a vaulted charnel house, which contains an immense collection of human remains in good preservation, piled in regular order round the walls. Trinity church was built and endowed in 1826, at a cost of £13,000, by its Erst incumbent, the Rev. Edward Kilvington. Ripon contains several Dissenting * See Sir E. Bulwer Lytton's Eugene Aram. chapels, and hospitals, a free grammar school, founded in 1547, by Edward VI. a mechanics' institute, &c. The bishopric of Ripon was created in 1836, out of the large dioceses of York and Chester. The bishop's palace is situated on a slight eminence, about a mile north-west of the city. The foundation stone was laid on the 1st of October 1838. The market-place is a spacious square, in the centre of which stands an obelisk, 90 feet high, which is surmounted by the arms of Ripon. This obelisk was erected by William Aislaby, Esq. of Studley, who represented the borough for sixty years in Parliament. On the south side of the market-place is the town-hall, built in 1801 by Mrs Allanson of Studley. Ripon was once noted for the excellence of its spurs; it was also celebrated for its woollen manufactures. The present manufacture is chiefly saddle-trees, it also produces linens and malt. The Ure navigation was brought up to the town by means of a short canal in 1767. Ripon sends two members to Parliament. Bishop Porteous was a native of this town. Pop. 1851, 6080. Ripon is 208 miles north north-west of London, 27 north of Leeds, and 24 northwest by west of York. It affords the title of Earl to the Robinson family. About three miles from Ripon is Studley Royal, the seat of Earl de Grey, adorned with a good collection of paintings. The principal object of attraction however, is the celebrated pleasure grounds, which include the venerable remains of Fountains Abbey, said to be the most perfect monastic building in England. The site of this monastery was granted in 1132, by Thurstan, Archbishop of York, to certain monks who resolved to adopt the Cistercian order. Eight years after it was burnt down, but was speedily rebuilt. The foundation of the church was laid in 1204. This abbey became, in the course of time, one of the wealthiest monasteries in the kingdom, and its possessions extended over a tract of thirty miles. At the dissolution the abbey and part of the estates were sold to Sir Richard Gresham, father of Sir Thomas. It originally covered about ten acres of ground, but scarcely more than two are now covered with the ruins. "No depredation has been committed on the sacred pile; time alone has brought it to its present state; it has fallen by a gentle decay without any violent convulsion. Built in the most elegant style of Gothic architecture, the tower and all the walls are yet standing, the roof alone being gone to ruins." The late Miss Lawrence, who was owner of the abbey, evinced a most praiseworthy regard for these interesting remains of antiquity, and from time to time expended considerable sums in their preservation. A short distance west of the abbey stands the fine old mansion of Fountains Hall, built by Sir Stephen Proctor in 1611, with materials taken from the ruins of the monastery. On an eminence opposite the hall stand some large old yew trees, under which the monks are said to have obtained shelter while engaged in building the abbey. They were originally seven in number, but three of them have been blown down. The domain of Studley is open to the public every day except Sunday, five o'clock in the evening. Harrowgate is fourteen miles distant. until About four miles from Ripon, and thirteen from Harrowgate, is Newby Hall THIRSK, &c the mansion of Earl de Grey, situated on the northern bank of the river Ure and commanding beautiful and extensive views of the surrounding country. It is supposed to contain the best private collection of statuary in the kingdom. The drawing-room is hung with tapestry of the celebrated Gobelin manufactory. The pleasure grounds are beautiful and well laid out. Seven miles from Ripon and eighteen from Harrowgate is Hackfall, a romantic valley of great beauty, laid out in a tasteful manner. It also was the property of the late Miss Lawrence. Three miles south-west of Ripon is Markenfield Hall, once the seat of a renowned family of that name. Nine miles from Ripon and ten from Harrowgate, on an elevated ridge of moorland, are some vast perpendicular masses of grit, called the Brimham rocks, which are well deserving the inspection of tourists. There are several tumuli dispersed among the rocks. In the centre of this wild scene, the late Lord Grantley some years ago erected a substantial house and out-offices for the accommodation of strangers. Grantley Hall, the seat of Lord Grantley, is four miles distant from Ripon. In West Tanfield Church, six miles and a half from Ripon, are several tombs of the Marmion family. THIRSK is a pleasant well-built town on the banks of the little river Codbeck, which divides the old town from the new. St Mary's church is a handsome Gothic structure, and is said to have been built with the ruins of the ancient castle which was destroyed in the reign of Henry II. It contains several monuments, and three sedilia or stone seats which were used by the clergy before the Reforination. There are several meeting-houses and charitable institutions, banks, &c. It is connected by railway with all parts of the kingdom. 1851, 5319. One M.P. Pop. CXXXIII. LONDON TO NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE THROUGH WARE, HUNTINGDON, STAMFORD, GRANTHAM, NEWARK, DONCASTER, BOROUGHBRIDGE, DARLINGTON, AND DURHAM, 269 Miles. |