STANHOPE CASTLE-DURHAM. Stanhope is an ancient market town and parish, pleasantly situated in Weardale, at the distance of twenty miles west from Durham. The neighbourhood comprises an extensive mountainous district, abounding with lead ore; and a great portion of the population are employed in working the mines. Within a short distance from the western extremity of the town stands Stanhope Castle, a large structure, guarded with a curtain wall, and overlooking the river Wear. This mansion was formerly the family residence of the Featherstonehaughs, the last male descendant of which house perished in the civil wars; the castle and estates were then sold. It is now the seat of Cuthbert Rippon, esq. M. P. The original part of the edifice was erected by the late Cuthbert Rippon, esq. and is a square pile of building, fronting the south, with two semicircular projections on each side. To the east the present proprietor has added an elegant conservatory, connecting the main building with a lofty square tower, which is occupied by an extensive museum, and lighted by large and elegant windows, divided into Gothic compartments, as displayed in the annexed view. The entrance to this tower, in consequence of the declivity on which it and the conservatory stand, is in the second story, around the interior of which is a beautiful gallery of brass, whence a geometrical staircase descends to the depository of mineral curiosities. The upper walls are covered with splendid specimens of ornithology, and other varieties; and the whole reflects credit on the taste of the spirited proprietor. All the towers and walls of the castle are embattled; and the garden and pleasure-grounds are laid out to great advantage. "Stanhope," says a late tourist, "derives great beauty from the broad foliage which here adorns the vale. The opposite bank is studded over with trees, which give it a chequered and beautiful appearance. Some of them are ranged in hedge-rows, which have a formal appearance, while others are less regularly arranged, in masses, of breadth and variety much more interesting than the other portion. Their contrast affords a simple but useful lesson in ornamental planting, which the improved taste of the present day has discovered to be much more dependent on the freedom and simplicity of nature than the formal rules of art." As the ground rises from the river, the sylvan beauties of the vale gradually disappear; and the bleak and lofty hills in the distance present a striking contrast to the scene above described. It is in the bowels of the earth, however, and not upon its surface, that the industry of man has been here most successfully applied; and the riches of the lead-mines in this district have well repaid his exertions.* The rectory of Stanhope, the principal emoluments of which are derived from the lead-mines, is one of the richest in the kingdom; and several of the incumbents have stepped from it into the episcopal dignity. The late rector, Henry Phillpotts, D.D. is now bishop of Exeter. The talents and public spirit of Cuthbert Rippon, esq. having rendered him highly popular in the borough of Gateshead, he was elected its representative in parliament on the 12th of December, 1832; being the first member ever returned for that place. The name of Stanhope is derived by Hutchinson from Stone-hope, the fortified hill, or Stand-hope, the hill where the inhabitants made their chief resistance against an enemy; an idea which is furnished by a remarkable eminence at the west end of the town, one hundred and eight feet high, and called the Castle Hill, or the Castle Heugh. At a short distance to the west is the ancient park of the bishop of Durham, in which these "mitred princes" formerly held their great Chace, attended by their vassals, and displaying all the pomp of feudal chiefs. In 1327, this park was the scene of a campaign between a marauding army of Scots, under Randolf and Douglas, and an English force of forty thousand men, led by the youthful and impetuous Edward III. The Scots occupied a lofty hill on the south of the river Wear, defying the English to drive them from it; and several days were occupied in fruitless endeavours to draw them from their advantageous post. On one occasion, a party of them, during the night burst into the English camp, cut the cords of the king's tent, killed about three hundred men, and then retired with some loss. On the following evening they lighted fires along the heights, and, under cover of the night, escaped into Cumberland with their booty. When Edward was informed of the deception in the morning, he lamented with tears the escape of his enemies. Historians have described the army of the Scots as peculiarly adapted for predatory excursions. It consisted entirely of cavalry, some idea of which may be formed from Scott's "Watt Tynlynn," who "Led a small and shaggy nag, That through a bog from hag to hag This bounding from hag to hag was exactly what the Scottish horse had to perform in their retreat over the western fells. The troops were unencumbered with provision or baggage. Their drink was the water of the river or brook; their meat the cattle of the country, which they slaughtered, and then boiled in the skins; and they carried with them a scanty supply of oatmeal in a bag, which each horseman attached to his saddle. The velocity with which they advanced, or retreated, was such as to make it difficult either to discover or pursue them. During the confusion which prevailed on the rebellion of the Earls of Westmorland and Northumberland, Weardale was harassed by a troop of Border plunderers. This event is commemorated in a ballad called "The Raid of Rookhope," inserted in Scott's Border Minstrelsy. The homely bard very naturally exlaims, "Lord God! is not this a pitiful case, That men dare not drive their goods to t'fell, That fears neither heauen nor hell?" |