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At a short distance from Glapwell (p. 314,) on the left, is Hardwick Hall, (Duke of Devonshire), a most interesting specimen of the Elizabethan style of domestic architecture. It stands on the brow of a bold and commanding eminence, overlooking a vale of great beauty. This fine old mansion was erected by the celebrated Countess of Shrewsbury, daughter of John Hardwick of Hardwick, and heiress of this estate. She married four times, always contriving to get the power over her husband's estates by direct demise, or by intermarrying the children of their former marriages, so that she brought into the family immense estates, and laid the foundation of four dukedoms. Her first husband was Sir William Cavendish; her last the Earl of Shrewsbury, to whose custody Mary Queen of Scots was consigned.* The most remarkable apartments in this interesting edifice are the state-room and the gallery. At one end of the former is a canopy of state, and in another part a bed, the hangings of which are very ancient. The gallery, which is about 170 feet long, and 26 wide, extends the whole length of the eastern side of the house, and is hung with tapestry, on a part of which is the date of 1478. In the chapel there is a very rich and curious altar cloth, 30 feet long, hung round the rails of the altar, with figures of saints under canopies wrought in needle-work. The house has, with very few exceptions, been kept exactly in the * HOWITT's Rural Life in England, 2d edit. p. 257-267.

state in which its builder left it as to furniture and fitting-up. The Duke of Devonshire has brought hither his family pictures from Chatsworth. There are nearly 200 portraits in this gallery, the most interesting being those of " Bess of Hardwick," Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, Lady Jane Grey, Cardinal Pole, Bishop Gardiner, Sir Thomas More, Sir William Cavendish, William, first Duke of Devonshire, Hobbes the philosopher, &c. The furniture is in many instances older than the house, and was removed from the old hall. Some of the needle-work was wrought by Mary Queen of Scots, and in the entrance hall there is a statue of her by Westmacott.

At about 100 yards from the hall stand the remains of the old baronial residence where Queen Mary and Arabella Stuart were confined. In the reign of Henry VII. it was the residence of the Hardwick family, but the whole pile is now only a splendid ruin luxuriantly mantled with ivy.

Hardwick is in the parish of Ault Hucknall, and Hobbes the philosopher is buried in the church. About four miles to the west is the Tupton station of the North Midland Railway.

SHEFFIELD is situated near the confluence of the Don and the Sheaf, at the eastern foot of that extensive range of hills which runs along the centre of the island from Staffordshire in Westmorland. With the exception of a single outlet towards Doncaster, it is encompassed and overlooked by an amphitheatre of hills, and the neighbourhood presents a remarkable variety and beauty of prospect. Hallamshire, which includes the parish of Sheffield, and the adjoining parishes of Handsworth and Ecclesfield, forms a district, the origin of which may be traced back to Saxon, Roman, and even British times, but the town of Sheffield has only recently risen into importance. In the reign of Henry I. the manor of Sheffield belonged to the family of De Lovetot, who founded an hospital called St Leonards, established a corn-mill, and erected a bridge over the river Don; and the manor afterwards successively descended by marriage to the Furnivals, Talbots, and ultimately to the Howards, in whose possession it still remains. Mary Queen of Scots spent nearly fourteen years of her imprisonment in Sheffield manor-house, which stood on an eminence, a little distance from the town, and was dismantled in 1706 by the orders of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. A castle was erected at Sheffield at a very early period. During the civil wars, Sir John Gell took possession of the castle and town for the parliament; but on the approach of the Marquis of Newcastle, he retreated into Derbyshire. Sheffield Castle continued in the possession of the Royalists till after the battle of Marston Moor, when it was obliged to capitulate after a siege of some days. It was then demolished by order of the parliament, and no vestiges of it now remain. So early as the thirteenth century, Sheffield had acquired a reputation for iron manufactures, especially for a kind of knives called whittles. The great abundance of iron-ore, stone, and coal which are found in the vicinity might naturally have been expected to give rise to such manufactures, and the several mountain streams which unite near the town furnish an extent of water-power

which probably few other localities could command. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth many artisans emigrated from the Netherlands into England, in consequence of the cruelties of the Duke of Alva; and the workers in iron having been settled in a body at Sheffield, the neighbourhood from this time became known for the manufacture of shears, sickles, knives, and scissors. The principal manufacture of Sheffield is cutlery in all its branches. The vast buildings used for grinding by steam form one of the curiosities of the town. Silver-plate and plated goods form also one of its staple manufactures. Brass-founderies are also numerous, and the manufacture of Britannia metal and German silver occupies many hands. Optical instruments, brushes, buttons, and combs are also made here to a considerable extent, and there are various other manufactures which arise out of, or are connected with, the staple commodities of the town.

The public buildings consist of the Town Hall, the Cutlers' Hall, the Corn Exchange, recently erected by the Duke of Norfolk, who is the owner of the ground upon which no inconsiderable part of the town is built, the Assembly Rooms, and Theatre, the Music Hall, two News-rooms, and the Public Baths, the Cemetery, Botanical Gardens, General Infirmary, the Dispensary, and the Shrewsbury Hospital, established and munificently endowed by the Earl of Shrewsbury. Sheffield has six churches, a number of meeting-houses, and establishments for education, a Literary and Philosophical Society, a Mechanics' Institution. 2 M. P. Population, 68,186.

HARROGATE is celebrated for its mineral springs, which are annually visited by about 2000 persons. It consists of two scattered villages, known by the names of High and Low Harrogate, situated about a mile from each other, and possessing ample accommodation for visitors. Harrogate possesses both chalybeate and sulphureous springs. Of the former the oldest is the Tewit Well, which was discovered about the year 1576. The Old Spa, situated on the Stray, was discovered, by Dr Stanhope, previous to 1631. The Starbeck chalybeate is about midway between Harrogate and Knaresborough. The Saline chalybeate is situated at Low Harrowgate, and was discovered in 1819. The sulphurous springs are, the Old Sulphur Wells, situated at Low Harrogate, close by the Leeds and Ripon road; the Crown Sulphur Well, situated in the pleasure-grounds belonging to the Crown Hotel; and the Knaresborough or Starbeck Spa, situated nearly midway between Harrogate and Knaresborough. Harrogate possesses a considerable number of hotels, several boarding-houses, public baths, promenade-rooms, ball and billiard-rooms, circulating libraries and reading-rooms, four places of worship, &c. High and Low Harrogate contain upwards of 4000 inhabitants.

About three miles from Harrogate is the town of KNARESBOROUGH, delightfully situated on the banks of the Nidd, which flows through a most romantic valley below precipitous rocks. The church is a large old structure, containing several monuments. Here are the remains of a castle which was erected soon after the conquest. It belonged at one time to Piers Gaveston, the favourite of Ed

ward II. In the year 1331 it was was granted by Edward 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. 4678. 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 ninety-three 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 hill. 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 Sir John Mallory of Studley, then governor of Skipton Castle, with a detachment of Royalists.

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 L.13,000, by its first incumbent, the Rev. Edward Kilvington. Ripon contains four Dissenting

chapels, several hospitals, a free grammar school, founded in 1546 by Edward V., 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. 5461.

Ripon is 208 miles north north-west of London, 27 north of Leeds, and 24 north-west by west of York.

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About three miles from Ripon is Studley Royal, the seat of Miss Lawrence, adorned with a good collection of paintings. The principal object of attraction, however, is the celebrated pleasure grounds, which include the venerable remains of Fountain's 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 Cistertian 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. 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 present owner of the abbey has shown a most praiseworthy regard for these interesting remains of antiquity, and has from time to time expended considerable sums in their preservation. A short distance west of the abbey stands the fine old mansion of Fountain's Hall, built by Sir Stephen Procter 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, until five o'clock in the evening. Harrogate is 14 miles distant.

About four miles from Ripon, and thirteen from Harrogate, is Newby Hall,

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