The Evolution of an English Town
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Title: The Evolution of an English Town
Author: Gordon Home
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EVOLUTION OF AN ENGLISH TOWN ***
Produced by Ted Garvin, Andy Schmitt and the PG Online Distributed
Proofreading Team.
THE EVOLUTION OF AN ENGLISH TOWN
Being the story of the ancient town of PICKERING in Yorkshire from
Prehistoric times up to the year of our Lord Nineteen Hundred & 5
BY GORDON HOME
TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR GENEROUS HELP IN THE COMPILATION OF THIS
BOOK
PREFACE
The original suggestion that I should undertake this task came from the
Vicar of Pickering, and it is due to his co-operation and to the great
help received from Dr John L. Kirk that this history has attained its
present form. But beyond this I have had most valuable assistance from so
many people in Pickering and the villages round about, that to mention
them all would almost entail reprinting the local directory. I would
therefore ask all those people who so kindly put themselves to great
trouble and who gave up much time in order to help me, to consider that
they have contributed very materially towards the compilation of this
record.
Beyond those who live in the neighbourhood of Pickering, I am particularly
indebted to Mr Richard Blakeborough for his kind help and the use of his
invaluable collection of Yorkshire folklore. Mr Blakeborough was keen on
collecting the old stories of hobs, wraithes and witches just long enough
ago to be able to tap the memories of many old people who are no longer
with us, and thus his collection is now of great value. Nearly all the
folklore stories I am able to give, are those saved from oblivion in this
way.
I have also had much help from Mr J. Romilly Allen and from Mr T.M. Fallow
of Coatham, who very generously gave his aid in deciphering some of the
older records of Pickering.
To Professor Percy F. Kendall who so kindly gave me permission to
reproduce his map showing the Vale of Pickering during the Glacial Epoch,
as well as other valuable help, I am also greatly indebted; and I have to
thank Professor W. Boyd Dawkins for his kindness in reading some of the
proofs, and for giving valuable suggestions.
GORDON HOME.
EPSOM, _May 1905_.
CONTENTS
PREFACE.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I
CONCERNING THOSE WHICH FOLLOW
CHAPTER II
THE FOREST AND VALE OF PICKERING IN PALÆOLITHIC AND PRE-GLACIAL TIMES
CHAPTER III
THE VALE OF PICKERING IN THE LESSER ICE AGE
CHAPTER IV
THE EARLY INHABITANTS OF THE FOREST AND VALE OF PICKERING
CHAPTER V
HOW THE ROMAN OCCUPATION OF BRITAIN AFFECTED THE FOREST AND VALE OF
PICKERING, B.C. 55 TO A.D. 418
CHAPTER VI
THE FOREST AND VALE IN SAXON TIMES, A.D. 418 TO 1066
CHAPTER VII
THE FOREST AND VALE IN NORMAN TIMES, A.D. 1066 TO 1154
CHAPTER VIII
THE FOREST AND VALE IN THE TIME OF THE PLANTAGENETS, A.D. 1154 TO 1485
CHAPTER IX
THE FOREST AND VALE IN TUDOR TIMES, A.D. 1485 TO 1603
CHAPTER X
THE FOREST AND VALE IN STUART TIMES, A.D. 1603 TO 1714
CHAPTER XI
THE FOREST AND VALE IN GEORGIAN TIMES, A.D. 1714 TO 1837
CHAPTER XII
THE FOREST AND VALE FROM EARLY VICTORIAN TIMES UP TO THE PRESENT DAY, A.D.
1837 TO 1905
CHAPTER XIII
Concerning the Villages and Scenery of the Forest and Vale of Pickering
CHAPTER XIV
Concerning the Zoology of the Forest and Vale
* * * * *
Books of Reference
List of the Vicars of Pickering
Index
THE PURPOSE OF THE FOOTNOTES
Having always considered footnotes an objectionable feature, I have
resorted to them solely for reference purposes. Therefore, the reader who
does not wish to look up my authorities need not take the slightest notice
of the references to the footnotes, which in no case contain additional
facts, but merely indications of the sources of information.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Pickering Church from Hall Garth (_Coloured_)
Pickering From The North-West
Rosamund Tower, Pickering Castle
Kirkdale Cave
Hyænas' Jaws
Elephants' Teeth
Bear's Tusk
Pickering Lake in Ice Age
Newtondale in Ice Age
Pickering Lake, Eastern End
Scamridge Dykes
Pre-Historic Weapons
Leaf-shaped Arrow Head
Lake Dwellings Relics
Remains of Pre-Historic Animals from Lake Dwellings
Skeleton of Bronze Age
A Quern
Urns in Pickering Museum
Sketch Map of Roman Road and Camps
The Tower of Middleton Church
Ancient Font and Crosses
Saxon Sundial at Kirkdale
Saxon Sundial at Edstone
Pre-Norman Remains near Pickering
Saxon Stones at Kirkdale
Saxon Stones at Sinnington
South Side of the Nave of Pickering Church
Norman Doorway at Salton
Norman Work at Ellerburne
The Crypt at Lastingham
Norman Font at Edstone
Wall Paintings in Pickering Church
The Devil's Tower, Pickering Castle
Wall Painting of St Christopher
Wall Painting of St Edmund and Acts of Mercy
Wall Painting of Herod's Feast and Martyrdom of St Thomas À Becket
Effigy of Sir William Bruce
Effigies in Bruce Chapel
Holy Water Stoup in Pickering Church
Sanctus Bell
Cattle Marks
Section of Fork Cottage
Details of Fork Cottage
Pickering Castle from the Keep
Pre-Reformation Chalice
Font at Pickering Church
Alms Box at Pickering Church
House in which Duke of Buckingham Died
Maypole on Sinnington Green
Inverted Stone Coffin at Wykeham
Magic Cubes
Newtondale, showing the Coach Railway
Relics of Witchcraft
A Love Garter
Horn of the Sinnington Hunt
Interior of the Oldest Type of Cottage
Ingle-Nook at Gallow Hill Farm
Autographs of Wordsworth and Mary Hutchinson
Riding t' Fair
Halbert and Spetum
Old Key of Castle
Pickering Shambles
The Old Pickering Fire-Engine
Market Cross at Thornton-le-Dale
Lockton Village
The Black Hole of Thornton-le-Dale
Hutton Buscel Church
Sketch Map of the Pickering District
INTRODUCTION
Every preface in olden time was wont to begin with the address "Lectori
Benevolo"--the indulgence of the reader being thereby invoked and, it was
hoped, assured. In that the writer of this at least would have his share,
even though neither subject, nor author, that he introduces, may stand in
need of such a shield.
Local histories are yearly becoming more numerous. In few places is there
more justification for one than here.
I. The beauty of the scenery is not well known. This book should do
something to vindicate its character. There is no need on this point to go
back to the time of George III.'s conversation at the levée with Mrs
Pickering's grandfather. "I suppose you are going back to Yorkshire, Mr
Stanhope? A very ugly country, Yorkshire." This was too much for my
grandfather--(the story is told in her own words)--"We always consider
Yorkshire a very picturesque country." "What, what, what," said the King,
"a coalpit a picturesque object! what, what, what, Yorkshire coalpits
picturesque! Yorkshire a picturesque country!"[1] Only within the last few
months one of us had a letter refusing to consider a vacant post: the
reason given being that this was a colliery district. There is no pit to
be found for miles. Many can, and do, walk, cycle, or motor through the
Vale. Others, who are unable to come and see for themselves, will, with
the help of Mr Home, be in a better position to appreciate at its true
worth the charm of the haughs and the changing views of the distant Wolds,
and of the russet brown or purple expanse of the upland moors.
[Footnote 1: "Memoirs of Anna M.W. Pickering."]
II. The stranger on a visit, no less the historian or antiquary, has till
now often been puzzled for a clue, and ignorant where to turn for
authentic data, would he attempt to weave for himself a connected idea of
the incidents of the past and their bearing on the present. There has been
no lack of material buried in ancient records, or preserved in the common
oral traditions of the folk: but hitherto no coherent account that has
been published. Speaking for ourselves, we are glad the task of dealing
with the "raffled hank" of timeworn customs and obscure traditions as well
as the more easily ascertained facts of history is falling to the author's
practised pen. For the future, at any rate, there should be less
difficulty in understanding the manner of life and method of rule with
which past and present generations belonging to the Town of Pickering have
been content to dwell.
III. "Foreigners"[1] are sometimes at a loss to understand the peculiar
spirit of those who in York, for instance, are known as "Moor-enders."
This spirit shows itself in different ways; but perhaps in nothing so much
as the intense attachment of the townsmen to their birthplace. This local
patriotism is no whit behind that to be found in Spain--"seldom indeed a
Spaniard says he is a Spaniard, but speaks of himself as being from
Seville, Cadiz, or some forgotten town in La Mancha, of which he speaks
with pride, referring to it as 'mi tierra.'"[2] Our readers will learn
there is some reason for this attachment; and may, like some of us, who
tho' born elsewhere claim adoption as citizens, fall under the witchery of
its spell.
[Footnote 1: C.R.L. Fletcher in his "History of England" tells us that
townsmen of the thirteenth century were wont to brand their brethren in
all the neighbouring towns as "foreigners." Those we call foreigners, they
called aliens. The expression itself was made use of not long ago at a
meeting of the Urban Council.]
[Footnote 2: R.B. Cunninghame Graham, "Hernando de Soto."]
May the venture to compass these ends succeed, to use an old saying, "ez
sartin ez t' thorn-bush."[1]
[Footnote 1: It used to be the custom for the parson to collect the tithe
by placing a branch of thorn in every tenth stook; he choosing the stooks
and sending his cart along for them. R. Blakeborough, "Yorkshire Humour
and Customs."]
E.W.D.
The Vicarage, Pickering.
_25th September_ 1904.
THE EVOLUTION
OF AN
ENGLISH TOWN
CHAPTER I
_Concerning those which follow_
"Brother," quod he, "where is now youre dwellyng,
Another day if that I sholde you seche?"
This yeman hym answerde, in softe speche:
"Brother," quod he, "fer in the north contree,
Where as I hope som tyme I shal thee see."
_The Friar's Tale. Chaucer._
In the North Riding of Yorkshire, there is a town of such antiquity that
its beginnings are lost far away in the mists of those times of which no
written records exist. What this town was originally called, it is
impossible to say, but since the days of William the Norman (a pleasanter
sounding name than "the Conqueror,") it has been consistently known as
Pickering, although there has always been a tendency to spell the name
with y's and to abandon the c, thus producing the curious-looking result
of _Pykeryng_; its sound, however was the same.
In his Chronicles, John Stow states on the authority of "divers writers"
that Pickering was built in the year 270 B.C., but I am inclined to think
that the earliest settlements on the site or in the neighbourhood of the
present town must have been originated at an infinitely earlier period.
But despite its undisputed antiquity there are many even in Yorkshire who
have never heard of the town, and in the south of England it is difficult
to find anyone who is aware that such a place exists. At Rennes during the
great military trial there was a Frenchman who asked "Who is Dreyfus?" and
we were surprised at such ignorance of a name that had been on the lips of
all France for years, but yet we discover ourselves to be astonishingly
lacking in the knowledge of our own little island and find ourselves
asking "why should anyone trouble to write a book about a town of which so
few have even heard?" But it is often in the out-of-the-way places that
historical treasures are preserved, and it is mainly for this reason and
the fact that the successive periods of growth are so well demonstrated
there, that the ancient town of Pickering has been selected to illustrate
the evolution of an English town.
I have endeavoured to produce a complete series of pictures commencing
with the Ice Age and finishing at the dawn of the twentieth century. In
the earlier chapters only a rough outline is possible, but as we come down
the centuries and the records become more numerous and varied, fuller
details can be added to the pictures of each age, and we may witness how
much or how little the great series of dynastic, constitutional, religious
and social changes effected a district that is typical of many others in
the remoter parts of England.
[Illustration: Pickering from the North-West.]
Built on sloping ground that rises gently from the rich, level pastures of
the Vale of Pickering, the town has a picturesque and pleasant site. At
the top of the market-place where the ground becomes much steeper stands
the church, its grey bulk dominating every view. From all over the Vale
one can see the tall spire, and from due east or west it has a surprising
way of peeping over the hill tops. It has even been suggested that the
tower and spire have been a landmark for a very long time, owing to the
fact that where the hills and formation of the ground do not obstruct the
view, or make road-making difficult, the roads make straight for the
spire.
With few exceptions the walls of the houses are of the same weather-beaten
limestone as the church and the castle, but seen from above the whole town
is transformed into a blaze of red, the curved tiles of the locality
retaining their brilliant hue for an indefinite period. Only a very few
thatched roofs remain to-day, but the older folks remember when most of
the houses were covered in that picturesque fashion.
Pickering has thus lost its original uniform greyness, relieved here and
there by whitewash, and presents strong contrasts of colour against the
green meadows and the masses of trees that crown the hill where the castle
stands. The ruins, now battered and ivy-mantled, are dignified and
picturesque and still sufficiently complete to convey a clear impression
of the former character of the fortress, three of the towers at angles of
the outer walls having still an imposing aspect. The grassy mounds and
shattered walls of the interior would, however, be scarcely recognisable
to the shade of Richard II. if he were ever to visit the scene of his
imprisonment.
Since the time of Henry VIII. when Leland described the castle, whole
towers and all the interior buildings except the chapel have disappeared.
The chief disasters probably happened before the Civil War, although we
are told, by one or two eighteenth century writers, as an instance of the
destruction that was wrought, that after the Parliamentary forces had
occupied the place and "breached the walls," great quantities of papers
and parchments were scattered about Castle-gate, the children being
attracted to pick them up, many of them bearing gilt letters. During the
century which has just closed, more damage was done to the buildings and
in a short time all the wooden floors in the towers completely
disappeared.
Stories are told of the Parliamentary troops being quartered in Pickering
church, and, if this were true, we have every reason to bless the coats of
whitewash which probably hid the wall-paintings from their view. The
series of fifteenth century pictures that now cover both walls of the nave
would have proved so very distasteful to the puritan soldiery that it is
impossible to believe that they could have tolerated their existence,
especially when we find it recorded that the font was smashed and the
large prayer-book torn to pieces at that time.
[Illustration: Rosamund Tower, Pickering Castle.]
Pickering church has a fascination for the antiquary, and does not fail to
impress even the most casual person who wanders into the churchyard and
enters the spacious porch. The solemn massiveness of the Norman nave, the
unusual effect of the coloured paintings above the arches, and the carved
stone effigies of knights whose names are almost forgotten, carry one away
from the familiar impressions of a present-day Yorkshire town, and almost
suggest that one is living in mediæval times. One can wander, too, on the
moors a few miles to the north and see heather stretching away to the most
distant horizon and feel that there, also, are scenes which have been
identically the same for many centuries. The men of the Neolithic and
Bronze Ages may have swept their eyes over landscapes so similar that they
would find the moorlands quite as they knew them, although they would miss
the dense forests of the valleys and the lower levels.
The cottages in the villages are, many of them, of great age, and most of
them have been the silent witnesses of innumerable superstitious rites and
customs. When one thoroughly realises the degrading character of the
beliefs that so powerfully swayed the lives of the villagers and
moorland-folk of this district, as late as the first twenty years of the
nineteenth century, one can only rejoice that influences arose
sufficiently powerful to destroy them. Along with the revolting practises,
however, it is extremely unfortunate to have to record the disappearance
of many picturesque, and in themselves, entirely harmless customs. The
roots of the great mass of superstitions have their beginnings so far away
from the present time, that to embrace them all necessitates an
exploration of all the centuries that lie between us and the pre-historic
ages, and in the pages that follow, some of these connections with the
past may be discovered.
CHAPTER II
_The Forest and Vale of Pickering in Palæolithic and Pre-Glacial Times._
The Palæolithic or Old Stone Age preceded and succeeded the Great Glacial
Epochs in the Glacialid.
In that distant period of the history of the human race when man was still
so primitive in his habits that traces of his handiwork are exceedingly
difficult to discover, the forest and Vale of Pickering seem to have been
without human inhabitants. Remains of this Old Stone Age have been found
in many parts of England, but they are all south of a line drawn from
Lincoln to Derbyshire and North Wales. In the caves at Cresswell Craggs in
Derbyshire notable Palæolithic discoveries were made, but for some reason
these savage hordes seem to have come no further north than that spot. We
know, however, that many animals belonging to the pre-glacial period
struggled for their existence in the neighbourhood of Pickering.
[Illustration: A plan and section of Kirkdale Cave.]
It was during the summer of 1821 that the famous cave at Kirkdale was
discovered, and the bones of twenty-two different species of animals were
brought to light. Careful examination showed that the cave had for a long
time been the haunt of hyænas of the Pleistocene Period, a geological
division of time, which embraces in its latter part the age of Palæolithic
man. The spotted hyæna that is now to be found only in Africa, south of
the Sahara,[1] was then inhabiting the forests of Yorkshire and preying on
animals now either extinct or only living in tropical climates. The waters
of Lake Pickering seem to have risen to a sufficiently high level at one
period to drive out the occupants of the cave and to have remained static
for long enough to allow the accumulation of about a foot of alluvium
above the bones that littered the floor. By this means it appears that the
large quantity of broken fragments of bones that were recent at the time
of the inundation were preserved to our own times without any perceptible
signs of decomposition. Quarrying operations had been in progress at
Kirkdale for some time when the mouth of the cave was suddenly laid bare
by pure accident. The opening was quite small, being less than 5 feet
square, and as it penetrated the limestone hill it varied from 2 to 7 feet
in breadth and height; the quarrying had also left the opening at a
considerable height up the perpendicular wall of stone. At the present
time it is almost inaccessible, and except for the interest of seeing the
actual site of the discoveries and the picturesqueness of the spot the
cave has no great attractions.
[Footnote 1: Dawkins, W. Boyd. "Early man in Britain," p. 103.]
Not long after it was stumbled upon by the quarrymen Dr William Buckland
went down to Kirkdale, and although some careless digging had taken place
in the outer part of the cave before his arrival, he was able to make a
most careful and exhaustive examination of the undisturbed portions,
giving the results of his work in a paper read before the Royal Society in
1822.[1] Besides the remains of many hyænas there were teeth or bones of
such large animals as the elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, horse,
tiger, bear, urus (Bos primi-genius) an unknown animal of the size of a
wolf, and three species of deer. The smaller animals included the rabbit,
water-rat, mouse, raven, pigeon, lark and a small type of duck. Everything
was broken into small pieces so that no single skull was found entire and
it was, of course, impossible to obtain anything like a complete skeleton.
From the fact that the bones of the hyænas themselves had suffered the
same treatment as the rest we may infer that these ferocious lovers of
putrid flesh were in the habit of devouring those of their own species
that died a natural death, or that possibly under pressure of hunger were
inclined to kill and eat the weak or diseased members of the pack. From
other evidences in the cave it is plain that its occupants were extremely
fond of bones after the fashion of the South African hyæna.
[Footnote 1: Buckland, The Rev. Wm. "Account of an assemblage of fossil
teeth and bones ... at Kirkdale."]
[Illustration: Jaws of Kirkdale (above) and Modern Hyæna (below). The
Kirkdale Hyænas were evidently much more powerful than the modern ones.]
Although the existing species have jaws of huge strength and these
prehistoric hyænas were probably stronger still, it is quite improbable
that they ever attacked such large animals as elephants; and the fact that
the teeth found in the cave were of very young specimens seems to suggest
that the hyænas now and then found the carcase of a young elephant that
had died, and dragged it piecemeal to their cave. The same would possibly
apply to some of the other large animals, for hyænas, unless in great
extremes of hunger never attack a living animal. They have a loud and
mournful howl, beginning low and ending high, and also a maniacal laugh
when excited.
[Illustration: Teeth of young Elephants found at Kirkdale.]
It might be suggested that the bones had accumulated in the den through
dead bodies of animals being floated in during the inundation by the
waters of the lake, but in that case the remains, owing to the narrowness
of the mouth of the cave, could only have belonged to small animals, and
the skeletons would have been more or less complete, and there are also
evidences on many of the bones of their having been broken by teeth
precisely similar to those of the hyæna.
We see therefore that in this remote age Britain enjoyed a climate which
encouraged the existence of animals now to be found only in tropical
regions, that herds of mammoths or straight-tusked elephants smashed their
way through primæval forests and that the hippopotamus and the woolly or
small-nosed rhinoceros frequented the moist country at the margin of the
lake. Packs of wolves howled at night and terrorised their prey, and in
winter other animals from northern parts would come as far south as
Yorkshire. In fact it seems that the northern and southern groups of
animals in Pleistocene times appeared in this part of England at different
seasons of the year and the hyænas of Kirkdale would, in the opinion of
Professor Boyd Dawkins, prey upon the reindeer at one time of the year and
the hippopotamus at another.
Following this period came a time of intense cold, but the conditions were
not so severe as during the Great Glacial times.
[Illustration: Canine tooth or tusk of a Kirkdale bear (Ursus spelacus)]
CHAPTER III
_The Vale of Pickering in the Lesser Ice Age_
Long before even the earliest players took up their parts in the great
Drama of Human Life which has been progressing for so long in this portion
of England, great changes came about in the aspect of the stage. These
transformations date from the period of Arctic cold, which caused ice of
enormous thickness to form over the whole of north-western Europe.
Throughout this momentous age in the history of Yorkshire, as far as we
can tell, the flaming sunsets that dyed the ice and snow with crimson were
reflected in no human eyes. In those far-off times, when the sun was
younger and his majesty more imposing than at the present day, we may
imagine a herd of reindeer or a solitary bear standing upon some
ice-covered height and staring wonderingly at the blood-red globe as it
neared the horizon. The tremendous silence that brooded over the face of
the land was seldom broken save by the roar of the torrents, the
reverberating boom of splitting ice, or the whistling and shrieking of the
wind.
The evidences in favour of this glacial period are too apparent to allow
of any contradiction; but although geologists agree as to its existence,
they do not find it easy to absolutely determine its date or its causes.
Croll's theory of the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit[1] as the chief
factor in the great changes of the Earth's climate has now been to a great
extent abandoned, and the approximate date of the Glacial Epoch of between
240,000 and 80,000 years ago is thus correspondingly discredited by many
geologists. Professor Kendall inclines to the belief that not more than
25,000 years have elapsed since the departure of the ice from Yorkshire,
the freshness of all the traces of glaciation being incompatible with a
long period of post-glacial time.
[Footnote 1: "Climate and Time." James Croll, 1889.]
The superficial alterations in the appearance of these parts of Yorkshire
were brought about by the huge glaciers which, at that time, choked up
most of the valleys and spread themselves over the watersheds of the land.
In the warmer seasons of the year, when the Arctic cold relaxed to some
extent, fierce torrents would rush down every available depression,
sweeping along great quantities of detritus and boulders sawn off and
carried sometimes for great distances by the slow-moving glaciers. The
grinding, tearing and cannonading of these streams cut out courses for
themselves wherever they went. In some cases the stream would occupy an
existing hollow or old water-course, deepening and widening it, but in
many instances where the ice blocked a valley the water would form lakes
along the edge of the glacier, and overflowing across a succession of hill
shoulders, would cut deep notches on the rocky slopes.
Owing to the careful work of Mr C.E. Fox-Strangways and of Professor Percy
F. Kendall, we are able to tell, almost down to details, what took place
in the Vale of Pickering and on the adjacent hills during this period.
In the map reproduced here we can see the limits of the ice during the
period of its greatest extension. The great ice-sheet of the North Sea had
jammed itself along the Yorkshire coast, covering the lower hills with
glaciers, thus preventing the natural drainage of the ice-free country
inland. The Derwent carrying off the water from some of these hills found
its outlet gradually blocked by the advancing lobe of a glacier, and the
water having accumulated into a lake (named after Hackness in the map),
overflowed along the edge of the ice into the broad alluvial plain now
called the Vale of Pickering. Up to a considerable height, probably about
200 feet, the drainage of the Derwent and the other streams flowing into
the Vale was imprisoned, and thus Pickering Lake was formed.
The boulder clay at the seaward end of the Vale seems to have been capped
by ice of a thickness of nearly 100 feet which efficiently contained the
waters of the lake until they overflowed through a depression among the
hills to the south of Malton. If the waters escaped by any other outlet to
the west near Gilling and Coxwold, it can scarcely have been more than a
temporary affair compared to the overflow that produced the gorge at
Kirkham Abbey, as the Gilling Gap was itself closed by the great glacier
descending the Vale of York. The overflow of the lake by this route, south
of Malton, must have worn a channel down to a lower level than 130 feet
O.D. before the ice retreated from the seaward end of the Vale, otherwise
the escape would have taken place over the low hills blocking the valley
in that direction and the normal course of the drainage of the country
would have been resumed. The southern overflow evidently dug its way
through the hills fast enough to maintain that outlet, and at the present
time the narrow gorge at Kirkham Abbey is only 50 feet above sea level,
and the hills through which the Derwent passes at this point are from 200
to 225 feet high.
[Illustration: A Map of North-Eastern Yorkshire showing Lake Pickering
during the maximum extension of the ice. The area covered by ice is left
unshaded. The arrows show the direction of the glacier movements.
(Reproduced from the _Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society_, by
permission of Professor Percy F. Kendall.)]
As the waters of the lake gradually drained away, the Vale was left in a
marshy state until the rivers gradually formed channels for themselves. In
recent times drainage canals have been cut and the streams embanked, so
that there is little to remind one of the existence of the lake save for
the hamlet still known as The Marishes. The name is quite obviously a
corruption of marshes, for this form is still in use in these parts, but
it is interesting to know that Milton spelt the word in the same way as
the name of this village, and in Ezekiel xlvii. II we find: "But the miry
places thereof, and the marishes thereof, shall not be healed." The ease
with which a lake could again be formed in the Vale was demonstrated in
October 1903 after the phenomenally wet summer and autumn of that year, by
a flood that covered the fields for miles and in several places half
submerged the hedges and washed away the corn stooks.
The evidence in favour of the existence of Lake Pickering is so ample
that, according to Professor Kendall, it may be placed "among the
well-established facts of glacial geology."[1]
[Footnote 1: _Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society_, vol. lviii.
part 3, No. 231, p. 501.]
We have thus an accredited explanation for the extraordinary behaviour of
the river Derwent and its tributaries, including practically the whole of
the drainage south of the Esk, which instead of taking the obviously
simple and direct course to the sea, flow in the opposite direction to the
slope of the rocks and the grain of the country. After passing through the
ravine at Kirkham Abbey the stream eventually mingles with the Ouse, and
thus finds its way to the Humber.
The splendid cañon to the north of Pickering, known as Newton Dale, with
its precipitous sides rising to a height of 300 or even 400 feet, must
have assumed its present proportions principally during the glacial period
when it formed an overflow valley from a lake held up by ice in the
neighbourhood of Fen Bogs and Eller Beck. This great gorge is tenanted at
the present time by Pickering Beck, an exceedingly small stream, which now
carries off all the surface drainage and must therefore be only remotely
related to its great precursor that carved this enormous trench out of the
limestone tableland. Compared to the torrential rushes of water carrying
along huge quantities of gravel and boulders that must have flowed from
the lake at the upper end, Newton Dale can almost be considered a dry and
abandoned valley.
[Illustration: A Diagrammatic View of Newton Dale during the Lesser Ice
Age. The overflow of the glacier dammed lakes at the head of the dale came
down Newton Dale and poured into Lake Pickering.]
At Fen Bogs, where there is a great depth of peat, Professor Kendall has
discovered that if it were cleared out, "the channel through the watershed
would appear as a clean cut, 75 feet deep." The results of the gouging
operations of this glacier stream are further in evidence where the valley
enters the Vale of Pickering, for at that point a great delta was formed.
This fan-shaped accumulation of bouldery gravel is marked in the
geological survey maps as covering a space of about two square miles south
of Pickering, but the deposit is probably much larger, for Dr. Thornton
Comber states that the gravel extends all the way to Riseborough and is
found about 6 feet below the surface, everywhere digging has taken place
in that direction. The delta is partly composed of rounded stones about 2
feet in diameter. These generally belong to the hard gritstone of the
moors through which Newton Dale has been carved. Dr. Comber also mentioned
the discovery of a whinstone from the great Cleveland Dyke, composed of
basaltic rock, that traverses the hills near Egton and Sleights Moor, two
miles above the intake of Newton Dale at Fen Bogs.
The existence of this gravel as far towards the west as Riseborough,
suggests that the delta is really of much greater magnitude than that
indicated in the survey map. It has also been proved that Newton Dale
ceased its functions as a lake overflow, through the retreat of the
ice-sheet above Eskdale long before the Glacial Period terminated, and
this would suggest an explanation for the layer of Warp (an alluvial
deposit of turbid lake waters) which partially covers the delta. The
fierce torrents that poured into Lake Pickering down the steep gradient of
this canon would require an exit of equal proportions, and it seems
reasonable to suppose that the gorge at Kirkham Abbey was chiefly worn at
the same time as Newton Dale.
[Illustration: Diagrammatic view showing the presumed position of the ice
at the eastern end of the Vale of Pickering during the Lesser Glacial
epoch. The river Derwent is shown overflowing along the edge of the
glacier.]
Another delta was formed by the upper course of the Derwent to which I
have already alluded. In this instance, the water flowed along the edge of
the ice and cut out a shelf on the hill slopes near Hutton Buscel, and the
detritus was carried to the front of the glacier. This deposit terminates
in a crescent-shape and now forms the slightly elevated ground upon which
Wykeham Abbey stands. The Norse word Wyke or Vik means a creek or bay, and
the fact that such a name was given to this spot would suggest that the
Vale was more than marshy in Danish times, and perhaps it even contained
enough water to float shallow draught boats. Flotmanby is another
suggestive name occurring at the eastern corner of the lake about four
miles from Filey. In modern Danish _flotman_ means a waterman or ferryman,
and as there is, and was then, no river near Flotmanby, there is ground
for believing that the Danes who settled at this spot found it necessary
to ferry across the corner of the lake. Before the Glacial Period, the
Vale of Pickering was beyond doubt from 100-150 feet deeper at the seaward
end than at the present time, and even as far up the Valley as Malton the
rock floor beneath the deposit of Kimeridge clay is below the level of the
sea.
CHAPTER IV
_The Early Inhabitants of the Forest and Vale of Pickering_
Almighty wisdom made the land
Subject to man's disturbing hand,
And left it all for him to fill
With marks of his ambitious will....
Urgent and masterful ashore,
Man dreams and plans,
And more and more,
As ages slip away, Earth shows
How need by satisfaction grows,
And more and more its patient face
Mirrors the driving human race.
_Edward Sandford Martin._
THE NEOLITHIC OR NEW STONE AGE
Succeeded the Old Stone Age and overlapped the Bronze Age.
THE BRONZE AGE
Succeeded the New Stone Age and overlapped the Early Iron
Age.
THE EARLY IRON AGE
Succeeded the Bronze Age and continued in Britain until the
Roman Invasion in B.C. 54.
_(All these periods overlapped.)_
The Palæolithic men had reached England when it was part of the continent
of Europe, but after the lesser Glacial Period had driven the hairy
savages southwards a slow earth movement produced what is now the English
Channel and Britain was isolated. Gradually the cold relaxed and
vegetation once more became luxuriant, great forests appeared and England
was again joined to the continent. Possibly the more genial climate which
began to prevail in this country and the northward movement of the
reindeer brought the first Neolithic men into England, and it has been
suggested that some of these earlier tribes whose implements have been
discovered in White Park Bay, County Antrim and the MacArthur Cave, near
Oban, form a link between the Palæolithic and Neolithic people.
The culture of the New Stone Age was a huge advance upon that of the
earlier races, although it is more than probable that the higher
development existed in different parts of the world simultaneously with
the lower, the more primitive people becoming influenced by the more
advanced. A wave of great progress came with the Iberians of Spain who
spread across France and reached Britain by means of boats at a time when
it was probably once more an island.
Armed with bows and arrows and carefully finished stone axes and spears,
clothed in skins and wearing ornaments of curious coloured stones or
pieces of bone threaded on thin leathern cords, these Iberians or
Neolithic men gradually spread all over the British Islands. They
evidently liked the hills overlooking the fresh waters of Lake Pickering
for their remains have been found there in considerable quantities.
The hills on all sides of the Vale are studded with barrows from which
great quantities of burial urns and skeletons have been exhumed, and
wherever the land is under cultivation the plough exposes flint arrow and
spear-heads and stone axes.
Many of the numerous finds of this nature have disappeared in small
private collections and out of the many barrows that have been explored
only in a certain number of instances have any accurate records been
taken. It is thus a somewhat difficult task to discover how much or how
little of the plunder of the burial mounds belongs to the Neolithic and
how much to the Bronze and later ages. The Neolithic people buried in long
barrows which are by no means common in Yorkshire, but many of the round
ones that have been thoroughly examined reveal no traces of metal, stone
implements only being found in them.[1] In Mr. Thomas Bateman's book,
entitled "Ten Years' Diggings," there are details of two long barrows,
sixty-three circular ones, and many others that had been already
disturbed, which were systematically opened by Mr. James Ruddock of
Pickering. The fine collection of urns and other relics are, Mr. Bateman
states, in his own possession, and are preserved at Lomberdale; but this
was in 1861, and I have no knowledge of their subsequent fate.
[Footnote 1: Greenwell, William. "British Barrows," p. 483.]
One of the few long barrows near Pickering, of which Canon Greenwell gives
a detailed account, is situated near the Scamridge Dykes--a series of
remarkable mounds and ditches running for miles along the hills north of
Ebberston. It is highly interesting in connection with the origin of these
extensive entrenchments to quote Canon Greenwell's opinion. He describes
them as "forming part of a great system of fortification, apparently
intended to protect from an invading body advancing from the east, and
presenting many features in common with the wold entrenchments on the
opposite side of the river Derwent...." "The adjoining moor," he says, "is
thickly sprinkled with round barrows, all of which have, at some time or
other, been opened, with what results I know not; while cultivation has,
within the last few years (1877), destroyed a large number, the very sites
of which can now only with great difficulty be distinguished. On the
surface of the ground flint implements are most abundant, and there is
probably no place in England which has produced more arrow-points,
scrapers, rubbers, and other stone articles, than the country in the
neighbourhood of the Scamridge Dykes." The doubts as to the antiquity of
the Dykes that have been raised need scarcely any stronger refutation, if
I may venture an opinion, than that they exist in a piece of country so
thickly strewn with implements of the Stone Age. These entrenchments thus
seem to point unerringly to the warfare of the early inhabitants of
Yorkshire, and there can be little doubt that the Dykes were the scene of
great intertribal struggles if the loss of such infinite quantities of
weapons is to be adequately accounted for.
[Illustration: The Scamridge Dykes above Troutsdale.]
The size and construction of the Scamridge Dykes vary from a series of
eight or ten parallel ditches and mounds deep enough and high enough to
completely hide a man on horseback, to a single ditch and mound barely a
foot above and below the ground level. The positions of the Dykes can be
seen on the sketch map accompanying this book, but neither an examination
of the map nor of the entrenchments themselves gives much clue as to their
purpose. They do not keep always to the hill-tops and in places they
appear to run into the valleys at right angles to the chief line.
Overlooking Troutsdale, to the east of Scamridge farm, where the ground is
covered with heather the excavations seem to have retained their original
size, for at that point the parallel lines of entrenchments are deepest
and most numerous. In various places the farmers have levelled cart tracks
across the obstructions and in others they have been almost obliterated by
ploughing, but as a rule, where cultivation touches them, the trenches
have come to be boundaries for the fields.
The Neolithic people were only beginning to emerge from a state of
absolute savagery, and it is possible that even at this time they were
still cannibals. The evidence in support of this theory has been obtained
from the condition of the bones found in long barrows, for, in many
instances, they are discovered in such a dislocated and broken state, that
there can be little doubt that the flesh was removed before burial. The
long barrow at Scamridge is a good example of this, for the remains of at
least fourteen bodies were laid in no order but with the component bones
broken, scattered, and lying in the most confused manner. Half a jaw was
lying on part of a thigh-bone and a piece of a skull among the bones of a
foot, while other parts of what appeared to belong to the same skull were
found some distance apart. Canon Greenwell, who describes this barrow with
great detail, also mentions that this disarrangement was not due to any
disturbance of the barrow after its erection, but, on the contrary, there
were most certain indications that the bones had been originally deposited
exactly as they were found. He also points out that this condition of
things is obviously inconsistent with the idea that the bodies had been
buried with the flesh still upon them, and goes on to say that "it
appeared to Dr Thurnam that there were in these broken and scattered
fragments of skulls and disconnected bones the relics of barbarous feasts,
held at the time of the interment, when slaves, captives, or even wives
were slain and eaten." But although this argument appeared to Canon
Greenwell to have some weight, he is inclined to think that the broken
condition of the bones may have been due to the pressure of the mound
above them after they had been partially burnt with the fires which were
lit at one end of the barrow and so arranged that the heat was drawn
through the interior.
As the centuries passed the Neolithic people progressed in many
directions. They improved their methods of making their weapons until they
were able to produce axe-heads so perfectly ground and polished and with
such a keen cutting edge that it would be impossible to make anything
better. These celts like the arrow-heads were always fitted into cleft
handles or shafts of wood, and it was probably at a later period that the
stone hammer, pierced with a hole, made its appearance. Spinning and
weaving in some extremely primitive fashion were evolved, so that the
people were not entirely clothed in skins. They cultivated wheat to a
small extent and kept herds of goats and horned sheep. The pottery they
made was crude and almost entirely without ornament. The skeletons of this
period show that although they led a life of great activity, probably as
hunters, they were rather short in stature, averaging, it is thought by Dr
Garson, less than 5 feet 65 inches. Their jaws were not prognathous as in
negroes, and their brow ridges were not nearly so prominent as in the men
of the Old Stone Age, and thus their facial expression must have been
mild.
[Illustration: PRE-HISTORIC WEAPONS IN THE MUSEUM AT PICKERING.
Flint arrow head of unusual shape.
Bronze Spear head.
Bronze celt found at Kirby Moorside.
Flint arrow head found at Yeddingham (_half size_).
Flint arrow heads found at Moorcock and Wrelton (_half size_).
Highly polished celt of a bluish-white stone found at Scamridge.
Bronze celt found at Scamridge.
Stone hammer found at Cawthorne.
A flint knife, 4-1/8 inches long.
]
[Illustration: Leaf-shaped arrow head found by Dr J.L. Kirk.]
A most interesting discovery of lake-dwellings was made in 1893 by Mr
James M. Mitchelson of Pickering, but although the relics brought to light
are numerous, no one has yet been able to make any definite statement as
to the period to which they belong. The Costa Beck, a stream flowing from
the huge spring at Keld Head, on the west side of Pickering, was being
cleaned out for drainage purposes at a spot a little over two miles from
the town, when several pieces of rude pottery were thrown on to the bank.
These excited Mr Mitchelson's interest and at another occasion his
examination revealed more pottery and mixed up with the fragments were the
bones of animals. Some piles forming two parallel rows about 4 feet apart
were also discovered crossing the stream at right angles to its course.
The diagram given here shows the position of the piles as far as they were
revealed in one of the excavations and it also shows their presumed
continuation, but no reliance can be placed on anything but those actually
dug out and indicated with a solid black spot. The piles were made of oak,
birch and alder, with very rough pointed ends, and they measured from 6 to
10 inches in diameter. Three other rows cross the Costa in the same
neighbourhood separated by a few hundred yards and as they lie at right
angles to the stream which there forms a concave bend, they appear to
converge upon one point. This would be what may roughly be termed an
island between the Costa and a large drain where water in ancient times
probably accumulated or flowed.
There can therefore be little doubt that the island was the home of
prehistoric lake-dwellers who constructed their homes on rude platforms
raised above the water or marshy ground by means of piles after the
fashion of the numerous discoveries in Switzerland, and the present habits
of the natives of many islands in the Pacific. Among the quantities of
skulls and bones of animals, pottery and human skeletons, no traces of
metal were brought to light and the coarse jars and broken urns were, with
one exception, entirely devoid of ornamentation. The ground that was
removed before the chief discoveries were made, consisted of about 8 or 10
inches of cultivated soil, below which came about 2 feet 6 inches of stiff
blue clay, and then about 6 feet of peat resting on the Kimmeridge clay
that formed the bottom of Lake Pickering. Most of the relics were found
resting on the clay so they must have remained there for a sufficient time
to have allowed these thick deposits to have formed, and it is possible
that they may be associated with some of the Neolithic people who took to
this mode of living when the Celtic invaders with their bronze weapons
were steadily driving them northwards or reducing them to a state of
slavery. A complete account of the discoveries was in 1898 read by Captain
Cecil Duncombe at a meeting of the members of the Anthropological
Institute and in the discussion which followed,[1] Mr C.H. Reid gave it as
his opinion that the pottery probably belonged to a period not much
earlier than the Roman occupation. Against this idea we have a most
interesting statement made on another occasion by Professor Boyd Dawkins
concerning one of the human bones; on examining the femur illustrated here
he said that it could only have belonged to an individual possessing
prehensile toes, and he also pointed out that the ends of this bone show
signs of having been gnawed by dogs or similar animals. Captain Duncombe,
who was to some extent quoting Professor Boyd Dawkins, said that the bones
were "apparently those of a very small race." The complete skeleton of a
young woman was found with the exception of the skull. "Though an adult,"
he says, "she could not, judging from the thigh-bones, have exceeded 4
feet 6 inches in height, and the owner of the longest thigh-bone would not
have exceeded 5 feet. Though the bones are those of a people of short
stature they are remarkable for their very prominent ridges for the
attachment of the muscles, such as are quite unknown at the present day in
England. They denote a race inured to hard toil, or one leading a life of
constant activity." On the breast bone of the woman were found the two
ornaments illustrated. They were made from the tines of a red deer's horn.
[Footnote 1: _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, New Series
(1899), vol. i. p. 150.]
[Illustration: DETAILS OF THE DISCOVERIES IN THE LAKE DWELLINGS.
A vase of black earthenware.
Two pieces of horn, one showing attempts to cut with some
instrument. The lower piece has been neatly cut at both ends.
A whorl stone for weaving.
A human femur (thigh bone). The ends show signs of having
been gnawed by wolves.
Ornaments made from deer's horn, found with the skeleton of a woman.
Fragment of a large earthenware jar or urn.
A sketch plan of the excavations (_from the Proceedings of the
Yorkshire Geological and Polytechnic Society_).
]
Another interesting discovery was the evidence of different attempts to
cut some pieces of deer's horn. The shallow grooves were probably made by
rubbing with a rib bone or some other sharp edge and sand and water. A
small black vase unornamented but in perfect condition was dug up near the
remains of the young woman. There were numerous skulls of the prehistoric
ox or bos longifrons and also of the straight-horned sheep. A piece of the
antlers of a great palmated deer now extinct tends to place the
discoveries at an early time, but until more evidence is forthcoming the
period to which these lake-dwellers belong must remain uncertain.
A list of the bones discovered includes the following:--
Human (of at least four individuals).
Deer (of three species).
Horse (a small variety), numerous.
Ox (Bos longifrons), numerous.
Sheep (straight-horned), numerous.
Goat (one skull).
Pig (both wild and domesticated).
Wolf.
Fox.
Otter.
Beaver (one skull).
Voles (of different kinds).
Birds.
[Illustration: Some examples of remains of Pre-historic Animals discovered
in the Lake Dwellings by the river Costa.
The skull of a Wolf.
Part of the horns of a Great Palmated Deer.
Part of the skull of a Straight-horned Sheep.
The skull of a Bos Longifrons or Pre-historic Ox.
]
The introduction of metal into Britain was due to the successive waves of
Celtic Aryans who by means of their bronze weapons were able to overcome
the Neolithic people. The Brythons or Britons, one of these Celtic
peoples, seem to have succeeded in occupying the whole of England. They
buried their dead in the round barrows which are to be found in most parts
of the country but are particularly numerous on the hills immediately
surrounding Pickering and on the wolds to the south of the Vale.
Some of the round barrows, as already mentioned, contain no traces of
metal but in a number of those near Pickering have been found bronze Celts
and spear-heads accompanied by beautifully finished weapons of stone.
There can be no doubt, therefore, that the use of metal crept in slowly,
and that stone, horn and bone continued to be used for many centuries
after its introduction.
The Celtic people were possessed of a civilisation infinitely more
advanced than that of the Neolithic or Iberian races. They were the
ancestors of the "Ancient Britons" who offered such a stout resistance to
the Roman legions under Julius Cæsar.
Not only are there innumerable barrows or burial mounds constructed by
this early race on the hills above the Vale, but on Beacon Hill, the
slight eminence just to the west of Pickering Castle, at Cawthorne and
also at Cropton, there are evidences of what may be their fortifications,
while the plough is continually bringing to light more relics of the
period. A fine collection of these have been brought together and are to
be seen in Mr T. Mitchelson's private museum near Pickering Church. Two
large cases contain a most remarkable series of burial urns, incense cups
and food vessels all found in barrows in the neighbourhood. The urns are
generally ornamented with bands of diagonal or crossed markings and other
designs as well as with the impressions of twisted pieces of hide or
grasses. The bases are usually very small for the size of the urns, after
the fashion of those in Canon Greenwell's examples in the British Museum.
In that collection may be seen several cinerary urns, incense cups and
food vessels from Hutton Buscel, Ganton, Slingsby, Egton and other places
in the vicinity of Pickering. They belong to the same period as those in
Mr Mitchelson's museum and are, on account of the simplicity and
comparative rarity of the bronze implements that have been discovered with
them, considered to belong to the earliest bronze period, that is, to the
time of the first Celtic invasions. Many of the objects in Mr Mitchelson's
museum are not labelled with the place of their origin, the manuscript
catalogue made some years ago having been lost; but with a few exceptions
the entire collection comes from barrows situated in the neighbourhood,
having been brought together by Mr Thomas Kendall more than fifty years
ago.
[Illustration: A COMPLETE SKELETON IN A STONE CIST BELONGING TO THE EARLY
BRONZE AGE.
It was discovered by a farmer in a field between Appleton-le-Moor and
Spaunton, and is now in the Museum at Pickering. [_Copyright reserved by
Dr J.L. Kirk._]
]
A complete skeleton in a stone cist is now lying in a glass case in the
museum. It was discovered accidentally by a farmer between
Appleton-le-Moor and Spaunton. He had decided to remove a huge stone that
had been an obstacle when ploughing, and in doing so found that he had
removed the top stone of a cist belonging to the early Bronze Age. The man
has a round or brachycephalic skull with the prominent brow-ridges and
powerful jaws of the Celtic people, and his right arm was arranged so that
the hand was beneath the skull. By his left hand was the food vessel that
is now placed on the left side of the skull, and at his feet are a number
of small bronze studs or rivets.
These Bronze Age men seem to have had a very general belief in the spirit
world, for the dead warrior was buried with his weapons as well as food,
so that he might be sustained while he hunted in the other world with the
spirit of his favourite axe or spear. The museum contains examples of
socketed bronze celts and spear heads, as well as an infinite variety of
arrowheads, flint knives, stone hammers and celts, and also coloured beads
and other ornaments.
Thus we find that in these early days mankind teemed in this part of
Yorkshire. From all points around the shallow lake the smoke of fires
ascended into the sky, patches of cultivation appeared among the trees,
and villages, consisting of collections of primitive wooden huts, probably
surrounded by a stockade, would have been discernible.
A closer examination of one of these early British villages would have
discovered the people clothed in woven materials, for an example of cloth
of the period was discovered by Canon Greenwell in this locality and is
now to be seen in the British Museum. The grinding of corn in the stone
querns, so frequently found near Pickering, would have been in progress;
fair-haired children with blue eyes would be helping the older folk in
preparing food, dressing skins, making bows and arrows, and the
innumerable employments that the advancing civilisation demanded.
[Illustration: A Quern, now in the Pickering Museum.]
It is at this period that we reach the confines of history, records of an
extremely unreliable character it is true, but strangely enough there are
references by very early writers to the founding of Pickering. That the
place should be mentioned at all in these fabulous writings is an
interesting fact and gives Pickering an importance in those distant
centuries which is surprising. John Stow in his "Summarie of Englyshe
Chronicles," published in 1565, gives the following fanciful story of the
father of the founder of Pickering.
"Morindus, the bastard son of Danius, began to reigne in Britain: he (as
our Chronicles saye) fought with a kynge, who came out of Germanye, and
arrived here, and slew hym with all his power. Moreover (as they write) of
the Irishe seas in his tyme, came foorthe a wonderfull monster: whiche
destroyed muche people. Wherof the king hearyng would of his valiaunt
courage, needes fyght with it: by wh[=o] he was cleane devoured, wh[=e] he
had reigned viii. yeres."
[Sidenote: B.C. 311]
His two youngest sons were Vigenius and Peredurus, and of them Stow writes:
--
"Vigenius and Peredurus, after the takyng of their brother [Elidurus, the
former King] reigned together, vii. yeres. Vigenius th[=a] died, and
Peredurus reygned after alone, ii. yeares. He buylded the towne of
Pyckeryng after the opinion of divers writers."
[Sidenote: B.C. 270]
Raphael Holinshed, who was a contemporary of Stow and used many of his
sources of information, gives the following account of the same
period[1]:--
[Footnote 1: Holinshed, Raphael; "Chronicles of England, Scotland and
Ireland," p. 461.]
"Vigenius and Peredurus, the yoongest sonnes of Morindus, and brethren to
Elidurus, began to reigne jointlie as kings of Britaine, in the year of
the world 3701, after the building of Rome 485.... These two brethren in
the English chronicles are named Higanius and Petitur, who (as Gal. Mon.
[Geoffrey of Monmouth] testifieth) divided the realme betwixt them, so
that all the land from Humber westward fell to Vigenius or Higanius, the
other part beyond Humber northward Peredure held. But other affirme, that
Peredurus onelie reigned, and held his brother Elidurus in prison by his
owne consent, for somuch as he was not willing to governe.
[Sidenote: Caxton.] [Sidenote: Eth. Bur.]
"But Gal. Mon. saith, that Vigenius died after he had reigned 7 yeares,
and then Peredurus seized all the land into his owne rule, and governed it
with such sobrietie and wisedome, that he was praised above all his
brethren, so that Elidurus was quite forgotten of the Britains. But others
write that he was a verie tyrant, and used himselfe verie cruellie towards
the lords of his land, whereupon they rebelled and slue him. But whether
by violent hand, or by naturall sicknesse, he finallie departed this life,
after the consent of most writers, when he had reigned eight yeares,
leaving no issue behind him to succeed in the governance of the Kingdome.
He builded the towne of Pikering, where his bodie was buried."
[Illustration: BURIAL URNS AND OTHER VESSELS IN PICKERING MUSEUM.
They were found in barrows in the following places, reading from left to
right, top row:--(1) Blansby Park (containing bones and ashes); (2)
Cawthorne; (3) Hutton Buscelmoor; (4) Cockmoor Hall Warren; (5) Snainton
Moor; (6) Raindale, "No Man's Land." Lower Row:--(1) Blansby Park; (2)
below Ebberston; (3) Newton Towers, near Helmsley; (4) Fylingdales (a food
vessel); (5) Cawthorne (contains ashes.)
[_Copyright reserved by Dr John L. Kirk._]
]
Whatever memorial was raised to this legendary king of the Brigantes, has
totally disappeared. It may have been a mighty barrow surrounded with
great stones and containing the golden ornaments worn by Peredurus, but if
it existed outside the imaginations of the Chroniclers it would probably
have been plundered and obliterated during the Roman occupation or by
marauding Angles or Danes.
Mr Bateman tells us that in 1853, two Celtic coins in billon or mixed
metal of the peculiar rough type apparently characteristic of and confined
to the coinage of the Brigantes, were found by quarrymen engaged in baring
the rock near Pickering.
There may have been two British fortresses at Pickering at this time, one
on the site of the present castle and one the hill on the opposite side of
the Pickering Beck, where, as already mentioned, the circular ditches and
mounds indicate the existence of some primitive stockaded stronghold.
At Cawthorne, a few miles to the north, there are British enclosures
adjoining the Roman camps; and at Cropton, on the west side of the village
and in a most commanding position, a circular hill-top shows palpable
evidences of having been fortified.
Of the megalithic remains or "Bride Stones," as they are generally termed
in Yorkshire, it is difficult to say anything with certainty. Professor
Windle, in his list of those existing in the county,[1] mentions among
others--
1. "The Bride Stones" near Grosmont (Circle).
2. "The Bride Stones," Sleights Moor (Circle).
3. Simon Houe, near Goathland Station.
4. "The Standing Stones" (three upright stones), 1-3/4 miles S.-W. of
Robin Hood's Bay, on Fylingdales Moor.
[Footnote 1: Windle, Bertram, C.A., "Remains of the Pre-historic Age in
England," pp. 203-4.]
CHAPTER V
_How the Roman Occupation of Britain affected the Forest and Vale of
Pickering_
B.C. 55 to A.D. 418
The landings of Julius Caesar, in 55 and 54 B.C., and the conflicts
between his legions and the southern tribes of Britain, were little more,
in the results obtained, than a reconnaissance in force, and Yorkshire did
not feel the effect of the Roman invasion until nearly a century after the
first historic landing.
The real invasion of Britain began in A.D. 43, when the Emperor Claudius
sent Aulus Plautius across the Channel with four legions; and after seven
years of fighting the Romans, taking advantage of the inter-tribal feuds
of the Britons, had reduced the southern half of England to submission.
Plautius was succeeded by Ostorius Scapula in A.D. 50, and from Tacitus[1]
we learn that he "found affairs in a troubled state, the enemy making
irruptions into the territories of our allies, with so much the more
insolence as they supposed that a new general, with an army unknown to
him, and now that the winter had set in, would not dare to make head
against them." Scapula, however, vigorously proceeded with the work of
subjugation, and having overcome the Iceni of East Anglia and the Fen
Country, he was forcing his way westwards into Wales when he heard of
trouble brewing in the North. "He had approached near the sea which washes
the coast of Ireland," says Tacitus, "when commotions, begun amongst the
Brigantes, obliged the general to return thither." The Brigantes were the
powerful and extremely fierce tribe occupying Yorkshire, Durham,
Cumberland, and Westmorland, and among them were the people whose remains
are so much in evidence near Pickering. They had probably been under
tribute to the Romans, and their struggle against the invaders in this
instance does not appear to have been well organised, for we are told that
when the Romans arrived in their country, they "soon returned to their
homes, a few who raised the revolt having been slain, and the rest
pardoned." We also know that in A.D. 71 Petilius Cerealis attacked the
Brigantes and subdued a great part of their country; and as the Romans
gradually brought the tribe completely under their control, they
established the camps and constructed the roads of which we find so many
evidences to-day. The inhabitants of the hills surrounding the Vale of
Pickering were overawed by a great military station at Cawthorne on a road
running north and south from that spot. It may have been the Delgovicia
mentioned in the first Antonine Iter., and in that case Malton would have
been Derventione, and Whitby, or some spot in Dunsley Bay, would have been
Prætorio, but at the present time there is not sufficient data for fixing
these names with any certainty. It has also been supposed by General
Roy[2] that Cawthorne was occupied by the famous 9th legion after they had
left Scotland, owing to the similarity of construction between the most
westerly camp at Cawthorne and the one at Dealgin Ross in Strathern, where
the 9th legion were supposed to have had their narrow escape from defeat
by the Caledonians during Agricola's sixth campaign. But this also is
somewhat a matter of speculation.
[Footnote 1: Tacitus, the Oxford Translation, revised 1854, vol. 1, book
xii. pp. 288-90.]
[Footnote 2: Roy, Major Gen. William: "The Military Antiquities of the
Romans in Britain," 1793, Plate xi.]
[Illustration: A Sketch Map of the Roman Road from Malton to the Coast,
and a Plan of the Camps on the Road at Cawthorne. (_From the Ordnance
Survey_.)]
Coming to the firmer ground of the actual remains of the Roman roads and
camps, we find that traces of a well-constructed road, locally known as
Wade's Causeway, have been discovered at various points on a line drawn
from Malton to Cawthorne and Whitby. Some of these sections of the road
have disappeared since Francis Drake described them in 1736,[2] and at the
present time the work of destruction continues at intervals when a farmer,
converting a few more acres of heather into potatoes, has the ill-luck to
strike the roadway.
[Footnote 2: Drake, Francis: "Eboracum," p. 36.]
In the month of January this year (1905), I examined a piece of ground
newly taken under cultivation at Stape. It was about half a mile north of
the little inn and just to the west of Mauley Cross. The stones were all
thrown out of their original positions and a pile of them had been taken
outside the turf wall for road-mending and to finish the walls against the
gate posts, but the broad track of the roadway, composed of large
odd-shaped stones, averaging about a foot in width, was still strikingly
in evidence--a mottled band passing straight through the
chocolate-coloured soil.
All who have described the road state that on each side of the causeway
where it remains undisturbed there is a line of stones placed on their
edges in order to keep the stones in place, but in this instance the
stones were too much disturbed to observe their original formation. Among
the furrows I discovered quantities of flint-flakes, indicating the
manufacture of stone implements on this site, no flints being naturally
found in the neighbourhood.
The road went through the most perfectly constructed of the three square
camps at Cawthorne from west to east, cutting through one corner of the
adjacent oval camp. It then seems to have passed down the slack a little
to the north-east, and crossing the stream below (probably in Roman times
by a wooden bridge) it takes a fairly straight course for the little
hamlet of Stape just mentioned. The slope from the camps is extremely
steep, and in 1817, when Dr Young wrote his "History of Whitby," he tells
us that there were no traces of the road at that point. Going back to
1736, however, we find that Drake, in his "History of York" published in
that year, says, "At the foot of the hill began the road or causeway, very
plain"; he also tells us that he first heard of the road, with the camp
upon it, from Mr Thomas Robinson of Pickering--"a gentleman well versed in
this kind of learning." Drake, enthusiastically describing his examination
of the road, says, "I had not gone a hundred paces on it, but I met with a
_mile stone_ of the _grit kind_, a sort not known in this country. It was
placed in the midst of the causeway, but so miserably worn, either by
sheep or cattle rubbing against it, or the weather, that I missed of the
inscription, which, I own, I ran with great eagerness to find. The
causeway is just twelve foot broad, paved with a flint pebble [probably
very hard limestone], some of them very large, and in many places it is as
firm as it was the first day, a thing the more strange in that not only
the distance of time may be considered, but the total neglect of repairs
and the boggy rotten moors it goes over. In some places the _agger_ is
above three foot raised from the surface. The country people curse it
often for being almost wholly hid in the ling, it frequently overturns
their carts laden with turf as they happen to drive across it. It was a
great pleasure to me to trace this wonderful road, especially when I soon
found out that it pointed to the bay aforesaid. I lost it sometimes by the
interposition of valleys, rivulets, or the exceeding great quantity of
ling growing on these moors. I had then nothing to do but observe the
line, and riding crossways, my horse's feet, through the ling, informed me
when I was upon it. In short, I traced it several miles, and could have
been pleased to have gone on with it to the seaside, but my time would not
allow me. However, I prevailed upon Mr Robinson to send his servant, and a
very intelligent person of _Pickering_ along with him, and they not only
made it fairly out to _Dunsley_, but brought me a sketch of the country it
went through with them. From which I have pricked it out in the map, as
the reader will find at the end of this account."
I have examined Drake's map but find that he has simply ruled two
perfectly straight parallel lines between Cawthorne and Dunsley, so that
except for the fact that Mr Robinson's servant and the intelligent
Pickeronian found that the road did go to Dunsley we have no information
as to its exact position. Young, however, describes its course past Stape
and Mauley Cross over Wheeldale and Grain Becks to July or Julian Park. In
the foundation of a wall round an enclosure at that point he mentions the
discovery of an inscribed Roman stone of which a somewhat crude woodcut is
given in his "History of Whitby." The inscription appears to be ILVIVILVX,
and Young read it as LE. VI. VI. L. VEX, or in full LEGIONIS SEXTÆ
VICTRICIS QUINQUAGINTA VEXILLARII, meaning, "Fifty vexillary soldiers of
the sixth legion, the Victorious." This rendering of the abbreviations may
be inaccurate, and some of the letters before and after those visible when
the stone was discovered may have been obliterated, but Dr Young thought
that the inscription was probably complete. On Lease Rigg beyond July Park
the road cuts through another Roman camp of similar dimensions to the
western one at Cawthorne. In the map reproduced here a much clearer idea
of the course of the road can be had than by any description. I have
marked the position of the road to the south of Cawthorne as passing
through Barugh, where Drake discovered it in 1736. "From the camp"
(Cawthorne), he writes, "the road disappears towards York, the _agger_
being either sunk or removed by the country people for their buildings.
But taking the line, as exactly as I could, for the city, I went down the
hill to _Thornton-Risebrow_, and had some information from a clergyman of
a kind of a camp at a village called vulgarly BARF; but corruptly, no
doubt, from BURGH. Going to this place, I was agreeably surprised to fall
upon my long lost road again; and here plainly appeared also a small
intrenchment on it; from whence, as I have elsewhere hinted, the _Saxon_
name _Burgh_ might come. The road is discernible enough, in places, to
_Newsam-Bridge_ over the river _Rye_; not far from which is a _mile-stone_
of _grit_ yet standing. On the other side of the river the _Stratum_, or
part of it, appears very plain, being composed of large blue pebble, some
of a tun weight; and directs us to a village called _Aimanderby_. _Barton
on the Street_, and _Appleton on the Street_, lye a little on the side of
the road." Drake then proceeds to speculate as to the likelihood of the
road still making a bee-line for York, or whether it diverged towards
Malton, then no doubt a Roman station; but as his ideas are unimportant in
comparison with his discoveries, we will leave him to return to the camps
at Cawthorne. The hill they occupy forms part of a bold escarpment running
east and west between Newton upon Rawcliff and Cropton, having somewhat
the appearance of an inland coast-line. On the north side of the camps the
hill is precipitous, and there can be little doubt that the position must,
in Roman times, have been one of the strongest in the neighbourhood. This
is not so apparent to-day as it would be owing to the dense growth of
larch and fir planted by Mr James Mitchelson's father about forty years
ago. There are, however, peeps among the trees which reveal a view of the
great purple undulations of the heathery plateau to the north, and the
square camp marked A on the plan is entirely free from trees although
completely shut in by the surrounding plantation. In the summer it is an
exceedingly difficult matter to follow the ditches and mounds forming the
outline of the camps, for besides the closely planted trees the bracken
grows waist high. The _vallum_ surrounding each enclosure is still of
formidable height, and in camp A is double with a double fosse of
considerable depth. Camps C and D are both rectangular, but C, the largest
of the four, is stronger and more regular in shape than D, and it may have
been that D was the camp of the auxiliaries attached to the legion or part
of a legion quartered there. The five outer gates of C and D are protected
by overlapping earthworks, the opening being diagonal to the face of the
camp, but the opening between these two enclosures is undefended. Camp B
may have been for cattle or it may have been another camp of auxiliaries,
for unlike the other three it is oval and might even have been a British
encampment used by the Romans when they selected this commanding site as
their headquarters for the district.
To fix the origin of a camp by its formation is very uncertain work and no
reliance can be placed on statements based on such evidence; but Camp A
bears the stamp of Roman work unmistakably, and the fact that the Roman
road cuts right through its east and west gates seems a sufficiently
conclusive proof. It is also an interesting fact that between forty and
fifty years ago Mr T. Kendall of Pickering discovered the remains of a
chariot in a barrow on the west side of Camp A. Fragments of a wooden pole
11 feet long, and of four spokes, could be traced as well as the complete
iron tyres of both wheels, and portions of a hub. These remains, together
with small pieces of bronze harness fittings, are now carefully arranged
in a glass case in Mr. Mitchelson's museum at Pickering.
There is a mill just to the south of Pickering known as Vivers Mill, and
near Cawthorne there is a farm where Roman foundations have been
discovered, known as Bibo House. Both these names have a curiously Roman
flavour, but as to their origin I can say nothing.
The three or four plans of these camps that have been published are all
inaccurate; the first, in Drake's "Eboracum," being the greatest offender.
General Roy has shown camps B and C in the wrong positions in regard to A,
and even Dr. Young, who himself notices these mistakes, is obliged to
point out that the woodcut that is jammed sideways on one of his pages is
not quite correct in regard to camp C (marked A on his plan), although
otherwise it is fairly accurate.
A small square camp is just visible in a field to the east of Cawthorne;
there is an oval one on Levisham Moor, and others square and oval dotted
over the moors in different directions, but they are of uncertain origin.
There can be little doubt that subsidiary camps and entrenchments would
have been established by the Romans in a country where the inhabitants
were as fierce and warlike as these Brigantes, but whether the dominant
power utilised British fortresses or whether they always built square
camps is a matter on which it is impossible to dogmatise.
A number of Roman articles were dug up when the cutting for the railway to
Sinnington was being made, and the discoveries at this point are
particularly interesting as the site is in an almost direct line between
Cawthorne and Barugh.
We are possessed, however, of sufficient evidence to gain a considerable
idea of Pickering during the four hundred years of the Roman occupation.
We have seen that the invaders constructed a great road on their usual
plan, going as straight as the nature of the country allowed from their
station at Malton to the sea near or at Whitby; that on this road they
built large camps where some hundreds, possibly thousands of troops were
permanently stationed, although the icy-cold blasts from the north-east
may have induced them to occupy more protected spots in winter. Roman
chariots, squads of foot soldiers, and mounted men would have been a
common sight on the road, and to the sullen natives the bronze eagle would
gradually have become as familiar as their own totem-posts. Gradually we
know that the British chiefs and their sons and daughters became
demoralised by the sensual pleasures of the new civilisation and thus the
invaders secured themselves in their new possessions in a far more
efficacious manner than by force of arms.
The Britons remained under the yoke of Rome until A.D. 418, when the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that "This year the Romans collected all
the hoards of gold that were in Britain; and some they hid in the earth,
so that no man afterwards might find them, and some they carried away with
them into Gaul," and in A.D. 435 we find the record that "This year the
Goths sacked the city of Rome and never since have the Romans reigned in
Britain." The Brigantes were thus once more free to work out their own
destiny, but the decay of their military prowess which had taken place
during the Roman occupation made them an easy prey to the daring Saxon
pirates who, even before the Romans finally left England, are believed to
have established themselves in scattered bodies on some parts of the
coast. The incursions of these warlike peoples belong to the Saxon era
described in the next chapter.
CHAPTER VI
_The Forest and Vale in Saxon Times_
A.D. 418 to 1066
There seems little doubt that the British remained a barbarous people
throughout the four centuries of their contact with Roman influences, for
had they progressed in this period they would have understood in some
measure the great system by which the Imperial power had held the island
with a few legions and a small class of residential officials. Having
failed to absorb the new military methods, when left to themselves, there
was no unifying idea among the Britons, and they seem to have merely
reverted to some form of their old tribal organisation. The British cities
constituted themselves into a group of independent states generally at war
with one another, but sometimes united under the pressure of some external
danger. Under such circumstances they would select some chieftain whose
period of ascendency could be measured only by the continuance of the
danger.
From Bede's writings we find that the Scots from the west and the Picts
from the north continually harassed the Britons despite occasional help
from Rome, and despite the wall they built across the north of England. In
these straits the British invited help from the Angles and Saxons, who
soon engaged the northern tribesmen and defeated them. The feebleness of
the Britons having become well known among the continental peoples, the
Angles, Saxons and Jutes began to steadily swarm across the North Sea in
powerful, armed bands. Having for a time assisted the Britons they began
to seek excuses for quarrels, and gradually the Britons with brief periods
of success were beaten and dispossessed of their lands until they were
driven into the western parts of the island. The Angles occupied most of
northern England, including the kingdom of Northumbria, of which Yorkshire
formed a large part. These fierce Anglo-Saxon people, with an intermixing
of Danish blood, a few centuries later were the ancestors of a great part
of the present population of the county. Sidonius Apollinaris, a Bishop of
Gaul, who wrote in the fifth century, says, "We have not a more cruel and
more dangerous enemy than the Saxons: they overcome all who have the
courage to oppose them; they surprise all who are so imprudent as not to
be prepared for their attack. When they pursue they infallibly overtake;
when they are pursued their escape is certain. They despise danger; they
are inured to shipwreck; they are eager to purchase booty with the peril
of their lives. Tempests, which to others are so dreadful, to them are
subjects of joy; the storm is their protection when they are pressed by
the enemy, and a cover for their operations when they meditate an attack.
Before they quit their own shores, they devote to the altars of their gods
the tenth part of the principal captives; and when they are on the point
of returning, the lots are cast with an affectation of equity, and the
impious vow is fulfilled."
Gradually these invaders settled down in Britain, which soon ceased to be
called Britain, and assumed the name Angle-land or England. In A.D. 547
Ida founded the kingdom of Northumbria, one of the divisions forming the
Saxon Heptarchy, and among the villages and families that owed allegiance
to him were those of the neighbourhood of Pickering. The first
fortifications by the Anglo-Saxons were known as _buhrs_ or _burgs_. Some
of them were no doubt Roman or British camps adapted to their own needs,
but generally these earth works were required as the fortified home of
some lord and his household, and there can be little doubt that in most
instances new entrenchments were made, large enough to afford a refuge for
the tenants as well as their flocks and herds.
Pickering itself must have been an Anglo-Saxon village of some importance,
and the artificial mound on which the keep of the castle now stands would
probably have been raised during this period if it had not been
constructed at a much earlier date. It would have palisades defending the
top of the mound, and similar defences inside the entrenchments that
formed the basecourt. These may have occupied the position of the present
dry moat that defends the castle on two of its three sides. If Pickering
had been founded by the Anglo-Saxons we should have expected a name ending
with "ton," "ham," "thorpe," or "borough," but its remarkable position at
the mouth of Newton Dale may have led them to choose a name which may
possibly mean an opening by the "ings" or wet lands. It is, however,
impossible at the present time to discover the correct derivation of the
name. It probably has nothing whatever to do with the superficial "pike"
and "ring," and the suggestion that it means "The Maiden's Ring" from the
Scandinavian "pika," a maiden, and "hringr," a circle or ring, may be
equally incorrect. The settlements in the neighbourhood must have occupied
the margin of the marshes in close proximity to one another, and most of
them from the suffix "ton" would appear to have been the "tuns" or
fortified villages named after the family who founded them. Thus we find
between Pickering and Scarborough at the present time a string of eleven
villages bearing the names Thornton, Wilton, Allerston, Ebberston,
Snainton, Brompton, Ruston, Hutton (Buscel of Norman origin), Sawdon,
Ayton and Irton. In the west and south there are Middleton, Cropton,
Wrelton, Sinnington, Appleton, Nawton, Salton, Marton, Edston or Edstone,
Habton, (Kirby) Misperton, Ryton, Rillington, and many others. Other
Anglo-Saxon settlements indicating someone's ham or home would appear to
have been made at Levisham, Yedingham and Lastingham. Riseborough seems to
suggest the existence of some Anglo-Saxon fortress on that very suitable
elevation in the Vale of Pickering. Barugh, a little to the south, can
scarcely be anything else than a corruption of "buhr" or "burg," for the
Anglian invaders, if they found the small Roman camp that appears to have
been established on that slight eminence in the vale would have probably
found it a most convenient site for one of their own fortifications. Names
ending with "thorpe," such as Kingthorpe, near Pickering, also indicate an
Anglo-Saxon origin. Traces of the "by" or "byr," a single dwelling or
single farm of the Danes, are to be found thickly dotted over this part of
England, but in the immediate neighbourhood of Pickering there are only
Blansby, Dalby, Farmanby, Aislaby, Roxby, and Normanby. To the east near
Scarborough there are Osgodby, Killerby, Willerby, Flotmanby, and
Hunmanby, so that it would appear that the strong community of Anglo-Saxon
villages along the margin of the vale kept the Danish settlers at a
distance.
[Illustration: The Tower of Middleton Church near Pickering.
The lower portion, owing to the quoins which somewhat resemble the "long
and short" work of the Saxons, has been thought to be of pre-Norman date.
The blocked doorway appearing in the drawing has every appearance of Saxon
workmanship.]
Goathland, which was often spelt Gothland, has a most suggestive sound,
and the family names of Scoby and Scoresby seem to be of Danish origin.
The "gate" of the streets of Pickering is a modification of the Danish
"gade," meaning a "way," for the town was never walled. The influence of
the Danes on the speech of this part of Yorkshire seems to me apparent in
the slight sing-song modulation so similar to that of the present day
people of Denmark.
In A.D. 597 Augustine commenced his missionary work among the Saxons, and
King Ethelbert of Kent was baptised on June the 2nd of that year.
Twenty-seven years later Edwin, the powerful king of Northumbria, married
Ethelburga, daughter of Ethelbert. When she accompanied her husband to his
northern kingdom she took with her Paulinus, who was ordained bishop of
the Northumbrians. "King Aldwin, therefore," Bede tells us,[1] "together
with all the nobles of his nation, and very many of the common people,
received the faith and washing of sacred regeneration, in the eleventh
year of his reign, which is the year of the Lord's incarnation, 627, and
about the year 180 from the coming of the Angles into Britain. Moreover,
he was baptised at York, on the holy day of Easter, the day before the
Ides of April, in the church of the holy apostle Peter, which he himself
built of wood in that place with expeditious labour, while he was being
catechised and prepared in order to receive baptism." The Northumbrians
from this time forward were at least a nominally Christian people, and the
seventh century certainly witnessed the destruction of many of the idols
and their shrines that had hitherto formed the centre for the religious
rites of the Anglo-Saxons. Woden or Odin, Thor and the other deities did
not lose their adherents in a day, and Bede records the relapses into
idolatry of Northumbria as well as the other parts of England. There can
be no doubt that fairies and elves entered largely into the mythology of
the Anglo-Saxons, and the firmness of the beliefs in beings of that nature
can be easily understood when we realise that it required no fewer than
twelve centuries of Christianity to finally destroy them among the people
of Yorkshire. In Chapter XI. we see something of the form the beliefs and
superstitions had assumed at the time of their disappearance.
[Footnote 1: Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation,"
translated by Gidley, Rev. L., 1870, p. 152.]
In the seventh century most of the churches erected in Yorkshire were
probably of wood, but the example of King Edwin at York, who quickly
replaced the timber structure with a larger one of stone, must soon have
made itself felt in the country. Nothing, however, in the form of
buildings or inscribed stones for which we have any evidence for placing
at such an early date remains in the neighbourhood of Pickering, although
there are numerous crosses and traces of the masonry that may be termed
Saxon or Pre-Conquest.
[Illustration:
The early font in the Chapel of Ease at Levisham, that was serving only
recently as a cattle trough in a farmyard.
The BROKEN CROSS by the ruins of WYKEHAM ABBEY. Scarcely any traces of
carving are visible.
A carved cross built into the wall of the tower (interior) of
Middleton Church. The head is hidden in the angle of the wall.
]
The founding of a monastery at Lastingham is described by Bede, and with
the particulars he gives we can place the date between the years 653 and
655. Bishop Cedd was requested by King Oidilward, who held rule in the
parts of Deira, "to accept some possession of land of him to build a
monastery to which the king himself [Æthelwald] also might frequently come
to pray to the Lord, and to hear the Word, and in which he might be buried
when he died." Further on we are told that Cedd "assenting to the king's
wishes, chose for himself a place to build a monastery among lofty and
remote mountains, in which there appeared to have been more lurking places
of robbers and dens of wild beasts than habitations of men." This account
is of extreme interest, being the only contemporary description of this
part of Yorkshire known to us. "Moreover," says Bede, "the man of God,
studying first by prayers and fastings to purge the place he had received
for a monastery from its former filth of crimes, and so to lay in it the
foundations of the monastery, requested of the king that he would give him
during the whole ensuing time of Lent leave and licence to abide there for
the sake of prayer; on all which days, with the exception of Sunday,
protracting his fast to evening according to custom, he did not even then
take anything except a very little bread and one hen's egg, with a little
milk and water. For he said this was the custom of those of whom he had
learnt the rule of regular discipline, first to consecrate to the Lord by
prayers and fastings the places newly received for building a monastery or
a church. And when ten days of the quadragesimal fast were yet remaining,
there came one to summon him to the king. But he, in order that the
religious work might not be intermitted on account of the king's affairs,
desired his presbyter Cynibill, who was also his brother, to complete the
pious undertaking. The latter willingly assented; and the duty of fasting
and prayer having been fulfilled, he built there a monastery which is now
called Læstingaeu [Lastingham], and instituted rules there, according to
the customs of the monks of Lindisfarne, where he had been educated. And
when for many years he [Cedd] had administered the episcopate in the
aforesaid province, and also had taken charge of this monastery, over
which he set superiors, it happened that coming to this same monastery at
a time of mortality, he was attacked by bodily infirmity and died. At
first, indeed, he was buried outside, but in process of time a church was
built of stone in the same monastery, in honour of the blessed mother of
God, and in that church his body was laid on the right side of the altar."
Cedd's death took place in 664, and Ceadda or Chad, one of his brothers,
succeeded him as he had desired.
[Illustration: Saxon Sundial at Kirkdale. (_From a rubbing by Mr J.
Romilly Allen, F.S.A._)]
Nothing remains of the buildings of this early monastery, and what
happened to them, and what caused their disappearance, is purely a matter
of conjecture. We can only surmise that they were destroyed during the
Danish invasions of the ninth century.
At Kirkdale church, which is situated close to the cave already described,
there was discovered about the year 1771 a sundial bearing the longest
known inscription of the Anglo-Saxon period. The discoverer was the Rev.
William Dade, rector of Barmston, in the East Riding, and a letter of
great length, on the stone, from the pen of Mr J. C. Brooke, F.S.A. of the
Herald's College, was read at the Society of Antiquaries in 1777.
The sundial, without any gnomon, occupies the central portion of the
stone, which is about 7 feet in length, and the inscription is closely
packed in the spaces on either side.
It reads as follows, the lines in brackets having the contractions
expanded:--
[Transcriber's Note: The "|"s below are my best rendition in plain ASCII
of a Saxon ampersand, which is a long vertical bar with a short horizontal
bar at the top, pointing to the left.]
+ ORM · GAMAL · SVNA · BOHTE · SC[=S]
[ + ORM · GAMAL · SUNA · BOHTE · SANCTUS]
GREGORIVS · MINSTER · ÐONNE HIT
[GREGORIUS · MINSTER · THONNE HIT]
PES ÆL TOBROCAN · | TOFALAN · | HE
[WES ÆL TOBROCAN · & TOFALAN · & HE]
HIT IET · MACAN · NEPAN · FROM GRVNDE
[HIT LET · MACAN · NEWAN · FROM GRUNDE]
XPE: | SCS GREGORIVS · IN EADPARD
[CHRISTE: & SANCTUS GREGORIUS · IN EADWARD]
DAGVM C[=N]G | N TOSTI DAGVM EORL +
[DAGUM CYNING & IN TOSTI DAGUM EORL +]
Completed under the dial.
+ | HAPARÐ ME PROHTE · | BRAND P[=RS]
[+ & HAWARTH ME WROHTE · & BRAND {PRÆPOSITUS]
{PRESBYTERS]
The modern rendering is generally accepted as: "Orm, the son of Gamal,
bought St Gregory's minster (or church) when it was all broken and fallen,
and caused it to be made anew from the ground for Christ and St Gregory in
the days of King Edward, and in the days of Earl Tosti, and Hawarth
wrought me and Brand the Prior, (priest or priests)."
Along the top of the dial and round the perimeter the inscription reads:--
+ PIS IS DÆGES SOL MERCA
THIS IS DAY'S SUNMARKER
ÆT ILCVM TIDE
AT EACH TIDE OR HOUR.
It is interesting to know that the antiquaries of a century or more ago
rendered this simple sentence as: "This is a draught exhibiting the time
of day, while the sun is passing to and from the winter-solstice." They
also made a great muddle of the words: "& HE HIT LET MACAN NEWAN," their
rendering being "CHEHITLE AND MAN NEWAN," the translation being supposed
to read: "Chehitle and others renewed it, etc." With Mr Brooke's paper is
given a large steel engraving of the stone, but it is curiously inaccurate
in many details. At Edstone church there is another sundial over the south
doorway as at Kirkdale, and there is every reason to believe that it
belongs to the same period. The inscription above the dial reads:--
OROLOGI VIATORUM.
On the left side is the following:--
LOTHAN ME WROHTE A.
[Illustration: Saxon Sundial at Edstone. (From a rubbing by Mr J. Romilly
Allen, F.S.A.)]
From the drawing given here the inscription is palpably incomplete, as
though the writer had been suddenly stopped in his work. Nothing is known
of Lothan beyond the making of this sundial, so that the fixing of the
date can only be by comparative reasoning. At Kirkdale, on the other hand,
we know that Tosti, Harold's brother, became Earl of Northumbria in 1055,
we know also that the Northumbrians rose against Tosti's misgovernment and
his many crimes, among which must be placed the murder of the Gamal
mentioned in the inscription, and that in 1065 Tosti was outlawed, his
house-carles killed, and his treasures seized. After this we also know
that Tosti was defeated by the Earls Edwin and Morcar, and having fled to
Scotland, submitted himself to Harold Hardrada, King of Norway, who had
arrived in the Tyne with his fleet early in September 1066, that they then
sailed southwards, and having sacked Scarborough defeated Edwin and Morcar
at Fulford near York only eight days before the landing of William the
Norman at Pevensey. Harold having made forced marches reached York on
September the 24th, and defeated his brother and the Norwegian king, both
being slain in the battle which was fought at Stamford Bridge on the
Derwent. Harold was forced to take his wearied army southwards immediately
after the battle to meet the Frenchmen at Hastings, and the great disaster
of Senlac Hill occurred on October the 14th. This stone at Kirkdale is
thus concerned with momentous events in English history, for the murder of
Gamal and the insurrection of Tosti may be considered two of the links in
the chain of events leading to the Norman Conquest.
A great deal of interest has centred round an Anglo-Saxon cross-slab built
into the west wall of Kirkdale church. At the time of its discovery the
late Rev. Daniel H. Haigh[1] tells us that a runic inscription spelling
_Kununc Oithilwalde_, meaning "to King Æthelwald," was quite legible. This
would seem to indicate that the founder of Lastingham monastery was buried
at Kirkdale, or that the site of Bede's, "Læstingaeu" was at Kirkdale if
the stone has not been moved from its original position.
[Footnote 1: _Yorkshire Archæological Journal_, v. 134.]
[Illustration: Saxon or Pre-Norman Remains at and near Pickering.]
The inscription has now perished, but Bishop Browne tells us[1] that when
he had photographs taken of the stone in 1886 "there was only one rune
left, the 'Oi' of the king's name." "I have seen, however," he says, "the
drawing made of the letters when the stone was found, and many of them
were still legible when the Rev. Daniel Haigh worked at the stone." There
seems little doubt that this most valuable inscription might have been
preserved if the stone had been kept from the action of the air and
weather.
[Footnote 1: Browne, Rt. Rev. G.F.: "The Conversion of the Heptarchy," p.
151.]
There are several other pre-Norman sculptured stones at Kirkdale. They are
generally built into the walls on the exterior, and are not very apparent
unless carefully looked for. In the vestry some fragments of stone bearing
interlaced ornament are preserved.
Not only at Kirkdale are these pre-Norman stones built into walls that
appear to belong to a date prior to the Conquest, but also at Middleton
there is a fine cross forming part of the fabric of the church tower. The
west doorway now blocked up is generally considered to be of Saxon work,
but the quoins of the tower, though bearing much resemblance to the pure
"long and short" work that may be seen at Bradford-on-Avon, are composed
of stones that are almost equal in height.
[Illustration: Cross Slab inserted in West Wall of Kirkdale Church.
The runes which gave rise to the belief that this was the gravestone of
King Æthelwald have perished.
Slab with Interlaced Ornament at Kirkdale Church.
(_Both crosses are from the Associated Architectural Societies' Reports_.)
]
The Rev. Reginald Caley has suggested that the original Saxon tower of
Brompton church may have been incorporated into the present structure
whose walls are of unusual thickness, the stone work in some places
showing characteristics of pre-Norman workmanship. At Ellerburne the
curious spiral ornaments of the responds of the chancel arch have also
been attributed to pre-Norman times, but in this case and possibly at
Middleton also, the Saxon features may have appeared in Norman buildings
owing to the employment of Saxon workmen, who did not necessarily for
several years entirely abandon their own methods, despite the fact that
they might be working under Norman masters. There is a very roughly hewn
font in the little chapel of Ease, in the village of Levisham. It bears a
cross and a rope ornamentation, and may possibly be of pre-Norman origin,
although it was being used as a cattle trough in a neighbouring farmyard
before the restoration in 1884. The parish church of Levisham, standing
alone in the valley below the village, has a very narrow and unadorned
chancel arch. This may possibly belong to Saxon or very early Norman
times, but Mr Joseph Morris[1] has pointed out that a similar one occurs
at Scawton, which is known to have been built in 1146, and the evidence of
a Saxon stone built into the south-east corner of the chancel of Levisham
church supports my belief in the later date. On the south wall of the
chancel of Lockton church I have seen a roughly shaped oblong stone
bearing in one corner the markings of a very rude sundial, and I find that
there is another on the wall of a cottage in the same village.[2] I am
unable to give its position, but from a drawing I have examined, it
appears to be of more careful workmanship than the one built into the
church wall. At Sinnington church another of these very crude sundials has
been discovered, and what may be part of a similar one is high up on the
east wall of the chancel of Ellerburne church. At Kirby Moorside a fine
cross with interlaced work is built into the porch of the vicarage. At
Wykeham there is a very plain cross of uncertain age, and Ellerburne,
Lastingham, Sinnington, Kirkdale, Kirby Misperton, and Middleton are all
rich in carved crosses and incised slabs. Pickering church only possesses
one fragment of stone work that we may safely attribute to a date prior to
the Conquest. It seems to be part of the shaft or of an arm of a cross,
and bears one of the usual types of dragon as well as knot or interlaced
ornament. The font, which has been thought by some to be of Saxon origin,
seems to be formed from part of the inverted base of a pillar, and though
composed of old material, probably dates in its present form of a font
from as recent a period as the restoration of Charles II., the original
font having been destroyed in Puritan times (Chapter X.). It would appear
that when it was decided to build a large Norman church at Pickering the
desire to put up a building that would be a great advance on the previous
structure--for we cannot suppose that Pickering was without a church in
Saxon times---led to the destruction of every trace of the earlier
building.
[Footnote 1: Morris, J.E.: "The North Riding of Yorkshire," p. 33.]
[Footnote 2: Illustrated, facing p. 209, "Associated Architectural
Societies' Reports," vol. xii. 1873.]
[Illustration: Two Crossheads at Sinnington Church. The one on the left
shows a Crucifixion.]
Hinderwell mentions a curious legend in connection with the cave in a
small conical hill at Ebberston, that has since been destroyed. The
country people called it Ilfrid's Hole, the tradition being that a Saxon
king of that name took shelter there when wounded after a battle. An
inscription that was formerly placed above the cave said: "Alfrid, King of
Northumberland, was wounded in a bloody battle near this place, and was
removed to Little Driffield, where he lies buried; hard by his
entrenchments may be seen." The roughly built stone hut with a domed roof
that now crowns the hill is within twenty yards of the site of the cave,
and was built by Sir Charles Hotham in 1790 to preserve the memory of
this legendary king. In the period that lay between the conversion of
Northumbria to Christianity in 627, and the ravages of Dane and Northman
in the ninth and tenth centuries, we know by the traces that survive that
the Saxons built a church in each of their villages, and that they placed
beautifully sculptured crosses above the graves of their dead. The
churches were small and quite simple in plan, generally consisting of a
nave and chancel, with perhaps a tower at the west end. Owing to the
importance of Pickering the Saxon church may have been a little in advance
of the rest, and its tower may have been ornamented as much as that of
Earl's Barton, but we are entering the dangerous realms of conjecture, and
must be reconciled to that one fragment of a pre-Norman cross that is now
carefully preserved in the south aisle of the present building.
CHAPTER VII
_The Forest and Vale in Norman Times_
A.D. 1066-1154
In the early years of the reign of William I., when the northern counties
rose against his rule, the Pickering district seems to have required more
drastic treatment than any other. In 1069 the Conqueror spent the winter
in the north of England, and William of Malmesbury describes how "he
ordered the towns and fields of the whole district to be laid waste; the
fruits and grain to be destroyed by fire or by water ... thus the
resources of a once flourishing province were cut off, by fire, slaughter,
and devastation; the ground for more than sixty miles, totally
uncultivated and unproductive, remains bare to the present day." This is
believed to have been written about 1135, and would give us grounds for
believing that the desolation continued for over sixty years. A vivid
light is thrown on the destruction wrought at Pickering by the record in
the Domesday Book, which is as follows:--
"In _Picheringa_ there are to be taxed thirty-seven carucates of land,
which twenty ploughs may till. Morcar held this for one manor, with its
berewicks _Bartune_ (Barton), _Neuuctune_ (Newton), _Blandebi_ (Blandsby)
and Estorp (Easthorp). It is now the king's. There is therein one plough
and twenty villanes with six ploughs; meadow half a mile long and as much
broad: but all the wood which belongs to the manor is sixteen miles long
and four broad. This manor in the time of King Edward was valued at
fourscore and eight pounds; now at twenty shillings and four-pence."[1]
[Footnote 1: "Dom Boc," the Yorkshire Domesday. The Rev. Wm. Bawdwen,
1809, p. 11]
This remarkable depreciation from £88 to £1 and 4d. need not be, as
Bawdwen thought, a mistake in the original, but an ample proof of the
vengeance of the Conqueror. All the lands belonging to the powerful Saxon
Earls Edwin and Morcar seem to have suffered much the same fate.
The Domesday account also mentions that "To this manor belongs the soke of
these lands, viz.: _Brunton_ (Brompton), _Odulfesmare_ ( ), _Edbriztune_
(Ebberston), _Alnestune_ (Allerston), _Wiltune_ (Wilton), _Farmanesbi_
(Farmanby), _Rozebi_ (Roxby), _Chinetorp_ (Kinthorp), _Chilnesmares_ ( ),
_Aschilesmares_ ( ), _Maxudesmares_ ( ), _Snechintune_ (Snainton),
_Chigogemers_ ( ), _Elreburne_ (Ellerburne), _Torentune_ (Thornton),
_Leuccen_ (Levisham), _Middeletun_ (Middleton) and _Bartune_ (Barton). In
the whole there are fifty carucates to be taxed, which twenty-seven
ploughs may till. There are now only ten villanes, having two ploughs: the
rest is waste; yet there are twenty acres of meadow. The whole length is
sixteen miles and the breadth four."
The unrecognisable names all end in mare, mares or mers, suggesting that
they were all on the marshes and Bawdwen is probably incorrect in calling
_Locte-mares_--Low-moors. Associated with each place the Domesday record
gives the names of the former landowners.
I give them in tabular form:--
Manor in Domesday Modern Name Held by
Bruntune Brompton Ulf
Truzstal Troutsdale Archil
Alurestan Allerston Gospatric
Loctemares Low-moors or marshes Archil
Torentun Thornton-le-dale Torbrand, Gospatric
and Tor
Elreburne Ellerburne Gospatric
Dalbi Dalby "
Chetelestorp Kettlethorp "
Lochetun Lockton Ulchil
Aslachesbi Aislaby Gospatric
Wereltun Wrelton "
Caltorne Cawthorne "
Croptune Cropton "
Abbetune Habton Ulf and Cnut
Ritun Ryton Canute
Berg. Barugh Ligulf
Berg " Esbern
Wellebrune Welburn Grim
Normanebi Normanby Gamel
Bragebi Brawby Ulf
Chirchebi (?) Kirby Moorside Torbrant
Chirchebi (?) Kirkdale Gamel
Lestingeham Lastingham "
Spantun Spaunton "
Dalbi Dalby Gamel
Sevenicton (?) Sinnington Torbrand
Hotun Hutton-le-hole or Torbrant
Hutton Buscel
Atun Ayton Gamel
Micheledestun Great Edstone "
Parva Edestun Little Edstone Torbrant
Mispeton, now Belonging to
Kirby Misperton Chirchebi
The number of ploughs, of oxgangs and carucates, and of villanes and
bordars in each manor is given in Domesday, but to give each extract in
full would take up much space and would be a little wearisome.
We know that the impoverished country was, like the rest of England, given
by the Conqueror to his followers. The village of Hutton Buscel obtains
its name from the Buscel family which came over to England with William
the Norman. Hinderwell, quoting[1] from some unnamed source, tells us that
"Reginald Buscel (whose father came over with the Conqueror) married
Alice, the sister of William, Abbot of Whitby, and at the time of his
marriage, gave the church of Hotun, which his father had built, to the
monastery of Whitby." This was before the year 1154, and the lower part of
the tower of the present church of Hutton Buscel, being of Norman date,
may belong to that early building.
[Footnote 1: Thomas Hinderwell: "History of Scarborough," p. 331.]
On Vivers Hill to the east of the village of Kirby Moorside there are
indications among the trees of what is believed to have been the castle of
the Stutevilles. Robert de Stuteville is said to have come over with the
Conqueror, and to have received land at Kirby Moorside as a reward for his
services.
The country having received the full fury of William's wrath very slowly
recovered its prosperity under Norman rulers. On the slope of the hills
all the way from Scarborough to Helmsley, castles began to make their
appearance, and sturdy Norman churches were built in nearly every village.
[Illustration: The South Side of the Nave of Pickering Church.]
The arches on the north side are of much simpler Norman work. The nearest
painting shows the story of the legendary St Katherine of Alexandria.
[Copyright is reserved by Dr John L Kirk.]
The great Norman keep of Scarborough Castle with its shattered side still
frowns above the holiday crowds of that famous seaside resort, but of the
other strongholds of the district built in this castle-building age it is
not easy to speak with certainty. But the evidences of Norman work are
fairly plain at Pickering Castle, and there seems little doubt that a
fortress of some strength was built at this important point to overawe the
inhabitants. Mr G.T. Clark in his "Mediæval Military Architecture"[1] says
that he considers Pickering Castle to represent "one great type of
Anglo-Norman fortress--that is, a castle of Norman masonry upon an
English earthwork, for the present walls, if not Norman, are
unquestionably laid on Norman lines." He thinks that the earthworks would
be taken possession of and fortified either late in the eleventh or early
in the twelfth century, and that the keep, the chief part of the curtain
walls, and the Norman door near the northwest corner are remains of this
building. The gateways may be Norman or they may belong to the time of
Richard II. (1377-99) but Mr Clark inclines to the earlier date. It is
possible that the Norman doorway just mentioned may have been an entrance
to one of the towers mentioned by Leland but now completely lost sight of.
The architrave has a beaded angle ornamented with pointed arches repeated,
and if it is of late Norman date it is the only part of the castle which
Mr Clark considers to be "distinctly referable to that period."
[Footnote 1: George T. Clark: "Mediæval Military Architecture in England,"
p.372.]
There is no doubt at all that the arcades of the present nave of Pickering
church, were built at this time, and the lower part of the tower is also
of Norman date. The north arcade is earlier than that on the south side,
having perfectly plain semi-circular arches and massive columns with
fluted capitals. On the south the piers are much more ornate, the contrast
being very plainly seen in the photograph reproduced here.
To have necessitated such a spacious church at this time, Pickering must
have been a populous town; possibly it grew on account of the safety
afforded by the castle, and it seems to indicate the importance of the
place in the time of the Norman kings.
One of the most complete little Norman churches in Yorkshire is to be seen
at Salton, a village about six miles south-west of Pickering. It appears
to have been built at the beginning of the twelfth century, and afterwards
to have suffered from fire, parts of the walls by their redness showing
traces of having been burnt. A very thorough restoration has given the
building a rather new aspect, but this does not detract from the interest
of the church. The chancel arch is richly ornamented with two patterns of
zig-zag work, the south door of the nave has a peculiar decoration of
double beak-heads, and though some of the early windows have been replaced
by lancets, a few of the Norman slits remain.
[Illustration: The South Doorway of the Norman Church of Salton. It is
ornamented with very curious double beak-heads. In the upper corners are
given two of the curious corbels on the south side of the nave.]
[Illustration: Curious Ornament in the Norman Chancel Arch at Ellerburne.
The crude carving suggests Saxon work, and it was possibly the production
of Saxon masons under Norman supervision.]
Middleton church has already been mentioned as containing what appears to
be a Saxon doorway in the tower. This may have been saved from an earlier
building together with the lower part of the tower, but if it did not come
into existence before the conquest the tower and nave were built in early
Norman times. The south arcade probably belongs to the latest phase of
Transitional Norman architecture, if not the commencement of the early
English period. Running along the west and north walls of the north aisle
is a stone bench, an unusual feature even in Norman churches.
Ellerburne church has some very interesting Norman work in the chancel
arch. The ornament is so crude that it would seem as though very primitive
Saxon workmen had been working under Norman influence, for, while the
masonry is plainly of the Norman period, the ornament appears to belong to
an earlier time. There must have been a church at Normanby at this period,
for the south door of the present building is Norman. Sinnington church
also belongs to this time. The Norman chancel arch was taken down many
years ago, but the stones having been preserved in the church it was found
possible to replace them in their original position at the Restoration in
1904. There are remains of three doorways including the blocked one at the
west end. The south doorway is Transitional Norman, and is supposed to
have been added about 1180. The porch and present chancel belong to the
thirteenth century, but during the Restoration some interesting relics of
the earlier Norman chancel were discovered in the walls of the fabric that
replaced it. A small stone coffin containing human remains with several
wild boars' tusks and a silver wire ring was found in the nave.
[Illustration: The Transitional Norman Crypt under the Chancel of
Lastingham Church. It is a complete little underground church, having
nave, apse, and aisles.]
Lastingham church as it now stands is only part of the original
Transitional Norman church, for there are evidences that the nave extended
to the west of the present tower which was added in the fifteenth century.
It appears that the western part of the nave was destroyed or injured not
many years after its erection, and that the eastern part was repaired in
early English times. The chancel with its vaulted roof and circular apse,
and the crypt beneath, are of the same date as the original nave, and
though the capitals of the low columns in the crypt might be thought to be
of earlier work, expert opinion places them at the same Transitional
Norman date. The crypt has a nave, apse and aisles, and is therefore a
complete little underground church. Semi-circular arches between the
pillars support the plain vaulting only a few feet above one's head, and
the darkness is such that it requires a little time to be able to see the
foliage and interlaced arches of the capitals surmounting the squat
columns.
At Brompton the Perpendicular church contains evidences of the building of
this period that once existed there, in the shape of four Norman capitals,
two of them built into the east wall of the south aisle and two in the
jambs of the chancel arch. In the massive walls of the lower part of the
tower there may also be remains of the Norman building.
At the adjoining village of Snainton the old church was taken down in
1835, but the Norman stones of the south doorway of the nave have been
re-erected, and now form an arch in an adjoining wall. The font of the
same period having been found in a garden, was replaced in the church on a
new base in 1893. In Edstone church the Norman font, with a simple arcade
pattern running round the circular base, is still to be seen, and at
Levisham the very plain chancel arch mentioned in the preceding chapter is
also of Norman work. Allerston church has some pieces of zig-zag ornament
built into the north wall, and Ebberston church has a slit window on the
north side of the chancel, and the south door built in Norman times. The
nave arcade at Ebberston may belong to the Transitional Norman period and
the font also.
Most of the churches in the neighbourhood of Pickering are, therefore,
seen to have either been built in the Norman age or to possess fragments
of the buildings that were put up in that period. The difficulty of
preventing the churches from being too cold was met in some degree by
having no windows on the north side as at Sinnington, and those windows
that faced the other cardinal points were sufficiently small to keep out
the extremes of temperature.
[Illustration: The Norman font at Edstone.]
The written records belonging to the Norman period of the history of
Pickering seem to have largely disappeared, so that with the exception of
the Domesday Book, and a few stray references to people or places in this
locality, we are largely dependent on the buildings that have survived
those tempestuous years.
Pickering appears to have been a royal possession during the whole of this
time, and it is quite probable that the Norman kings hunted in the forest
and lodged with their Courts in the castle, for a writ issued by Henry I.
is dated at Pickering.
CHAPTER VIII
_The Forest and Vale in the Time of the Plantagenets_
A.D. 1154 to 1485
The story of these three centuries is told to a most remarkable extent in
the numerous records of the Duchy of Lancaster relating to the maintenance
of the royal Forest of Pickering. They throw a clear light on many aspects
of life at Pickering, and by picking out some of the more picturesque
incidents recorded we may see to what extent the severe forest laws kept
in check the poaching element in the neighbourhood. We can also discover
some incidents in connection with the visits of some of the English kings
to the royal forest of Pickering, as well as matters relating to the
repair of the castle.
In the Parliament of 1295, in Edward I.'s reign, Pickering, for the first
and only occasion, sent representatives to the national assembly. The
parliamentary return states[1] that the persons returned on that occasion
were
Robertus Turcock
Robertus Turcock,
but whether this is a mistake by the recorder or whether two men of the
same name were returned is uncertain.
[Footnote 1: G.R. Park, "The Parliamentary Representation of Yorkshire,
1886," pp. 266 and 283.]
Among the High Sheriffs of Yorkshire in the fourteenth and fifteenth
Centuries were
1390 Richard II. Jacobus de Pykering.
1394 " " "
1398 " " "
1432 Henry VI. Sir Richard de Pykering.
1450 " Sir James de Pykering knt.
In 1311 Johannes de Cropton was one of the members for Scarborough in
Edward II.'s Parliament of that year.
Pickering was held as royal property by William the Conqueror, and with a
few short intervals it has remained crown property until the present day.
It is therefore no matter for surprise to find that several of the
Plantagenet kings came to hunt in the forest. It appears to have been a
royal possession in the time of Henry I., and also in February 1201, when
King John visited the castle,[1] for a charter granted by him to the nuns
of Wykeham is dated at Pickering. In 1248 William Lord d'Acre was made
keeper of the castle, but towards the close of his reign Henry III.
(1216-1272) gave the castle, manor, and forest of Pickering to his son
Edmund Crouchback, and from him the property has descended through the
Lancastrian branch of the royal family, so that it now forms part of the
possessions of the Duchy of Lancaster.
[Footnote 1: Young's "History of Whitby," vol. ii. p. 733.]
From other records we find that King John was also at Pickering for at
least a day in August 1208 and in March 1210.
In 1261 Pickering Castle was held against Henry III. by Hugh le Bigod, and
some of the wardrobe accounts of the reign of Edward II. have reference to
a visit to Pickering. The place must have had painful memories for the
king in connection with the capture of his favourite Piers Gaveston at
Scarborough Castle in 1312. This visit was, however, separated from that
fateful event by eleven years.
"3 August 1323, at Pickering. Paid to William Hunt, the King's huntsman,
by way of gift at the direction of Harsike--£1; to Agnes, wife of Roger de
Mar, porter of the chamber, gift--10s.: to Guillot de la Pittere, groom of
the Queen's chamber, gift--£1; to Dighton Wawayn, valet of Robert Wawayn,
carrying letters from his master to the king, gift--2s. To John, son of
Ibote of Pickering, who followed the king a whole day when he hunted the
stag in Pickering chase, gift by order--10s.; to Walter de Seamer,
Mariner, keeper of the ship called the Magdalen, of which Cook atte Wose
was master, a gift, the money being given to John Harsike to give him--
£1.
"23 August, at Egginton, on Blakey Moor. Paid to Sir Roger de Felton,
Knight of the King's Chamber, for his ransom at the time when he was taken
by the Scots at Rievaulx in company with the Earl of Richmond, in October,
1322, a gift by the hands of John Harsike, who delivered the money to Sir
Roger in the King's presence, £100.
"To Edmund Dorney, the King's palfrey man, who always followed the King
when he hunted--£1.
"31 August, at Glascowollehouse. Paid to Ernest, running footman of Sir
Robert del Idle, who carried letters to the King, a gift 6s. 8d.; to Dan
Thomas de Broghton, monk of Rievaulx, to buy him a coat, a gift--10s."
The entries show that the king journeyed to Whorlton Castle to stay with
Nicholas de Meynell. He seems to have gone by way of Lockton and Spaunton
Moor, and appears to have stayed a night at Danby. The accounts mention an
amount paid on September 1st to certain foresters' servants who set the
king's nets to take roe-deer in Whorlton Park, and we also discover that
the day's sport was varied by the singing of Alice the red-haired and
Alice de Whorlton, who gave "Simon de Montfort" and other songs before the
king, and received a gift of 4s.
The poor of Pickering profited by the royal visits. Here are two items in
the accounts.
"26 September [1323] at Skipton. Paid, by order of the King, to Lorchon
Sewer alms distributed by the King at Pickering--3d."
In 1334 Edward III. was more generous than his predecessor, for we find
"26 May. Alms--to Sir Walter de London, King's Almoner, for food for 100
poor on the feast of Corpus Christi at Pickering, at the hands of his
clerk Henry--12s. 6d." During the hunting in the forest a hound was lost
and recovered as follows:--
"June, (at Beverley), given to Robert de Bridgegate, leading to the King a
hound lost at Pickering, a gift the same day 6s. 8d."
The reference to the Scottish raid as far south as Rievaulx Abbey touches
an event of great interest. In 1322 the Scots, led by Robert Bruce, had
entered England and plundered many places, including the splendid
Cistercian monastery just mentioned, and the following record shows that
the Vale of Pickering purchased immunity for 300 marks.
"John Topcliffe Rector of Semer Wm. Wyern & John Wickham with others of
Pickering with the assent of the whole community, on Tuesday 13th Oct.
1322 purchased from Robert Bruce through the Earl of Moray for 300 marks,
to be paid at Berwick, half at Candlemas next & the other half at Trinity
next, the immunity of the Vale of Pickering from the River Seven on the
west to the sea on the east. Further they say that Nich's Haldane, Wm.
Hastings and John Manneser, at the request of the men of the whole
community, surrendered at Rievaulx to Robert Bruce on Saturday the 17th of
Oct. following, to sojourn as hostages in Scotland until the 300 marks
were paid. Further they say that the 300 marks are still unpaid, for
afterwards the men of the community refused payment and once for all.
Further they said that the said Nicholas William and John are still in
prison in Scotland, and all the men and all townships, manors, hamlets,
lands and tenements of the said Vale within the bounds aforesaid were
preserved from all damage and injury whatsoever through the
above-mentioned ransom."
From the Chronicle of John Hardyng we find that Richard II. was imprisoned
at Pickering before being taken to Knaresborough, and finally to
Pontefract. The lines in his quaint verse must have been written between
1436 and 1465.
"The Kyng the[n] sent Kyng Richard to Ledis,
There to be kepte surely in previtee,
Fro the[n]s after to Pykeryng we[n]t he nedes,
And to Knauesburgh after led was he,
But to Pountfrete last where he did die." [1]
[Footnote 1: The Chronicle of John Hardyng, edited by Henry Ellis, 1812,
p. 356.]
There seems little doubt that the story of the murder of the king at
Pontefract Castle by Sir Piers Exton is untrue, but "nothing is certainly
known of the time, place, or manner of his death."
The records of the Coucher Book contain a mass of interesting and often
entertaining information concerning the illicit removals of oak trees from
the forest, hunting and killing the royal deer and other animals, as well
as many other offences.
At the forest Eyre, a sort of assizes, held at Pickering in 1334 to deal
with a great accumulated mass of infringements on the rights of the
forest, the first case is against Sir John de Melsa, Lord of Levisham, who
was, according to the jury, "in the habit of employing men to make and
burn charcoal out of browsewood and dry sticks in his woods at Levisham,
which are now within the bounds of the forest, and he exposes the charcoal
for sale, injuring the lord and annoying the deer, by what right they know
not. Sir John is summoned, appears, and pleads that he and his ancestors
and the tenants of the Manor of Levisham have from ancient time taken the
browsewood and dry sticks in the said woods and burnt them into charcoal,
and afterwards exposed them for sale, and given them away at pleasure as
part of his and their manorial rights. He asks that the officers of the
forest may try the question. As it clearly appears to the Court by the
answer of Sir John that he is making a claim to take a profit in the
forest which he did not claim on the first day of the Eyre, as the custom
is, and as proclamation was made, judgment is given that the liberty be
seized into the Lord's hands, and Sir John is to answer for its value in
the meantime. Afterwards Sir John appears, and prays that he may be
allowed to pay a composition for making his claim, and a composition of
6s. 8d. is fixed. Surety, Richard de Naulton. The jury also present that a
bridge called Friar Bridge, beyond the Costa, across which people are wont
to pass on horseback and on foot going from Pickering to Malton, is in
such bad repair that people cannot pass over, but have to make a
divergence of about a mile and a half in the forest, treading down and
injuring the pasturage of the deer. The Abbot of Rievaulx and all Abbots
of that place are bound to repair it. He is summoned, appears, and does
not deny that he and they are bound to repair it, but he says that the
bridge is not in such bad repair that people cannot pass over it as they
are wont and ought to do without doing harm to any one. He asks that an
inquiry may be made by the officers of the forest. An inquiry is directed.
The foresters, verderers, and regarders, sworn and charged, say on their
oaths, that after the summons for the Eyre was issued, the bridge was in
such bad repair that people being unable to pass over it made a divergence
into the forest, annoying the Lord's deer and treading down their
pasturage. Afterwards the Abbot repaired it so that it requires nothing
further, and people can quite well pass over it. Therefore as to the
present repair of the bridge the Abbot is acquitted, but he is to be
amerced because he did not repair it before.
"The jury also present that the present Prior of Bridlington erected a
sheepfold at Newland in the forest, 100 feet long and 12 feet broad,
injuring thereby the Lord's deer, notwithstanding that on another occasion
at the last Eyre of the Justices the sheepfold was ordered to be taken
down. By what right they know not. The Prior appears and prays to be
allowed to compound with the Lord, and that he and his successors may rent
the sheepfold in perpetuity, inasmuch as it no longer injures the deer.
Since the foresters, verderers, and regarders prove that it is so the
Prior is permitted to compound by the payment of 13s. 4d. (surety Ralph de
Morton), and he is likewise given a grant for ever of the sheepfold at a
yearly rent of 6d. at Michaelmas. The Prior is to hold it for ever quit of
regard. The jury also present that the bridge and road of Pul within the
forest, which are common highways for carriages, carts, drifts, and
packsaddles are in such bad repair that none can pass over them. The Prior
of the Hospital of St John, by reason of his tenure of lands which
formerly belonged to the Knights Templars, and the Prioress of Yedingham,
are bound to repair and maintain them. They are summoned. The Prioress
appears in person, the Prior by his attorney, Walter de Trusseley. The
Prioress says that neither she nor any of her predecessors ever from
ancient time repaired or ought to repair it, because she says that the
Prior, by reason of his tenure of the lands which belonged to the
Templars, is bound to repair and maintain the bridge and road as often as
need requires, in the same way that the Templars, before the abolition of
their Order, from ancient time, by reason of their tenure of their lands
at Foulbridge, which the Prior now holds, repaired and maintained the
bridge and road. She asks that an inquiry may be directed." The Prior, by
his attorney, denies most of the charges seriatim, but the judgment of the
Court is that "the Prior be distrained to compel him to repair and make
good the bridge and road to the east, and is to be amerced because he has
not done it sooner, and the Prioress is to be acquitted because the road
to the west of the bridge is not at present out of repair."
[Illustration: Some of the Wall Paintings on the South Side of the Nave of
Pickering Church.
The upper left-hand corner shows what is apparently the funeral of the
Virgin Mary with the miserable Prince astride the coffin. On the long
strip and on the two spandrels are scenes from the Death and Resurrection
of Our Lord.
The last of seven acts of corporal mercy is shown here.
[Copyright reserved by Dr John L. Kirk.]
]
This is a typical example of the manner of recording these quarrels over
responsibilities and delinquencies in connection with the forest, each
side seeming to deny in detail most of the charges brought forward. Most
of the cases relating to the stealing of oaks and brushwood and to
poaching matters generally are compounded for.
The following is a case of officers of the forest making themselves a
nuisance with the local people. "The jury also present that whereas John
de Monmouth has 20s [? a year], a toft and two oxgangs of land, with the
appurtenances in Pickering, John Scot 30s a year, and William Courtman 5s
at the Earl's expense for being fosterers in the West Ward [of Pickering
Forest], yet they surcharge all the inhabitants with their living and that
of their servants, annoying the country. They are summoned, appear, and
compound.... The jury also present that Richard Cockard of Helmsley, John
de Harlay, and William Gower, forester, of Scalby, Langdale, and Fullwood,
under colour of their office, collect sheaves in autumn and wool and keep
servants on board in the country. They are summoned, appear, and make
composition...." "The jury also present that John de Shirburn drew the
timber of a house in Pickering within the forest of Shirburn without the
forest, and John Beal of West Heslerton drew the timber of a barn in
Pickering within the boundery of the forest to West Heslerton without the
forest, and John de Shirburn and Thomas Bret likewise drew the timber of a
house at Pickering within the boundaries of the forest to Shirburn without
the forest, injuring the Earl and contrary to the assize of the forest.
They are summoned, appear, and each makes composition."
"Henry the Fowler, of Barugh, Adam the Fowler, of Ayton, William Hare and
William Fox, catch birds in the forest by means of birdlime-nets and other
contrivances." The Clergy were frequently involved in the taking of timber
from the forest. "Robert de Hampton, Rector of Middleton, took at
different times three green oaks below Cropton Castle, and on a third
occasion took there a green oak, without the demesne, without livery of
the foresters or warrant.--
"In mercy:--
"The Abbot of Whitby took a green oak in Goathland within the demesne,
value 3d, and was let out on bail. He has not surrendered and does not
appear to judgment with his bail, and he is responsible for the value and
a fine of 3s. Afterwards it appears that his bail are dead, so proceedings
against them are stayed.
"Eldred of Ellerburne, deceased, carried off a green oak within the
demesne, value 7d. His successor, Edmund de Hastings, is responsible for
its value, a fine of 7d and also 7d, the value of vert likewise taken in
the Hay.
"Hugh, Vicar of Ebberston, deceased, took a green oak without the demesne
without livery of the foresters or warrant; John, son of Geoffrey, and
John de la Chymyne, his executors, are responsible.--
"The Lady Beatrice of Farmanby, deceased, took a green oak without the
demesne, without livery of the foresters or warrant. Her successor,
William Hastings, is responsible.
"The Rector of Brompton, deceased, felled two green oaks without the
demesne, without livery of foresters or warrant. The same persons
responsible.
"The Preceptor of Foulbridge felled and carried away four green oaks in
fence month. The Prior of the Hospital of St John is responsible.
"The Prioress of Wykeham claims for herself and her tenants in Wykeham and
Ruston to receive and take housebote and hedgebote in the woods of North
Cave heads and Barley, according to the assize of the forest, and common
of pasture for all animals except goats in the same woods and the wastes
and moors adjoining, that is to say, northwards from Yarlesike.... The
Justices consider that before allowing her claims an inqury should be made
as to how the Prioress and her predecessors have exercised their rights."
"Sir John de Meaux claims to have housebote and hedgebote for himself, his
men and tenants of Levisham in his woods of Levisham, in accordance with
the assize of the forest, and reasonable estovers of turves in his
demesnes of Levisham, for himself, his men and his tenants, and ironstone
and a smelting-place in his woods of Levisham, paying to the Earl an
annual rent of 2s and aeries of falcons, merlins and sparrow-hawk, and
whatever honey is found in his woods at Levisham, and he claims to have a
woodward in such woods. He is ready to prove that all these rights having
been exercised by himself and his ancestors from ancient time, the
housebote and hedgebote being appurtenant to his free tenement in
Levisham, and brousewood and dry wood being taken to feed his furnaces. An
inquiry is directed, and it is found that Sir John and his ancestors have
from ancient time enjoyed the rights so claimed without interruption.
Judgment is given in accordance with the verdict."
"Ralph de Bulmer claims to have a free park at Thornton Riseborough, and
to keep hounds to hunt there. He claims that King John by deed granted to
one Alan de Winton, then holder of the park, and his heirs, liberty to
inclose and make a free park, and to keep his hounds to hunt there; by
virtue whereof Alan, whose estate he now holds, exercised the rights. He
says that Edward II. inspected the grant of John, and granted to Ralph,
that he and his heirs might hold the park with its appurtenances as Alan
held it, without let or hindrance on the part of the King or his Justices,
Escheators, Sheriffs, or other bailiffs, or officers whatsoever.
"Thomas de Pickering and Margaret, his wife, claim to have a woodward to
keep their demesne wood at Lockton, and that no one may lop branches
therein or fell any tree without their consent, and that they may fell and
give away at pleasure green trees and dry, and give and sell dry trees at
pleasure without view of the foresters." In the following claim a mention
is made of the "wildcat." "Thomas Wake of Liddell claims to have a free
chase for fox, hare, wildcat, and badger, within the boundaries of his
barony of Middleton, namely, from the place called Alda on the Costa to
the standing stone above the Spital Myre of Pickering, etc."
"Hugh de Nevill is indicted, for that whilst he was bailiff of Pickering,
under colour of his office, he arrested one Robert the Dyer, lately
residing in Ebberston, bound his hands as if he were a felon, though he
had not been indicted, and took from him a horse, harness, and other goods
and chattels to the value of 20s. Afterwards he entrusted him to the care
of his servant to take to York, but when they reached Malton, the servant
let his prisoner escape.
"Henry de Rippley, sub-bailiff of Pickering, fined for having seized goods
and chattels of Sir Robert de Scarborough, at Ebberston, for which he was
indicted and found guilty on his own confession, 3s 4d."
A case in which the poachers showed their total disregard for the officers
of the forest is given as follows.
"Stephen son of Richard of Eskdale, Nicholas the Taylor of Whitby, and
John de Moorsholm of Sneaton Thorpe, were indicted for having, on
Wednesday 23rd March 1334, at Blakey Moor [near Saltersgate], within the
forest, hunted with bows, arrows and greyhounds, and taken sixty-six harts
and hinds, of which they cut off the heads of nine and fixed them upon
stakes in the Moor."
"As regards those who caught hares and wandered in the forest with bows
and arrows contrary to the assize of the forest, Mathilda de Bruys is
accustomed to hunt and catch hares." She compounded for 5s, Robert Bruce
and John Perot being sureties.
The Coucher Book mentions that Henry I. issued a writ dated at Pickering.
This would suggest that Pickering Castle was standing between 1100 and
1135, for the king would scarcely have visited the place unless he had had
proper quarters for himself and his suite, and the castle alone could have
afforded this. A record of 1347 mentions the pillory at Pickering, and
suggests a lively scene that took place in the august presence of the Earl
of Lancaster. "William de Kirkby and others conspired amongst themselves
to indict John de Buckton, Hugh de Neville, John de Barton, and others for
that they on Monday, 25th June 1347, took six harts in Pickering Forest
and set up the head of one in the sight of the Earl of Lancaster upon the
pillory in Pickering town, in consequence of which John de Buckton, Hugh
de Neville and John de Barton were taken and imprisoned in Pickering
Castle and suffered great loss of their goods. Afterwards, in the same
town, William appeared in the King's Bench and asked to be allowed to
compound for the offences presented against him, as well as those to which
he had already pleaded as the rest. The request was granted, and he paid
the fine entered in the rolls."
"The jurors of the several wappentakes of Yorkshire presented that David
de Wigan and others on Wednesday, 11th July 1347, violently entered by
night the house of Thomas, Vicar of Ebberston, seized him and led him to
Pickering Castle until he compounded with them for £2, though," adds the
record, "he had never been indicted for any offence" (!) This David de
Wigan must have terrorised the neighbourhood at this time, for he and
others scarcely a week later "seized Adam del Selley Bridge at Selley
Bridge [near Marishes Road Station] and led him with them until he
compounded with them for £4." On the same Tuesday they violently seized
Robert de Sunley at Calvecote and led him to Pickering Castle until he
paid £2. On the 30th July Thomas Oliver of Sawdon was taken in the same
manner and detained for five days. After all this David was summoned and
he pleaded guilty. By trustworthy witnesses, however, it was proved that
he was penniless and had nothing wherewith to satisfy the king for his
offences, and "having regard to the state of his health and condition he
was let off." We wonder what the Vicar of Ebberston thought of this
lenient treatment of such a Barabbas. Geoffrey de Wrightington, a late
bailiff of Pickering, seems to have taken part in these offences, and he
was also responsible for having seized Hugh de Neville in Pickering
Church, and for having imprisoned him "in the depths of the gaol in iron
fetters for seven weeks, though Hugh had never been indicted." John Scott
of Pickering also spent nine weeks in prison at the pleasure of this
desperate fellow. On the 30th August 1346 he took £4 by force from Henry
de Acaster, the vicar of Pickering, when he was journeying between
Coneysthorpe and Appleton le Street. His methods are well shown by the
following. "Geoffrey also on Sunday, 17th September 1346, seized Adam de
Selley Bridge by force at Pickering and imprisoned him until he had
compounded with him for 6 [? £] and when Adam paid the fine Geoffrey made
him swear on the Book that he would tell no one how he came to pay the
fine or to be imprisoned." After all this Geoffrey was let off with a fine
when called to account three years later.
In the minister's accounts for 1322 appear the "wages of a forester to
keep Pickering Forest, a door-keeper and a watchman in the castle, each 2d
a day for 34 weeks." There are references to thatch for the porter's
lodge, the brewhouse, the kitchen, and small upper apartment within the
castle. This thatching took a man three days with two women to help him
all the time; the man received 9d and the women 2d each for the work.
The chaplain of the castle chapel received a yearly salary of £3; repairs
by contract to the seven glass windows in the chapel cost 10d, and wine
and lights 2s. Under the heading of Small Expenses comes "making 14
hurdles to lie on the draw bridge and other bridges to preserve them from
the cart-wheels 1s; making a hedge round the fishpond, cutting and
carrying boughs, wages of the hedger--4s 6d; making a long cord of hemp 20
ells long weighing 6 stone of hemp for the Castle well--4s 9d; burning
after Feb. 2 old grass in Castle Ings that new grass may grow--8d; 8 men
cutting holly, ivy and oak boughs in different parts of the forest for the
deer in a time of snow and ice, 9 days at 2d a day--12s 2-1/2d; wages of a
man sent to the king [Edward II.] with a letter from the bailiff to
acquaint the king with certain secrets by letters of privy seal, going,
residing there and returning, 9 days at 3d a day for food and wages--3s
9d."
In the Close Rolls of 1324, there is an order to "John de Kelvington,
keeper of the Castle and honor of Pickering, to cause to be newly
constructed a barbican before the Castle gate with a stone wall and a gate
with a drawbridge in the same, and beyond the gate a new chamber, a new
postern gate by the King's Tower and a roof to a chamber near the small
hall; to cover with thin flags that roof and the roof of the small
kitchen, to remove the old roof of the King's prison and to make an
entirely new roof covered with lead, and to thoroughly point, both within
and without, the walls of the castle and tower, and to clean out and
enlarge the Castle ditch. All this to be done out of the issues of the
honor as the King has enjoined him by word of mouth, and the expense
incurred therein when duly proved will be allowed him in his accounts.
Pickering, 10th August, 1323."
About the year 1314 there is an item in the accounts of eighty planks
bought at Easingwold and carried to the castle and laid in the gangway
leading from the chamber of the Countess to the chapel. The nails for this
work cost 5s. 6d.
[Illustration: The Devil's or Dyet Tower on the South-East side of
Pickering Castle. This is often called the Rosamund Tower, but the records
call it the Dyet Tower.]
Soon after this comes the cost of the new hall in the castle. "Clearing,
digging and levelling the place within the castle where the bakehouse was
burnt to build there a hall with a chamber 14s 1-1/2d, building the stone
wall of the hall and chamber, getting and carrying 400 cartloads of stone,
digging and carrying soil for mortar, buying 27 quarters of lime--£5 19s
11d; contract for joiners' work, wages for those employed to saw planks
and joists, 152 planks for doors and windows, 80 large spikes, 600 spike
nails, 1000 broad headed nails and 20,000 tacks, 22 hinges for the doors,
28 hinges for the windows and 2600 laths with carriage for the same--£9 0s
1-1/2d; roofing the buildings with thin flags by piece-work, collecting
moss for the same [to stop up the crannies] plastering the floor of the
upper room and several walls within the chamber, making a chimney piece of
plaster of Paris (plastro parisiensi), together with the wages of the
chaplain who was present at the building--£5 1s 10-1/2d." A few years
later came some more repairs to the castle: "a carpenter 4 days mending
the wind battered roof of the old hall with old shingles 1s, 300 nails for
that purpose 9d; a man 10 days roofing with tin the small kitchen, the
garderobe at the corner of the kitchen, the cellar, outside the new hall,
within the tower and porter's lodge--2s 6d." Hay and straw for the roofs
was brought "from the Marsh to Pickering"; two men were employed to clean
out the castle well which had been so blocked up as to become quite dry
that year and another charge 1s for a new rope and for repairing the
bucket of the well.
In 1326 there is a reference to the King's patent writ, dated 7th
December, by which the Castle was committed by Edward II. "to his beloved
cousin Henry, Earl of Lancaster," and the keeper, John de Kilvington, was
"to deliver the Castle and Honour to the Earl together with its military
stores, victuals and other things."
From a small green-covered foolscap volume lent me by Mr Arthur Hill of
Thorton-le-dale, I have taken the following description of the "Bounds of
the Forest of Pickering, as far as the waters are concerned."
"From How Bridge along the Rye to where the Seven falls into the Rye, the
whole length of the Seven.
"Wheeldale Beck to
"Mirke Esk to
"The Eske and along the Eske to where Lythe Beck falls into the Eske
"Where the Derwent springs and along the Derwent to where Tillabeck falls
into the Derwent.
"Along Tillabeck to King's Bridge.
"Along the Harford to the Derwent.
"Along the Derwent to where the Rye falls into the Derwent.
"Along the Rye to Howe Bridge."
The records relating to Pickering are all so accessible since their
publication by the North Riding Record Society that those who want to read
more details of these picturesque mediæval days can do so with very little
trouble, but from the extracts that I have made, a general idea of the
class of information contained in the Duchy Records may be obtained. In
this period many additions and alterations were made to Pickering church.
The Transitional Norman tower was largely rebuilt, and the spire was added
in the Decorated style of Gothic prevalent in the fourteenth century.
Below the battlements of the tower there are shields, but the details have
almost entirely weathered away. The reticulated windows of the church
belong to the same period. They are very fine examples of the work of that
time. The north aisle, the chancel, and probably the north window of the
north transept also belong to this period, so that work of an extensive
nature must have been progressing on the church as well as the castle at
the same time. The walls of the nave and chancel appear to have been
raised in the latter half of the fifteenth century, and this would be
shortly before the remarkable series of wall paintings came into
existence. The date of these pictures can be brought down to fairly narrow
limits, for the arms carried by the four knights who are shown about to
murder St Thomas à Becket belong to the years between 1450 and 1460,
according to Mr J.G. Waller. The Rev. G.H. Lightfoot, a former vicar of
Pickering, mentions[1] the discovery of traces of earlier paintings of
superior execution when the present ones were being restored, but of these
indications no sign is now visible.
[Footnote 1: Yorkshire Archæological Journal, 1895.]
[Illustration: One of the Wall Paintings in Pickering Church.
St Christopher, the patron saint of travellers with the Infant Christ on
his shoulder. The saint is shown treading upon the serpent and grasping
his staff, which is growing at the edge of the stream.
[The copyright is reserved by Dr John L. Kirk]
When the church was re-opened after the restoration in 1879, the walls of
the nave were covered with a thick coat of yellow wash, but there were
many living who remembered the accidental discovery of the strange
pictures that were for a time exposed to the wondering gaze of the
congregation. The distraction caused by this novelty led to the coat of
yellow wash that undoubtedly did infinite harm to the paintings. At the
subsequent restoration, which was carried out by degrees as the necessary
funds were forthcoming, it was found that portions of some of the figures
had perished, and it is a most regrettable fact that the restoration
included the painting in of certain missing parts whose details could only
be supplied by analogy. From Mr Lightfoot's description it seems that in
the large picture of St George and the Dragon a considerable part of the
St George's body was missing; that the representation of Herod's Feast and
the lowest scene of the life of St Katherine of Alexandria were very badly
damaged by the attachments of mural tablets. On the whole, however, the
paintings when uncovered were in a good state of preservation, and the
colours were more vivid than they were left after the re-touching by Mr
Jewitt.
[Illustration: Some of the Wall Paintings in Pickering Church.
THE SEVEN CORPORAL ACTS OF MERCY.
They are, from left to right:--(1) Feeding the hungry (partly missing in
photograph)[A]; (2) Giving drink to the thirsty; (3) Compelling the
stranger to come in; (4) Clothing the naked; (5) Visiting those in prison;
(6) Visiting the sick; (7) Burying the dead.
[Footnote A: This appears in another photograph showing scenes from the
life of our Lord.]
The martyrdom of St Edmund.
[_The Copyright is reserved by Dr John L. Kirk._] ]
Taking the pictures along the north wall in order, the first is the huge
representation of St George, then facing the porch entrance on a still
larger scale is the figure of St Christopher, bearing on his left shoulder
the infant Christ. This position, facing these who enter the church, is
the usual one for St Christopher, for he was the patron-saint of
travellers, and the size is in keeping with the tradition which speaks of
the saint as standing twelve cubits high. He is shown using a tree as his
staff, and the Evil One is being trampled underfoot in the form of a
serpent.
Adjoining St Christopher is the curious painting showing Herod's Feast, a
very rare subject to be chosen for wall paintings. Although this picture
has been so much restored the figures were very carefully traced out where
only faint indications could be seen, so that it now presents the original
work where it was not totally destroyed with considerable accuracy. It is
really three scenes, although it appears as one. Herod's daughter is on
the right performing a mediæval tumble dance before the king and queen and
their two guests, and on the left St John the Baptist is shown, still
kneeling, although his head lies on the pavement. Salome is holding the
charger against her breast. In the central portion of the picture she
appears carrying the head of St John in the dish. The picture above this
shows the coronation of the Virgin Mary, and the wall of heaven is higher
still.
The martyrdom of St Edmund in the next spandrel is a most realistic
picture. The saint is tied to a tree and is pierced by fourteen arrows.
The black-letter inscriptions read "Edmund Prync and martyr."
"Heven blys to hes mede
Hem sall have for hys gud ded"
Above this picture is the painting already mentioned of St Thomas à Becket
being approached by the four knights who are about to murder him.
On the south side of the nave the chief part of the wall is given up to
the legend of St Katherine of Alexandria. She was said to be the daughter
of Costus, King of Alexandria, and was married to a son of Constantine
Chlorius, the Roman Governor of York.
The upper panel shows the temple of Serapis, and St Katherine endeavouring
to convert the Emperor Maximin to Christianity. Further to the right she
is shown entering the prison into which she was cast. The emperor,
impressed both by her beauty and her arguments, endeavours with the help
of several philosophers to persuade her to give up her belief in
Christianity; they are, however, all converted by her, and soon after they
are executed at the emperor's command. St Katherine is then stripped to
the waist and beaten in the presence of the emperor, who is shown on the
extreme right as well as the left of the second panel. After further
imprisonment the saint is joined by the Empress Faustina, a new convert,
who comforts the prisoner, and is shown joining with her in prayer.
Further on, the emperor is shown testing the saint's faith by the wheel,
but two angels appear, and having broken the wheels the attendants are
overthrown. The last scene, in which St Katherine is kneeling, is so much
"restored" that its interest is very much impaired.
[Illustration: SOME OF THE WALL PAINTINGS ON THE NORTH WALL OF THE NAVE OF
PICKERING CHURCH.
THE MARTYRDOM OF ST THOMAS À BECKET.
The Four Knights are seen approaching the "Turbulent Priest."]
HEROD'S FEAST.
It is composed of three pictures. On the right, Salome is performing a
"Tumble" dance before Herod, his queen, and two guests, while St John the
Baptist is holding up a warning hand: In the centre, Salome has the head
of St John in a charger, and on the left the execution is shown.
[_The Copyright is reserved by Dr John L. Kirk._]
]
The long and narrow series of pictures over the arches represents the
seven corporal acts of mercy, namely, feeding the hungry, giving drink to
the thirsty, compelling a stranger to come in, clothing the naked,
visiting those in prison, visiting the sick, and burying the dead.
Continuing in the same line appear representations of Christ in the Garden
of Gethsemane, healing the ear of Malchus, Christ before Pilate, the
scourging of our Lord, and then follow scenes of the Crucifixion, followed
by the burial and resurrection. In the spandrel over the third pillar from
the west the descent of Christ into Hades, represented by a great dragon's
jaw, is shown. Adam holding an apple, and followed by Eve and many other
spirits, is shown coming to meet our Lord. Between the clerestory windows
there are three paintings which seem to belong to a series associated with
the Virgin Mary. The first, which may represent the Assumption, has not
been restored, and very little remains to be seen. The second, according
to Mr Keyser, shows the burial, and on the coffin appears the Jewish
Prince Belzeray, who is said to have interfered with the funeral by
raising himself astride the coffin. The legend says that he became fixed
to the pall, and only escaped after repentance and the united prayers of
the apostles.
Of the third picture only a portion remains, the upper part being new
plaster, but the figures of some of the apostles who are shown may have
been standing by the deathbed of the Virgin. The coronation scene already
mentioned on the north side of the nave would thus complete a series of
four pictures.
Just by the lectern at the north-east corner of the nave is a recumbent
effigy of a knight wearing armour of the period when chain-mail was being
exchanged for plate armour. This was during the fourteenth century. The
arms on the shield are those of Bruce, and belonging to this period there
has been discovered a license to Sir William Bruce to have a chantry in
Pickering Church. There can therefore be little doubt that this nameless
effigy is that of Sir William Bruce. The deed is dated "Saturday, the
feast of St John the Evangelist, 1337," and it states that a license was
given in consideration of one messuage and two bovates of land in the
village of Middleton near Pickering for a certain chaplain to celebrate
"Divine (mysteries) daily in the Church of St Peter, Pickering (the full
dedication is to God, St Peter, and St Paul), for the souls of the
masters, William and Robert of Pickering, Adam de Bruce and Mathilda his
wife." The two beautifully carved figures of a knight and his lady that
lie in the Bruce Chapel are not Bruces for the surcoat of the man is
adorned with the arms of the Rockcliffes--an heraldic chess-rook and three
lions' heads. Both the knight and his lady wear the collar of SS, the
origin of which is still wrapped in obscurity. Traces of gilding are
visible in several places on the wings of the angels that support the
heads of both figures, as well as in other parts of the carving where the
detail is not obliterated. The date of these monuments is believed to have
been either the end of the fourteenth or the very beginning of the
fifteenth centuries. In the south-east corner of the north transept,
almost hidden by deep shadows, there lies a truncated effigy of a man in
armour of about the same period as that of Sir William Bruce, but there is
nothing to identify these mutilated remains. The sedilia in the chancel
seem to be coeval with that part of the church. They are ornamented with
some curious carving and some heads, one of them, very much restored,
representing apparently a bishop, priest, and deacon; the fourth head is a
doubtful quantity.
[Illustration: The Effigy of Sir Willeam Bruce in Pickering Church.
The arms on the shield are drawn separately on the right.]
[Illustration: The richly carved Effigies in the Bruce Chapel of Pickering
Church.
The man bears the arms of Rockcliffe on his surcoat. Both figures wear the
collar of SS.]
[Illustration: The holy-water stoup in Pickering Church.]
Close to the sedilia is a piscina decorated in a similar manner.
Near the porch, in the usual position, is a holy-water stoup that has the
front part of the basin broken off. This may possibly have happened at the
same time as the smashing of the font in Puritan days mentioned in a later
chapter. The curious little recess in the west wall of the Bruce Chapel
might have been utilised for more than one purpose, but it is difficult to
say whether it was for holding a lamp, whether it may at one time have
been a low side window, or whether it was at any time used as an opening
for a bell rope to be pulled from within.
[Illustration: The Sanctus Bell, formerly used by the Town Crier of
Pickering. It bears the name "Vilyame Stokeslai," and probably dates from
the fourteenth century.]
A hospital of St Nicholas at Pickering is often mentioned among the
records of this time, but I am unable to discover the site, unless it was
near to where there was a burying-ground in Westgate. The castle chapel
was also dedicated to St Nicholas, and some confusion may thus have
arisen.
Up to about the year 1880 the town-crier of Pickering was using a small
mediæval bell that has since been handed over to the authorities of the
British Museum by the Registrar of the Duchy of Lancaster. The bell is
engraved with four figures--a crucifix, St George and the Dragon, the
Virgin and Child, and St John the Baptist, and round the haunch runs the
inscription "Vilyame Stokeslai." As nothing at all is known of the history
of the bell it is difficult to say much as to its origin, but it appears
to belong to the fourteenth century, and _may_ be associated with a
William Stokesley of Whitby whose name appears at that date.
Much more could be written about this period from many standpoints, but
from what has been given some of the salient facts of these centuries
stand out clearly. It is plain that the people--rich and poor--drew
largely upon the forest for free supplies of timber and venison, despite
the severity of the laws. It also appears that the officers of the forest
frequently abused their power to the damage and often at the expense of
the personal security of the townsfolk and villagers., The importance of
Pickering at this time is emphasised by many royal visits and to some
extent by the sending of members to Parliament on one occasion. Much
building at the church and castle took place in the period described, and
it is quite possible that some of the oldest cottages with fork framework
date from Plantagenet times, and that the fallen beams we see lying among
the nettles of the ruined cottages were taken from the forest without
payment or permission.
CHAPTER IX
_The Forest and Vale in Tudor Times_
A.D. 1485 to 1603
The Wars of the Roses had allowed the royal possessions to fall into a
state of great disorder, so that the Duchy of Lancaster records belonging
to the early years of the reign of Henry VII. contain many references to
the necessity for vigorously checking infringements on the forest that had
been taking place. A patent dated 26th of October 1489,[1] says, "To our
t[rusty] and w[elbeloved] Brian Sandford Stuard of our honnor of Pykeryng
in our Countie of York and Constable of our Castle there and master
Forster of our game within the said honnor and to al forsters and kepers
within the same and in their absence to ther deputies ther and to every of
them gretyng. Forasmuch as it is common unto our knowledge that our game
of dere and warenne within our seid Honnor is gretly diminnisshed by
excessive huntyng within the same and likely to be destroied, without
restreynt in the same be had in that behalf, we desire the Replenisshyng
of our seid game, not only for our singler pleasure but also for the
disport of other our servantes and subgettes of Wirshipp in theis parties.
And therfor we wol and straitly charge you all & every of you that from
hensforth ye suffre no manner of personne or personnes of what estate
degree or condicion soever he or they be, to have shot sute ne course at
any of our game within our seid Honnor duryng the space of iij years next
ensuyng after the date herof, without special warraunt undre our seale of
oure seid Duchie and if any personne or personnes presume or attempt in
any wise the breche of this our special restreinte and commandment, we
eftsounes wol and straitly charge you al and every of you, that without
delai ye certifie us of theire name or names so offendyng, to thentent
that we maye provide for their lawful punycion in that behalf, which we
entend sharply to execute and punysshe in example of al othre like
offenders, not failyng herof as ye wol avoide our grevous displeasure and
answher unto us at their perell."
[Footnote 1: "North Riding Records," vol. i., New Series, p. 123.]
[Illustration: CATTLE MARKS OF THE PICKERING DISTRICT.
Copied from a MS. book dated at the close of the sixteenth century and in
the possession of the Rev. A. Hill of Thornton-le-dale. The names are
spelt as they are written, but are not given in facsimile. The book is a
copy of an earlier one that is still in existence.
]
There are many other commissions of this character made out to "Sir Rauf
Evers knight," "Sir Richard Cholmeley knight," "Sir John Huthem," "John
Pykeryng knyght," "Leon Percy [Lionel Percehay] squyer," and many other
influential men of the sixteenth century.
[Illustration: CATTLE MARKS IN THE PICKERING DISTRICT]
During the reign of Henry VII. there was a prolonged dispute between Sir
Roger Hastings of Roxby and Sir Richard Cholmley concerning the alleged
riotous and unlawful conduct with which each side accused the other. The
pleadings on either side are by no means easy to follow, but the beginning
of the trouble seems to date from Sir Roger Hastings' succession to the
estate of Roxby. Mr Turton, who has transcribed all the documents relating
to the quarrel, thinks that Sir Roger attempted to shift the death duties
from himself to one of his tenants named Ralph Joyner, who refused to pay.
"After an abortive attempt to recover the sum by distrain" says Mr Turton,
it "resulted in an appeal to the Earl of Surrey, and Sir Roger was
compelled to pay it himself." The records tell us that this Ralph Joyner
was often "in Jeopardy of his liff; And how he was at diverse tymez chased
by diverse of the menyall servantes of the said Sir Roger Hastynges,
wheruppon the said Roger Cholmley sent to the said Sir Roger Hastynges in
curteyse waise desyring hym to kepe the kynges peax, whiche he effectuelly
promysed to doo, uppon truste wherof upon Christmas day now Laste paste
the said Rauff Jenore cam to his parisshe chirche, called Elborne
[Ellerburne] chirche, as belonged to a christenman to doo, in peassible
maner, not fearing the said Sir Roger Hastynges, because of his said
promyse, Howbeit soon after that comme thedir the said Sir Roger
accompenyed with the numbre of xx [twenty] persons diffencible arrayed
with bowes, billes and other weponz, And then as sone as the said Roger
came nyghe unto the Chircheyerd of the foresaid Chirche, And had
undirstandyng that the said Rauff was within the said chirche, he manassed
[menaced] and threted the said Rauff and said that he wolde slee hym. And
in a great fury wolde have entred the said chirche to have complisshed the
same." This bloodthirsty desire was checked for a time by the vicar, who
"knellyng upon his knees before the said Sir Roger," and with other "well
dissposed personez," induced him to delay his purpose.
"Theruppon the wif of the said Sir Roger Hastynges cam into the said
chirche & said unto the said Rauff, 'Woo worthe man this day! the chirche
wolbe susspended and thou slayn, withoute thou flee awey and gette the
oute of his sighte' wheruppon the said Rauff Jenore flede oute of the said
chirche by a bakke doore and cam to Pykeryng, and petyously desired of the
said Roger Chalmley that in so muche as he was the Stewardes deputie there
and hadde rewle of the Countre, that he myght be in suertie of his liff."
The records then describe how Ralph Joyner induced Roger Cholmley, "beyng
there Bailly," with "Sir Rauff Evers & other jointly & severally" to bind
Sir Roger Hastings to "Maister Bray" for the sum of a hundred pounds to
keep the king's peace within the liberty of Pickering. The aggrieved side
did not dare to deliver the deed with only their usual personal servants,
but had to call upon a number of others owing to the fact that Sir Roger
was "a worshipfull man of the said libertie & of great myghte havyng many
Riottous personez aboute hym" When the little cavalcade of mounted men and
servants reached Roxby they found that Sir Roger Hastings had left for
Scarborough. He describes the procedure of the Cholmley party in a most
picturesque fashion, stating that within an hour after the delivery of the
Privy Seal they "came Ryottously with the nowmbre of xii persons, with
bowis arrowes longe sperys in maner and furme of warre." In another place
he details their armour and arms saying that they were arrayed with "Cures
(cuirass) Corsettes (armour for the body) Brygendyns, Jakkys, Salettis (a
light helmet), Speris, Bowes, Arrowes, Sourdis, byllys and Launcegays, (a
small lance) with other maner of wepyns defencive." As Sir Roger and his
wife rode towards Scarborough they met "Sir Rauf Ivers, which in Curtes
(courteous) maner then departed." When he was thought to be on the road
homewards to Roxby, however, Sir Ralph Evers was accused of having laid
"in a wayte to have murderyd" Sir Roger Hastings at Brompton, for at that
place Evers and eight of his servants came upon Sir Roger's men who were
being sent ahead to discover the ambush that they had reason to fear.
When Sir Ralph found that the men who reached Brompton were only servants
and messengers, he was accused of having said to them "ye false hurson
Kaytyffes, I shall lerne you curtesy and to knowe a gentilman." Thereupon
Sir Ralph "set his arowe in his bowe, seying these wordes, 'And your
Master were here I wolde stoppe hym the wey.'" When they reached Snainton
twenty persons issued from the house of "one Averey Shymney, servant to
the seid Sir Rauf ... arrayed with bowys bent, arrowis, billis and
Gleyvis."
There is also a complaint against some of the servants of Sir Ralph Evers
who were held responsible for "an assaute and Fraye made upon my lady
Hastynges." Thomas Thirlwall, on being examined, said that "my lady came
rydyng that ways with vi horses with hir, and oone of hir servantz thet
rode afore, had a male [a portmanteau] behynd hym, and with a bowe in his
hand bent, and that the said servant rode soo nygh hym th[at] the male
touched hym and he bade hym ryde forther and asked, why his bow was bent,
and he said that was mater to hym, and the sayd deponent with I^d knyff
[in another place it is called a dagger] which he had in his hand cut the
bow string, bicause he rode soo nygh hym with horse that he had almost
stroken hym downe; And forther he deposith that my lady light downe from
hir horse hirself and said that, 'and she liffed, she would be avenged';
and thereupon Ric: Brampton came to hir and said, 'Madame be not afferd,
for here shall noo man trouble you nee yours.'"
The accusations of attempts on the part of Sir Ralph Evers and the
Cholmleys to stir up trouble between their servants and those of Sir Roger
Hastings are very numerous and involved, but despite the elaborate details
given by the owner of Roxby the case went against him at the court of the
Duchy of Lancaster at Westminster Palace. Sir Roger seems to have been too
high handed in his dealings with his neighbours, even for the unsettled
times in which he lived. Some of the items against him throw a vivid light
on his proceedings. "Itm the said Ser Roger Hastynges with hys household
servants, daily goyng and rydyng trough the Countrey more like men of warr
then men of peas, in ill example to other, thrught the Kinges markettz and
townez of hys liberte of Pykeryng lith, with bowes bent and arrowes in
ther handes, feryng [frightening] the Kinges people and inhabitauntes of
the same, whereupon the Countrey diverse tymes hath compleyned thame to
Roger Cholmeley, there being hys brother's depute and baylly etc."
"Itm the wyeff of the said Sir Roger Hastynges with here awn company of
houshold servants as forcaid (?) come into Blandisby Park, and there found
a Fat Stott [a young ox] of Rauff Bukton, and with dooges toke the said
Stott and slowe hym and ete hym and no mends will make etc.
"Itm that the said Sir Roger Hastynges the xiii day of October last past
[circa 1496] with Force and armz of the nyghtertall [night time] sent his
houshold servantes to the Castell of Pykeryng, and abowt mydnyght with
lothus [qu: ladders] clame ore the walles, and then and there brake the
kinges prison, and toke owt with them oon John Harwod, the which was set
there for diverse Riottes by hym made agayns the kinges peas, wherefore he
was indited; and aftirward the same nyght when he for thought that he had
done, prively sent hym in agayn; howbeit the kings prison and hys Castell
was broken."
[Illustration: A Section of one of the Oldest Type of Cottage to be found
near Pickering.
Some of these ancient buildings are still inhabited; several of the
survivors are in ruins. The details given in this drawing are taken from a
cottage at Thornton-le-dale; one end has already been demolished (Oct.
1905). The low walls appear to have been built after the framework, and
the house may have been thatched to the ground at one time.
]
[Illustration: The usual Plan of the Fork-framed Cottages in existence
near Pickering. The exterior (viewed from C on the plan) is generally as
shown. The small window by the door (B) lights the ingle-nook, and is
never missing in the oldest type of cottage. It can be seen blocked up in
those that have been remodelled.]
Such incidents as these enliven the pages of the Duchy of Lancaster
Records, and if there were more space available it would be interesting to
give many more of these graphic incidents that took place four hundred
years ago. In many places one finds references to the illegal taking of
oaks from the forest for building houses. Big boughs or the stems of small
trees were placed together in the form of an A with the ends resting on
the ground. These beams, that formed the bays of a house, are locally
called "forks," the name by which they are known in the records of the
reign of Henry VII. In 1498 we find that "The abbot of Whitby had as many
oakes taken in Godlande [Goathland] as made aftre the maner of the Coutrey
iij pair of forkes, with other bemes and wall plaites as were mete for the
repairalling of an hows of his in Godlande."
The great legal case between Sir Roger Hastings and the Cholmleys seems to
have impoverished the turbulent owner of Roxby, for after the adverse
decision Hastings seems to have had difficulty in raising the moneys to
meet all the heavy expenses of the trial, and Mr Turton thinks that Roxby
was at first mortgaged and afterwards sold to Roger Cholmley, brother of
Sir Richard, who had received knighthood in 1509. Sir Richard Cholmley may
be considered the founder of the Yorkshire families of Cholmley, and he
was in his time a man of great power and influence, holding the four chief
offices in the Honor of Pickering, and at the commencement of the reign of
Henry VIII. he was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London. He had no
legal offspring, and his illegitimate son, a Sir Roger, who must not be
confused with his uncle, was successively Chief Baron and Lord Chief
Justice, died without issue. Sir Hugh Cholmley[1] tells us many facts
concerning his great-grandfather Sir Richard, who was a nephew of the
former Sir Richard. "His chief place of residence," he says, "was at
Roxby, lying between Pickering and Thornton (now almost demolished), where
he lived in great port, having a very great family, at least fifty or
sixty men-servants, about his house, and I have been told by some who knew
the truth, that when there had been twenty-four pieces of beef put in a
morning into the pot, sometimes not one of them would be left for his own
dinner: for in those times, the idle-serving men were accustomed to have
their breakfast, and with such liberty as they would go into the kitchen,
and striking their daggers into the pot, take out the beef without the
cook's leave or privacy; yet he would laugh at this rather than be
displeased, saying, 'Would not the knaves leave me one piece for my own
dinner?' He never took a journey to London that he was not attended with
less than thirty, sometimes forty men-servants, though he went without his
lady. There was a great difference between him and his brother-in-law, the
Earl of Westmoreland; and, as I have heard upon this cause: That, after
the death of his sister, the Lady Anne, the Earl married the second
sister, Gascoigne's widow, which occasioned continual fighting and
scuffles between the Earl's men and Sir Richard's, when they met, whether
in London streets or elsewhere, which might be done with less danger of
life and bloodshed than in these succeeding ages; because they then fought
only with buckler and short sword, and it was counted unmannerly to make a
thrust.... This Sir Richard was possessed of a very great estate worth at
this day to the value of about £10,000 a year; ... He died in the sixty
third year of his age, at Roxby, ... and lies buried in the chancel of
Thornton church [the monument there to-day bears the effigy of a lady and
is nameless], of which he was patron, May 17th, 1599. He was tall of
stature and withal big and strong-made, having in his youth a very active,
able body, bold and stout; his hair and eyes black, and his complexion
brown, insomuch as he was called the great black Knight of the North;
though the word _great_ attributed to him not so much for his stature, as
power, and estate, and fortune. He was a wise man, and a great improver of
his estate, which might have prospered better with his posterity, had he
not been extra-ordinarily given to the love of women." There is
unfortunately nothing left above the ground of the manor house of Roxby,
the grass-covered site merely showing ridges and mounds where the
buildings stood. It is therefore impossible to obtain any idea of the
appearance of what must have been a very fine Tudor house. That a gallery
was built there by Sir Richard Cholmley, the Great Black Knight of the
North, in the reign of Elizabeth, appears from the record which says "that
the saide S^r Rychard Cholmley did send Gyles Raunde and George Raude two
masons to the Quenes Castell of Pyckeringe whenn he builded his gallerye
at Roxbye to polle [pulle] downe the chefe stones of Masonn work owt of
one howse in the same castell called the King's Haull, and took owte of
the pryncypall and cheffest Towre of the same castle the stones of the
stayres which they did and the said S^r Rychard caused xiiii wayne lodes
of the same stones to be caryed by his Tenantes to his owne house at
Roxbye."
[Footnote 1: "Memoirs of Sir Hugh Cholmley," p. 7.]
Leland,[1] who wrote in the reign of Henry VIII., tells us that at Wilton
there was "a Manor Place with a Tower longging to _Chomeley_." He also
says "This _Chomeley_ hath a Howse also at _Rollesley_ (_Rottesby_): and
_Chomeley's_ Father that now is was as an Hedde officer at _Pykeringe_,
and setter up of his name yn that Quarters." "Thens to _Pykering_: and
moste of the Ground from _Scardeburg_ to _Pykering_ was by Hille and Dale
meate (metely) plentifull of Corn and Grasse but litle Wood in sight.
[Footnote 1: "The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary," Thomas Hearne,
1745. Vol. i. pp. 64 and 65.]
"The Toune of _Pykering_ is large but not welle compact togither. The
greatest Part of it with the Paroch Chirch and the Castel is on the South
Est Part of the Broke renning thorough the Toune, and standith on a great
Slaty Hille. The other Part of the Toun is not so bigge as this: the Brook
rennith bytwixt them that Sumtyme ragith, but it suagith shortely agayn:
and a Mile beneth the Toun goith into Costey [the Costa].
"In _Pykering_ Chirch I saw 2 or 3 Tumbes of the Bruses wherof one with
his Wife lay yn a Chapel on the South syde of the Quirr, and he had a
Garland about his Helmet. There was another of the Bruses biried in a
Chapel under an Arch of the North side of the Body of the Quier: and there
is a Cantuarie bering his Name.
[Illustration: Pickering Castle from the Keep, looking South-West.
The gate tower is just shown on the left. In the centre is the Mill or
Miln Tower, with the circular stone staircase projecting like a turret at
one corner, and in the foreground is one of the ruined towers that guarded
the inner gateway. In the distance is the broad Vale of Pickering. The
high ground is behind one's back to the north.
]
"The Deane of _York_ hath by Impropriation the Personage of _Pykering_, to
the which diverse Churches of Pykering Lith doith Homage.
"The Castelle Stondith in an End of the Town not far from the Paroch
Chirch on the Brow of the Hille, under the which the Broke rennith. In the
first Court of it be a 4 Toures, of the which one is Caullid Rosamunde's
Toure.
"In the inner Court be also a 4 Toures, wherof the Kepe is one. The
Castelle Waulles and the Toures be meatly welle. The Logginges yn the
ynner Court that be of Timbre be in ruine, in this inner Court is a
Chappelle and a cantuarie Prest.
"The Castelle hath of a good continuance with the Towne and Lordship
longgid to the _Lancaster_ Bloode: But who made the Castelle or who was
the Owner of afore the _Lancasters_ I could not lerne there. The Castelle
Waulles now remaining seme to be of no very old Building.
"As I remembre I hard say that _Richard_ the thirde lay sumtyme at this
Castelle, and sumtyme at _Scardeburgh_ Castelle.
"In the other Part of the Toune of _Pykering_ passing over Brook by a
Stone Bridg of v Arches I saw 2 thinges to be notid, the Ruines of a Manor
Place, caullid _Bruses-Haul_ and a Manor Place of the _Lascelles_ at _Keld
head_. The Circuite of the Paroch of _Pykering_ goith up to the very
Browes of Blackmore [Blackamoor was the old name for the moors north of
Pickering], and is xx miles in Cumpace.
"The Park by the Castelle side is more then vii Miles in [qu: circuit],
but it is not welle woodid."
The site of the Manor House of the Bruces appears to be in a field to the
west of Potter Hill where hollows and uneven places in the grass indicate
the positions of buildings. The fine old Tudor house of Wellburn near
Kirby Moorside until recently was in a ruinous state, and might possibly
have disappeared after the fashion of Roxby and this Hall of the Bruces,
but it has lately been completely restored and enlarged, and although its
picturesqueness has to some extent been impaired owing to the additions,
they are in the same style of architecture as the original building, and
in time will no doubt mellow down to a pleasanter companionship.
It was in the first year of the reign of Elizabeth that the registers of
Pickering were commenced. The yellowish brown parchment book is in fairly
good preservation, and commences in the usual manner with this carefully
written inscription.
"The Register Boke of these [_p]sons whiche Haithe bene Babticed Maryed
and Buried at Pickeringe sence the firste yere of O^r Sou'ange Ladye
Elizabeth by the grace of god Quene of England ffrance and Ireland
defender of the ffaithe etc. Anno dñi 1559.
There are no entries of any particular interest belonging to this period;
the unusual occurrences belong to the seventeenth century and are recorded
in the next chapter. Kept with the registers of Pickering parish there is,
however, a book containing the records of some Elizabethan visitations
made between 1568 and 1602. The entries, which have been transcribed by Mr
T.M. Fallow, are in a mixture of Latin and English and some of them are
exceedingly interesting. The following describes a curious scene in
Pickering Church.
"Item they saie that vpon Sondaie being the iij of November 1594 in tyme
off evynnyng praie [sic] Richarde Haie being parishe clerk of Pickring and
begynnyng to rede the first lesson of the saide evynnyng praier, Robert
Leymyng did close and shutt the byble to geither whereupon he was to red
at, and so disturbed him frome reding it, and therevpon John Harding redd
the first lesson. And so hindred and disturbed the saide Richard Haie
parishe clerke who was readye and abowteward to rede the same/ And the
saide John Harding did likewise disturbe and hinder the saide Richarde
Haie vpon All Saynts dais last when he was to haue helped the vicar to
saie devyne service and so hindred him being commanded to the conrye[1] by
the churche wardens, and having the admission of the saide Richard Haie
openly redd with a revocation of the former granted to the saide Hardyng.
wherebye he was commanded and enioyned to surcease frome execution of that
office."
[Footnote 1: This word is doubtful, but is perhaps "conrye," for
"contrary."]
[Illustration: The Pre-Reformation Chalice that formerly belonged to
Pickering Church.
It is now in use at Goathland Church, which was formerly included in
Pickering Parish.
(_Reproduced by permission of the Society of Antiquaries_.)
]
In 1602 when Edward Mylls was vicar of Pickering, complaints were made of
him "that he for the most parte, but not alwaies dothe weare a surplesse
in tyme of dyvyne service / they present there vicar for that they ar
vncerteyne whether his wif was commended vnto him by justices of peace nor
whether he was licenced to marrye hir according to hir Maiesties
iniunctions/" This vicar was deprived of the living in 1615, for omitting
to preach sermons and for not properly instructing the people and as will
be seen in the next chapter he appears to have been a most reprehensible
character.
At the same time as this "Richarde Nicoll, Widow Kitchin, Robert Skayles,
John Flaworthe, and widow Shorpshier are presented for deteyning the
clerkes wages/ Elizabeth Dodds ffor having a childe in adultery withe one
Anthonye Boyes, which Boyes is now fledd/ William Steavenson ffor a
slanderer. And also Frances Fetherston the wif of Robert Fetherston for a
scowlde/ Richard Hutchinson for harboring a woman which had a childe
begotten in fornicacion They saie that [_blank_] Lavrock and [_blank_]
Wilson did by the apoyntment of Richard Parkinson there master carrye
turffes in to the house vpon the Sabboth daie The rest is all well."
The rigid observance of the Sabbath as a day of rest is vividly shown by
this last complaint, and at Allerston we find that "Isabell Rea wiffe of
William Raie" was reprimanded--"ffor workyng on the Sabbothe daie viz't
for washing and dressing of hempe at the hemppe pitt vpon Sondaie was
seavenyght/"
In 1592 appears the following/ "The chancell of Pickering in decaie bothe
the windowes and the leades and to be repaired as we suppose by Mr Deane/
[The Dean of York] Mr Deane for want of the quarter sermons and for not
geving the xl^tie part of his lyving of the parsonage of Pickering to the
poore people of the said parishe Agnes Poskett wif of William Poskett of
Pickering for a scold."
In the following year we find presented at Pickering "Elizabeth Johnson
wif of Frances Johnson of Kinthorpe for an obstynate recusant in not
comyng to the churche to here dyvyne service by the space of ij^o yeares
last past and more/ Anne Browne wiffe of William Browne of Pickering for
an obstinate recusant in not commyng to the churche to here dyvyne service
and so haithe done by the space of ij^o yeares and more/ Rauffe Hodgeson
of Pickring for an obstinate recusant and haithe absented him self ffrome
the churche by the space of ij'o yeares and more. Anne Clerke being in
John Wright his house of Blansbye and haithe meate and drinke there, ffor
not commyng to the church to here dyvyne service by the space of half a
yeare/ Rychard Hutchinson sonne of William Hutchinson of Kinthorpp ffor
absenting him self from the churche by the space of halff a yeare and
more/. And he is excommunicate."
Elizabeth Dobson was presented in 1600 as "a slaunderer who saide to
Thomas Gibson that he was a Mainesworne ladd /"
To call anyone "mansworn" was evidently a very serious offence, for in
1527 the Newcastle-on-Tyne corporation of weavers decreed that any member
of the corporation who should call his brother "mansworn" should incur a
forfeit of 6s. 8d. "without forgiveness." To _manswear_ comes from the
Anglo-Saxon _mánswerian_ meaning to swear falsely or to perjure oneself.
Among the men of note of this period mention must be made of Ralph Dodmer
son of Henry Dodmer of Pickering who was a mercer and Lord Mayor of London
in 1521.[1]
[Footnote 1: Thomas Fuller's "Worthies."]
The visitation book shows that it was no uncommon thing to accuse a woman
of being a scold in these times and the following written in 1602[1]
throws a lurid light on the methods for removing the effects of a witch's
malice.
[Footnote 1: The original is stuck in Calvert's MS. Book of Folklore.]
"To cure an ill caste by any Witch putt upon any childe be y^t y^e evil
eye, an overglent, spreeking, an ill birth touche or of a spittle boult
but do as here given & alle shalle be overcome letting no evil rest upon
y^m Take a childe so ill held & strike y^t seven times on y^e face & like
upon y^e navel with y^e heart of a blacke cat then roast y^e heart & give
of y^t to eat seven nights at bed meale & y^t shalle be well butt y^e cat
must be seven years olde & y^e seventh dropped at birth otherwise y^t
shalle faile to overcome any Witch spell soever ill worked y^e blood from
such an heart laid to any witches dorepost or thrown over nighte upon her
dorestep will cause a sore & great paine in her belly."
In the period which includes the momentous defeat of the Spanish Armada
(1588) it is fitting to describe the beacons of Pickering and the
neighbourhood that must have helped to spread the news to the inhabitants
of Yorkshire of the coming of that "Invincible" fleet. A contemporary
manuscript book dated 1580 to 1590, and discovered by Mr J.G. Constable,
tells us how Pickering beacon, which was presumably situated on Beacon
Hill opposite the castle, gave light to the neighbouring heights.
[Sidenote: "Pickering Lythe 7 Beacons]
Pickering beacon giveth light to Setrington beacon, in the East Riding,
and to Ampleforth beacon, in Rydall. Seamer two beacons do give light to
Pickering, Susfeld, in Whitby Strand, and Setterington beacon. Waipnesse
beacon, within the liberties of Scarborough, do give light to Muston
Beacon, in the East Riding, and to the west of the beacons before named
"Charnell, three beacons, within the town of Scarborough adjoining to the
castle, do give light to Waipnesse and Muston beacon."
[Sidenote: "Rydal 1 Beacon]
There is a beacon in Rydall called Ampleforthe beacon well repaired. It
taketh light from Pickering beacon. It giveth light to the Sumclife
beacon, in the Wapentake of Birdforth, three miles distant from it
westward"
In 1598[1] the streets of Pickering are given as, Easte Gaite and
Hallgarthe, Ungate, Birdgate, Borrowgate and Weste Gate.
[Footnote 1: MS. book of Pickering Records in possession of the Rev.
Arthur Hill of Thornton-le-dale.]
Two interesting monuments of this period are to be found in Brompton and
Kirby-Moorside Churches. The first is carved on stone in the north wall of
the Church. It reads:--
"I.W. 1580. E.W. 1547. HEIR LIETH IAMES WESTROP WHO IN WARS TO HIS GREIT
CHARGES SARVED OIN KYNG AND TOW QVENES WITH DV_{O}BE_{O}IENS AND WITH OWT
RECVMPENS."
The brass at Kirby-Moorside is to the memory of Lady Brooke and bears this
verse as well as the inscription:--
"Prepare for death for if the fatall sheares
Covld have bene stayd by prayers, sighes or teares
They had bene stayd, and this tombe thov seest here
Had not erected beene yet many a yeare."
"Here lyeth the body of my Lady Brooke, who while she lyved was a good
woman, a very good mother, and an exceeding good wife. Her sovle is at
rest w^th God, for she was svre y^t her Redemer lyved, and that thovgh
wormes destroyed her body, yet shee shovld see God in her flesh. She died
the 12th of Jvly 1600."
From the different aspects of life at Pickering in the Tudor Period that
we have been able to give, something can be seen of the manner of living
at this time; but to have done justice to the materials that may be drawn
upon would have required a volume for what has of necessity been limited
to a chapter.
CHAPTER X
_The Forest and Vale in Stuart Times_
A.D. 1603 to 1714
As in the two preceding chapters the records belonging to the Stuart
period are so numerous that one is almost embarrassed at the mass of
detailed information that has been preserved, and it is only possible to
select some of the most interesting facts. Commencing with the parish
registers, however, we are confronted with a gap of about thirteen years.
After having been kept with regularity since 1559, there appears on p. 48
of the earliest book this curious entry: "Edward Milnes Vicar of Pickering
rent out all these following leaves." The missing pages contained the
entries from 1602 to 1615, and this coincides with the years of Milnes's
tenure of the living, for he appears to have come to Pickering in 1602,
and he was deprived in 1615. The reasons for removing this vicar are
recorded as follows in the last pages of the register, but the motives
that prompted him to tear out these thirtyfive parchment pages from the
register do not appear:--
"A true copie of the Order of the Councel ther in Pickering Lith asserted?
obtained by Mr Lawrence Trotter attornie at the Common law Año do[=m]i
1615.
[Sidenote: [Much thumbed at the edge.]]
"At the Court at Greenewich on Sunday the 21 of May 1615 in the afternoone:
present L. Archbishop of Canterburie, L. Chancelor, L. Knolls, L.
Treasurer Mr Secretarie Winwood, D. of Linnox, Mr Chanceler of the Excheq,
E. of Worcester, L. Chiefe iusice, E. of Pembrooke, Mr of y^e Rolles, L.
Souch, Sir Thomas Lake.
[Transcriber's Note: [_P] and [_p] was used to represent a P or p with a
horizontal stroke through the lower part of the stem.]
"Complaint having bin made unto the boarde by the Inhabitants of the towne
and parish of Pickering in the Countie of Yorke. That that personage now
in possession of the bishop of Bristoll Deane of Yorke (it being an
indowment of the said Deanerie) such slender care hath bene had by him for
the preaching of the Gospell unto the said parishioners, and giving them
that Christianlike and necessarie instru[~c]on which is fitting, as for a
long time they scarce had any sermon at all amongest them. Where upon
their Lordships were pleased to direct their Letters unto the s^d Lord
Bishop admonishing and requiring him to give speedie order for the
redresse of so great an inconvenience and so scandalous to his ma^ties
most Christian goverm^t. But receaving answer from his Lordship that in
respect the said [_P]sonage being an impropria[~c]on is indued w^th a
Vicarage and a Viccar presented thereunto he held him selfe freed in Law
from any further charge, and that the said [_P]snage was in Lease w^th.
such other like excuses but that notwithstanding he was contented to
procure them 12 sermons every yeare, their Lordships thought fitting this
day to call him to the boarde, and to let him sea in reason of State,
besides the great obligacon they had as Christians it behoved them to
presse his Lordship notwithstanding the former excuse to have yet a
further care of the teaching so great a multitude (they being 4000 people)
considering how busie the priestes and Jesuits are in these dayes
(especially in these quarters) not only laboring to corrupt his ma^ties
subjects in their religion but also infecting them with such damnable
posiciones and Doctrine touching the valew ... (?) unto his ma^ties sacred
person where upon the said bishop made offer unto the boarde that he would
forthwith (?) remove the vicar now there present and place in his roome
some lerned and religious pastor who should as it was desired weekely
preach unto the people and carefully instruct them in the points of faith
and religion of which their Lordships were pleased to accept for the
present, and accordingly inioyned him to the performance thereof and
withall ordered the said preacher now to be presented should first be
approved and allowed by the lorde Archbishop of Yorke in respect of
abilitie and sufficiencie." This entry is thus attested:--
"CONCORDAT CUM REGISTRO
FFRANCIS COTTINGTON
LAURENCE TROTTER ATTORNIE
EDWARD BRIGHT VICARIUS DE
PICKERING SCRIPTOR HUIS EXEMPLARIS."
[Illustration: The Font of Pickering Church.
It dates in its present form from 1644, but the upper portion, which shows
traces of painting, appears to be of very much earlier workmanship, and
has been thought to be of Saxon origin.
]
Edward Bright succeeded to the living in 1615. We may believe that he was
selected as being a "lerned and religious pastor." He appears to have
remained in possession until his death in 1659, though there is an entry
of the baptism of a son of a certain Robert King in 1644, who is described
as "minister." There must have been some exciting scenes in Pickering at
this time, for in the year 1644, when many other churches suffered a
similar fate, the registers record the breaking up of the font and the
tearing to pieces of the church Prayer Book on the same day. The entries
are in very small pale writing at the back of one of the books and read:--
"Baptisterii Pickerensis Demolitio, Septemb. 25, 1644."
And in another hand:--
"Liturgia ecclesie ibidem lacerata eodem die 1644."
Edward Bright had several children whose names appear in the registers,
and one of them, Joseph Bright, was on the 11th of July 1652 "elected and
declared to be the parish clerk of Pickering." He was then twenty-five
years old. On the night of August the 26th, 1634, there was a fire in the
town which burnt down two houses and caused great fear among the
inhabitants. Then among other entries on the back pages of register No. 2,
1615-53, appear recipes of this character:--
"A [cure?] for the dropsie in ye winter. Take a gallon of white wine and
broome ashes to the quantitie [a few indecipherable words] sifted and
drinke a pint thereof morning and [cause?] it [to?] be drunken also at
meale times with ones meats and at other times when one is drie a little
quantitie. Matthew Mitso ... e."
"For the same in Summer. Take a pecke of sage and bake it in a riddon (?)
pastie, and when it is baked to a hard crust breake there crust and all in
it ... and ... unne it up all into a barrell of drinke, and drinke it in
the Su[=m]er time especially in maye."
"_A remeadie for the stich._
"Take a j^d.
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