YORK HISTORY CONTENTS:
Source=h:/!Genuki/RecordTranscriptions/ARY/YorkHistoryBaines.txt
A History of York
from Baine's Gazetteer (1823)
Part 7
YORK'S CHURCHES, DISSENTING CHAPELS, THE NUNNERY AND RUINS
Churches of York
In addition to the Cathedral, there are in York twenty-three
other churches, in which divine service is statedly performed.
(Note: In the churches
marked thus *
there is only divine service on the Sunday morning,
which commences at ½ past 10 o'clock;
thus ~
in the afternoon, at ½ past 2 o'clock;
thus ||
both morning and afternoon, at ½ past 10 and ½ past 2.)
They are
The Church of ALL HALLOWS,* commonly called ALL SAINTS, a discharged
rectory, in the gift of the crown, valued in the king's books
at £5. 16s. l0d. (Note: These books were made by commissioners
appointed by the crown for that purpose, in the reign of Henry
VIII. on the eve of the reformation.) and stated in Bacon's Liber
Regis to be of the clear yearly value of £65. 3s. 9d (Note:
Published in 1786.) The Rev. Wm. Flower is the present incumbent.
The church stands partly in High Ousegate, but principally in
the Pavement. It is a very ancient structure, and, according to
Drake, is built on the ruins of Eboracum. The body of the church
and part of the steeple exhibit a very antique appearance, but
the edifice is chiefly remarkable for a more modern erection of
exquisite Gothic workmanship on the old steeple. This tower is
finished lantern-wise, and tradition says, that anciently a large
lamp hung in it, which was lighted in the night time, as a mark
for travellers to aim at, in their way to York, over the immense
forest of Galtres. There is still the hook or pully on which the
lamp hung in the steeple, and iron bars cross the windows, in
which the glass might be fixed. This lantern, it is conjectured,
was built in the fifteenth century, and there are here several
old monuments cotemporary with the supposed erection of the tower.
Part of the present burial ground was formerly used as a Herb
and Fish market, but in 1782-3 the church yard was enlarged, and
the chancel being then taken down, the ground on which it stood
was applied to enlarge the market place. At the same time the
whole fabric underwent a thorough repair.
ALL-SAINTS, North-street; an ancient rectory, valued in the
king's books at £4. 7s. 11d. and in Bacon's Liber Regis
at £44. 17s. 2d. The present rector is the Rev. Wm. Leo.
Pickard, M.A. and the king is the patron. The service is on alternate
Sundays, both morning and afternoon. In early times this rectory
belonged to the priory of St. Trinity, in Micklegate, to which
it was granted by the Conqueror and confirmed by the bull of Pope
Alexander II. The principal object in this church worthy of the
stranger's attention, is the ancient painted glass in the windows,
and a mutilated piece of Roman monumental sculpture in the south
wall.
ST. CRUX or Holy Cross,~ in the Shambles, is a rectory in the
gift of the king, valued in the king's books at £6. 16s.
8d. and in Bacon's Liber Regis £78. 6s. 9d. The Rev. John
Overton, M.A. is the present incumbent. The year 1424 is the supposed
date of this church, which was given by Nigell Fossard, lord of
Doncaster, to St. Mary's Abbey. The steeple is of brick, ornamented
with a small dome, and, like the steeple at Chesterfield, seems
to have lost its perpendicular line.
ST. CUTHBERT's Church~ is a rectory, and stands near the postern
at the end of Peaseholm-green; the living is valued in the king's
books at £5. 10s. 10d. and in Bacon's Liber Regis at £88.
2s. 6d.; the king is the patron, and the Rev. Tho. Henry Yorke,
M.A. is the rector. There is an annual distribution of £2.
10s, to the poor made at this church on Martinmas day, in virtue
of a bequest made by Sir Martin Bowes, a native of York, but Lord
Mayor of London, in 1545. Many ancient remains have been found
in digging here, and amongst others a sepulchral tile inscribed
LEG. IX. HISP.
St. DENNIS, in Walmgate; this church is a rectory, of which
the Rev. James Serjeantson, M. A. is the incumbent, and the king
the patron. In the king's books it is valued at £4. 0s.
10d. and in Bacon's Liber Regis at £31. 17s. Divine service
is performed once a fortnight, at half-past two o'clock in the
afternoon. Tradition represents this church to have been originally
a Jewish Synagogue or Tabernacle, but the tradition seems to rest
on no sufficient authority. In the year 1798, in consequence of
an injury suffered by the foundations, the west end of this edifice
was taken down, and the size of the church thereby considerably
reduced. At the same time, the neat and lofty spire which was
perforated by a shot during the last siege of York was taken down,
and a square tower, not in good taste, substituted. The ancient
porch was then also removed, but the carved door-way remains,
and would grace a more entire and handsome edifice.
ST. HELEN's Church,* in the Square bearing that name, was formerly
a rectory, appropriated to the nunnery of Molseby, but in the
reign of Henry V. it was ordained a vicarage; the value of this
living in the king's books is £4. 5s. 5d.; in Bacon's Liber
Regis, it is valued at £44. 4s. 6d.; the Rev. John Acaster,
clerk, is the vicar. Tradition says, that upon the site of this
church there anciently stood an heathen temple dedicated to Diana.
In the year 1743, the church yard belonging to this church was
appropriated to the public use, and a plot of land in Davygate,
appropriated to the interment of the dead instead of it. In 1770,
the York Tavern was erected on part of this land. Prior to these
alterations, the area bore the opprobrious name of Cuckold's Corner,
but after the improvement it became St. Helen's square, by which
name it is now called. Near the entrance to the church is a large
Saxon Font, in which it is conjectured that adults were formerly
baptized by emersion.
The Church of ST. JOHN the Evangelist,~ near Ouse-bridge, appertains
to the dean and chapter of York, and though mentioned in the Liber
Regis, has no value affixed to the living. The Rev. James Richardson,
M.A. is the curate. In this church is interred the remains of
Sir Richard Yorke, of York, Knight, mayor of the staple at Calais,
and Lord Mayor of York, in 1469, and 1482. The steeple was blown
down by a high wind in 1551, and has never been rebuilt. In consequence
of the recent improvements near Ouse-bridge, the burying ground
has been materially contracted, and the street made more spacious
in front of the church.
The Church of St. LAWRENCE, in Walmgate, was anciently a rectory,
but is now a vicarage, of which the dean and chapter of York are
the patrons. It is valued in the king's books at £5. 10s.
and in Bacon's Liber Regis at £13. 4s. 10d. The Rev. Wm.
Wright Layng, A.B. is the vicar, and divine service, which is
performed once a day on alternate Sundays, commences at half-past
ten in the morning. At the siege of York this church was nearly
destroyed, and it remained in ruins till 1669, when it was repaired
partially, but in the year 1817 it was thoroughly repaired and
enlarged.
ST. MARGARET'S Church,* on the north side of Walmgate, is a
rectory, in the gift of the king, valued in the books at £4.
9s. 9d. and in Bacon's Liber Regis at £27. 8s. 5d. The living
is enjoyed by the Rev. John Overton, A.M. In 1672, the steeple
of this church fell down and injured the roof, which, owing to
the then poverty of the parish, was not repaired till twelve years
afterwards. The porch of St. Margaret's exhibits an extraordinary
specimen of Saxon sculpture and architecture, and is said to have
been brought from the dissolved hospital of St. Nicholas, without
the neighbouring bar. It comprises four united circular arches
(ornamented with figures) below and within each other. The arches
are supported by a light round column. The top of the porch is
crowned with a small stone crucifix, and the effect is altogether
antique and interesting.
ST. MARTIN'S Church,* Micklegate, is a rectory, vested in trustees,
valued in the king's books at £5. 16s. 3d. and in Bacon's
Liber Regis at £46. 4s. 61d. The Rev. Montague John Wynyard
is the rector. The painted glass in the windows of this church
is very beautiful, and in the wall of the church yard there are
several curious pieces of defaced Roman sculpture.
The Church of ST. MARTIN, the Bishop,|| in Coney-street, is
an ancient edifice, noticed in Domesday book. The living is a
vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. and estimated
in Bacon's Liber Regis at the clear yearly value of £21.
16s. 8d. The patrons are the dean and chapter of York, and the
Rev. William Bulmer, M.A. vicar, is the present incumbent. The
appearance of the exterior of the church is improved by a tower
steeple, and it is rendered remarkable by a clock which projects
into the street, upon which is the figure of a man holding a quadrant
that always points to the sun.
ST. MARY, Bishop-hill the Elder || this church, situated in
Micklegate-ward, is a rectory, of which the dean and chapter of
York are the patrons; it is valued in the king's books at £5.
0s. 10d. and in Bacon's Liber Regis at £44. The Rev. John
Graham is the incumbent. The church is small, but its appearance
is rural and interesting. The north choir was the pew and burial-place
of the Fairfax's while they resided in this city, and there are
some monumental remains of the family, as well as of the Pawson's,
with whom they were united in marriage.
St. MARY'S Bishop-hill the Younger, at the junction of Trinity-lane,
Bishop-hill and Fetter-lane, is also a rectory, of which the dean
and chapter of York are the patrons. The living is valued in the
king's books at £5. 0s. 10d. and in Bacon's Liber Regis
at £39. 2s. 5d. The Rev. Richard Forrest is the incumbent;
divine service is performed here once a fortnight, at half-past
two in the afternoon. The villages of Copmanthorpe and Over Poppleton
belong to this church and parish. The patrons have the tythe of
corn and hay, and the rector the oblation of his parishioners,
mortuaries and personal tythes, also the tythe of orchards and
nursery, and increase of cattle, subject to a small annual stipend
to the farmer of the chapter.
St. MARY'S Church, Castlegate,* is a rectory, in the gift of
the crown, valued in the king's books at £2. 8s. 6d. and
in Bacon's Liber Regis at £65. The Rev. Isaac Grayson, is
the rector. There are here several old monumental inscriptions
as remote as the 14th and 15th centuries.
St. MAURICE, in Monkgate, is united to the church of St. Trinity,
in Gotherham-gate, but divine service is performed here every
alternate Sunday, at half-past ten in the morning, and at half-past
two in the afternoon. The Rev. James Dallin, M.A. is the vicar.
The structure is very ancient, but the interior has been lately
modernized.
St. MICHAEL-LE-BELFREY,~ in the Minster-yard, is a curacy,
in the gift of the dean and chapter, of which the Rev. H. A. Beckwith,
M.A. is the incumbent curate. In the king's books the living is
valued at £2. 0s. 10d, and in Bacon's Liber Regis at £11.
17s. 9d. In addition to the Sunday service, there is a sermon
every Wednesday evening at seven o'clock. This church, which is
the largest and most elegant sacred edifice in York, except the
cathedral, was rebuilt in 1535. The altar piece was erected in
1714, by the parish. It is composed of four oaken pillars of the
Corinthian order, which, with the entablature and arms of England,
have a fine effect.
Sr. MICHAEL'S, Spurriergate,~ an ancient rectory, in the gift
of the king, valued in the books at £8. 12s. 1d. and in
Bacon's Liber Regis at £19. 3s. 8d. The rector is the Rev.
Robert Sutton, B.A. This church has lately been re-edified; the
east and south walls, with a part of the western wall have been
re-built, and the interior newly decorated, to which improvements
a new organ is about to be added. In making these alterations,
seven feet of the site of the former church were yielded to Spurriergate,
to widen the street.
The Church of ST. OLAVE,~ in the suburbs, adjoins the ancient
ruins of the Abbey of St. Mary, and was originally a chapel dependent
upon that monastery; it is probably on this account that no valuation
is put upon the living in the king's books. The Rev. Ralph Worsley
is the present incumbent. During the siege of York the roof of
this church was used as a platform for cannon, and the edifice
was so much injured that it was found necessary to re-build it
in 1722-3. It exhibits a mixture of ancient materials and modern
workmanship, so combined as to be worthy the attention of visitors.
The Church of ST. SAMPSON,* at the junction of Patrick's Pool,
Swinegate and Girdlergate, whether from St. Sampson's name not
being found in the calendar, or from what other cause it is not
known, but this living is not mentioned in the king's books: it
is in the gift of the vicars choral. The incumbent curate is the
Rev. William Bulmer, M. A. The steeple of this church, like others
in York, suffered from the cannon balls of the enemy at the last
siege, and the perforations are still visible.
St. SAVIOUR Church,* St.Saviourgate, is an ancient building
with a handsome tower steeple, on which is a wooden cross. It
is a rectory, in the gift of the king, valued in the books at
£5. 6s. 8d. and in Bacon's Liber Regis at £90. 17s.
11d. The Rev. John Graham is the incumbent. In addition to the
morning service, there is a lecture here on Sunday evening at
half-past six o'clock. The windows are enriched with much ancient
stained glass, and among the modern inscriptions are a few of
more remote date.
St. TRINITY, in Micklegate,|| though an ancient erection, is
not mentioned in the king's books. The living is of small value,
though the parish of St. Nicholas was united to this in 1585.
It is a vicarage; the Rev. George Graham, B.A. being vicar.
St. TRINITY, in Goodramgate, of which the Archbishop of York
is the patron. In the king's books it is valued at £12.
4s. 9d. and in Bacon's Liber Regis at £19. 6s. The Rev.
James Dallin, M.A. is the present vicar. Divine service is performed
here every Sunday alternately, in the morning at half-past ten,
and in the afternoon at half-past two o'clock. There are in this
church some monumental inscriptions of an early date, one of them
as remote as 1367, the window over the altar table is also very
ancient, and contains much curious stained glass.
St. TRINITY, in King's Court,~ commonly called Christ's Church,
is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. and in
Bacon's Liber Regis at £17. 18s. 9d. The master of Well
Hospital is the patron, and the present vicar is the Rev. Richard
Inman. The old courts of the imperial palace at York reached to
this place, and there is a house in the neighbourhood which was
formerly called Duke-gild-hall. "The Roman imperial palace,"
says Drake, was made the residence of the Saxon and Danish kings
of Northumberland; and subsequently of the earls till the conquest.
The ditch on one side of the church is yet visible, and still
retains the name of the King's ditch. By the extension of the
area of the Haymarket, the limits of this church were considerably
curtailed, and the public safety, at the entrance to St. Andrewgate,
seems to require a still further diminution of this ancient projection.
Dissenting chapels of York
In manufacturing and commercial towns and districts, dissenters
from the established church are generally numerous and influential;
but in ancient cities, and particularly in the seats of episcopal
sees, the members of the established church have a decided preponderance,
both in numbers and in station. This observation applies to the
city of York, but there are here several chapels and meeting houses,
and the dissenters, as a body, hold a respectable station. The
most venerable amongst these places of worship is a small chapel,
in St. Saviourgate, called the Presbyterian Chapel, of
which the Rev. Charles Wellbeloved, of the Unitarian persuasion,
is the officiating minister; and divine service is performed here
twice every Sabbath, namely, at 11 o'clock in the morning, and
at 3 o'clock. in the afternoon. Mr. Wellbeloved is also the Theological
Tutor in a collegiate establishment, in Monkgate, York, called,
"the Manchester College," (Note: An academy for similar
purposes was established about the year 1750, at at Warrington,
which was discontinued in 1784; two years afterwards the patrons
of it established the present institution at Manchester, which
was removed to York in 1803.) which institution is designed principally
for the education of young men for the ministry, but lay-students
are admitted at a charge of one hundred guineas a year. The divinity
students have every expense of board and education defrayed from
a fund raised by donations and annual subscriptions, amongst the
protestant dissenters of the Presbyterian denomination.
The Unitarian Baptists are a smaller community, who assemble
for worship in a chapel formerly occupied by the Independents,
in High Jubbergate. They have no stated minister, but, as in the
Society of Friends, any of the congregation are permitted to address
their brethren. The hours of service on the Sabbath are, 11 o'clock
in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, and 6 in the evening; they
have also service at 7 o'clock on Tuesday evening, in every week.
In York, as in most other towns and cities in England, the
Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, forms a respectable
religious community. Their meeting-house, which is situated at
the entrance to Far Water-lane, with an entrance by a passage
from Castlegate, consists of two buildings, the first erected
in the year 1673, end the latter in 1817. The original building
has been subsequently enlarged, and rendered capable of accommodating
between three and four hundred people. The new structure is a
neat and substantial brick building, used principally at the quarterly
meetings; it will seat 1200 persons, and is so constructed as
to be both warmed and ventilated, or ventilated only, according
to the season of the year. The method of effecting this simple
operation, so conducive to the health and comfort of a congregation,
is explained in a small useful quarto work, recently published
at York. The hours of meeting, on the Sabbath, are 10 o'clock
in the morning, and 5 in the afternoon in summer, and 10 in morning,
and 3 in the afternoon, in winter; there is also a week day meeting,
at 10 o'clock in the morning every Wednesday. The Friends have
a small inclosure, in Kirk-lane, ornamented with trees of venerable
appearance, for the interment of their dead.
The Methodists are so numerous a body in York as to render
two regular places of worship in the city necessary for their
accommodation. Their principal chapel is in New street, and was
built in the year, 1805. This stately edifice is of brick, with
stone mouldings, and is capable of accommodating a congregation
of 2000 persons. The services commence on Sunday at eight o'clock
in the morning, half past 2 in the afternoon, and 6 in the evening;
there is also a prayer meeting at 6 o'clock on Sunday morning,
and at 5 in summer, and 6 in winter on the Tuesday and Friday
mornings. The other chapel is of still more recent date; it was
built in the year 1816, in Albion-street, and is, from its situation,
called Albion Chapel, and the services are at half past
10 in the morning, 6 in the evening on Sundays, at 7 o'clock on
Thursday evenings. This building is about half the size of the
other Methodist chapel. They are both supplied with preachers
from the conference in connexion with the late Reverend John Wesley.
The Calvinistic Chapel, in Grape-lane, is now occupied by the
Primitive Methodists, their Sunday service is at half past 10
in the morning; prayers at 6 in the morning and 8 in the evening;
Monday and Friday service at half past 7 in the evening; Saturday
evening prayers at 8 in the evening.
The Independents, though formerly scarcely known in York, have
of late become a numerous body, and will, probably, under the
ministry of the zealous and eloquent young preacher, lately called
to preside over them, still further increase. Their chapel, which
is eligibly situated in Lendal, and thence called "Lendal
Chapel" was built in the year, 1814, at a cost of £3000.
and will accommodate a congregation of 1000 persons. The Rev.
James Parsons is the minister; and the Sabbath services, of which
there are three, commence at half past ten in the morning, half
past two in the afternoon, and half past 6 o'clock in the evening.
There is also a lecture on Thursday, and a prayer meeting on Monday,
each of which services commences at 7 o'clock in the evening.
The Sandemanians, a sect of seceders from the Scotch church,
founded by the Rev. John Glass, have a chapel in Grape lane; with
a small burial ground annexed. Owing to the smallness of their
numbers, they have no stated pastor, but this congregation assembles
for divine service every sabbath morning at half past 10, and
again in the afternoon at 2 o'clock.
The religious community, so long the lords of the ascendant,
both in this city and in this country, but now ranked as dissenters,
occupy, in place of the stately Cathedral, a neat brick-built
chapel, of modern erection, in Little Blake street. The Rev. Benedict
Rayment is the pastor of this congregation. The morning service
commences in the chapel on Sundays and Holidays, at 10 o'clock
in the morning, and the evening service at 3 o'clock in the afternoon,
except in the two mid-winter months of December and January, when
the evening service begins an hour earlier. Every Sunday morning
a musical high mass, accompanied by a sweet and full toned organ,
(recently built at an expense of £500.) is celebrated here;
and in Lent and Advent public lectures are given in the evening,
every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, which commence at 7 o'clock.
The Nunney
In the suburbs of the city, without Micklegate bar, is a large
and handsome brick building, called "The Nunnery,"
which has been used since the year 1686 as a boarding school for
ladies of the Roman Catholic persuasion. The assistants in this
seminary having quitted the world, and devoted themselves entirely
to the instruction of youth, are popularly denominated nuns; each
of them constantly wears a large black veil, and exhibit other
tokens of monastic peculiarity. At present the establishment consists
of sixty young ladies, some of them sent from a considerable distance,
for the purpose of education, more than twenty nuns, and about
twelve lay-sisters, with an officiating clergyman, the Rev. James
Newsham, and four domestic servants. Mrs. Eliz. Coyney is the
Rev. Mother Superior of the convent. On the premises is a small
neat chapel, in which the prayers are read every morning at eight
o'clock, and on the sabbath day also, at two o'clock in the afternoon.
These services are open to the public. Over the general entrance
is a gallery, in which several of the nuns take their station
to accompany the organ during divine service, and the effect of
the music may not be inaptly styled seraphic.
Decayed religious houses, churches and chapels
There are in York 30 churches and chapels, and ten monasteries
and religious houses which have gone to decay. Three of the decayed
churches have been already mentioned in the history of the cathedral
and its appendages; the others are St. Bridget and St. Nicholas,
in Micklegate; St. Clement's, without Skeldergate Postern; St.
Gregory, near Micklegate; St. Peter the Little, in Peter lane;
St. Clement's, nearly opposite Merchants' Hall; St. George, near
Newgate lane; St. Andrew, in Fishergate; St. Peter in the Willows,
at the upper part of Long Close: these ancient edifices were all
in the ward of Walmgate. In Monk-ward the decayed churches are
St. Mary's, Layerthorpe; and St. Maurice, Monkgate. In Bootham
ward, St. Andrew, St. Stephen, and St. John the Baptist, in Hungate;
St. Wilfred, near Blake street. In the suburbs there were St.
George's chapel, St. George's close; St. Helen's and the church
of All Saints, near Fishergate postern; St. Edward and St. Michael,
Watlingate; St. Giles, in Gilly-gate; and the chapel of St. Mary
Magdalene, near the boundary stone of the city.
The monasteries and religious houses, were the Abbey of St.
Mary, situated behind the Manor-house; the monastery of the Begging
Friars, anciently a Roman temple sacred to the heathen god Serapis,
situated in Friar's gardens; the convent of black or Dominican
Friars, near Micklegate bar; the monastery of the Friars Minor,
on the banks of the Ouse, formerly the occasional residence of
the kings of England: the monastery of the Friars Carmelites,
which in the days of its glory, occupied a principal part of the
ground from Whipmawhapmagate to the river Foss; and the monastery
of the Crouched Friars, at the corner of Barker-hill. In Beggergate-lane
stood the nunnery of St. Clement, founded by Henry I., in 1145,
for the nuns of the Benedictine order; in Stone-wall-close, the
priory of St. Andrews, founded in 1202, by Hugh Murdac, for twelve
canons of the order of Sempringham; the priory of St. Nicholas,
Watlingate, a royal foundation, established under the patronage
of the kings of England, for a select number of both sexes; and
the priory of St. Trinity, in Trinity gardens, Micklegate.
The greater part of these edifices have totally disappeared;
but the ruin of St. Mary's Abbey, formerly one of the glories
of York, and still,
"Great in ruin, noble in decay,"
remains a monument of departed splendour. This once noble and
magnificent monastery, is situated on the North side of the city,
and the land gently slopes from without Bootham bar to the Ouse.
The site is a fine spot of ground, nearly square, and comprehends
a circuit of 1280 yards. In the Abbey wall were two principal
gates, one to the East, opening into Bootham, near the gate of
the city, and the other into Marygate. A spacious piece of rich
ground to the North of this street, running down to the river,
was used by the monks for their fat cattle, and called Almry-garth.
According to Ingulphus, there was a monastery here before the
conquest, in which Siward, the valiant Earl of Northumberland
was interred. And tradition has placed upon this site, the temple
of Bellona, from which the emperor Severus received the presage
of his death. The monastery was then dedicated to St. Olave, and
its name was not changed to that of St. Mary, till the time of
William Rufus, who was one of its distinguished patrons. In the
year, 1270, this Abbey was totally destroyed by fire, but under
the direction of Simon de Warwick, the then Abbot, who laid the
first stone of the new erection, it again raised its head, and
in two and twenty years the identical fabric, of which we this
day see the venerable remains was completed. From this time the
munificence and piety of princes and nobles, enriched the Abbey
of St. Mary, and on the dissolution of the religious houses, in
the reign of Henry VIII. its annual revenue, according to Speed,
amounted to £2085. 1s. 5d. The privileges of this monastery
were as remarkable as its opulence. The abbot had the honour to
be mitred, and enjoyed a seat in parliament, with the title of
Lord Abbot. Our eighth Henry, whose cupidity was a great deal
less equivocal than his love of reformation, seized upon the revenues
of the dismantled monastery, and ordered a palace to be built
out of its ruins, which was called the King's Manor. This palace,
however, sunk into decay, and though James I. gave orders to have
it repaired, and rendered fit for a royal residence, it has, in
some degree, shared the fate of the Abbey, and the whole is now
in the possession of the Grantham family. Time and depredation
have reduced even the walls of this venerable fabric within narrow
limits; at present, the greatest part of the inclosure is a pasture;
the rest is leased for gardens; and such parts of the palace as
are habitable, are let in humble tenements; at which, the mitred
lord abbots, in the plenitude of their power, would have cast
a glance of disdain. The Manor-house is occupied as a boarding
school for young ladies', for which purpose it is well adapted.
Sufficient yet remains of the ruins of the Abbey, to carry the
mind back to other times, and to indicate the labours and the
resting place of Stephen de Whitby, whose supposed tomb-stone,
thus inscribed, is seen in a small court, now a stable yard, at
the East end of the cloisters: HIC: JACET: STEPANO : AB. B: ISPN.
It has long been a matter of surprise and regret, that a ruin,
so picturesque, and in a situation so inviting, should be disfigured
with the unsightly nuisances which incumber this ancient Abbey;
and it is much to be wished, that either the noble proprietor
of the venerable domain, or the corporation of York, with his
Lordship's permission, would so far act the part of public benefactors,
as to render this an attractive scene, as it is so capable of
being made, both to the inhabitants themselves, and to every man
of taste and lover of antiquity that visits this ancient city.
Other old buildings of York
The Red Tower, another of the ancient buildings of York,
is so called from being built of brick; it is situated not far
from Walmgate bar, on the South bank of the Foss, and when York
was a commercial city, commanded the Foss island. This ancient
edifice, the antiquity of which cannot be precisely fixed, is
supposed to be nearly coeval with the period of the residence
of the Romans in this country. The manufacture of brimstone in
the interior of this building has aggravated the dilapidations
of time, and its present appearance conveys but a very imperfect
idea of the stately square structure, through the loop holes of
which the engines of war were pointed to protect the navy of the
port of York from hostile attack.
Behind Trinity Gardens, in the South East corner of the city,
is an ancient mound, the origin of which is not known. In ancient
deeds and histories it is called, vetus ballium, or Old
Bayle, signifying a place of security, and probably forms
the platform, as Leland and Camden suppose, of an ancient ruined
castle. The mound is ornamented with a small plantation of trees,
and exactly corresponds with that on which Clifford's tower is
erected, on the opposite side, of the river. This point commands
a fine view of York, and of the rich country by which it is surrounded.
Adjoining to the wall of the Castle yard, at the South West
extremity of Castle-gate, stands a round tower, built by William
the Conqueror, as a keep to the Castle, and called Clifford's
Tower, a name derived from the Lords, who were anciently its
wardens, and which family probably from that circumstance, claims
the right of carrying the sword before the king in York. In Leland's
time it was "al in ruine," and in that state it continued
till the contests between Charles I. and his parliament, when
it was repaired and strengthened with fortifications and a draw-bridge,
a deep moat being supplied from the waters of the Foss. After
the surrender of the city to the parliamentary generals, Thomas
Dickinson, the Lord Mayor, a zealous supporter of the popular
cause, was made governor of this tower. But in the year 1683,
Sir John Reresby was appointed governor by Charles II, and in
the following year, on the festival of St. George, about ten o'clock
at night, the magazine took fire, and reduced the tower to a ruin,
in which state it remains to this day. The cause of the fire was
never correctly ascertained, but the destruction is supposed to
have been intentional, and to have proceeded from that jealousy
of military control, which English citizens so justly entertain,
and which the presence of a fortress, commanding the city, was
so well calculated to excite. At that time a popular toast in
York was, "the demolition of the mince-pie," and the
garrison, apparently aware of the approaching catastrophe, all
escaped unhurt. At the entrance into the keep is a square tower,
the wall of which is ten feet thick; and near to it is a draw-well
of excellent water, nearly twenty yards deep. The sides of the
gigantic mount on which the building stands are planted with trees
and shrubs, and the moat which formerly surrounded it is now so
completely filled up, that the entire space, comprizing about
three acres, forms a beautiful garden and pleasure grounds. The
property is held, with other lands near the city, by grant from
James I. to Babington and Duffield: the present owner is Samuel
Wilks Waud, Esq. of Camblesford, near Selby, and it is occupied
by Lady Grant.
Data transcribed from:
Baines Gazetteer 1823
Scan, OCR and html software by Colin Hinson.
Checking and correction by Richard Tetley.
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