What to See in England Part 34

Valle Crucis Abbey, which can be reached either by walking along the ca.n.a.l from Llangollen, or by train to Berwyn, lies in a beautiful wooded valley surrounded by some of the best scenery in the neighbourhood of Llangollen. A little to the east, a very picturesque view of the ruins, which are the finest of their kind in Wales, may be obtained over a quiet pool of water. The abbey was founded in the thirteenth century by Madoc-ap-Gryffydd Moelor, who was a supporter of Llewelyn in the cause of Welsh independence. The buildings are in Early English style, and some of the finest remains are a circular gable window and three decorated Gothic ones, also part of the west end with dog-tooth moulding, and a piscina and canopy in the south transept. Stretching at right angles from the south side of the church are the old monastic buildings.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

VALLE CRUCIS ABBEY.

The ruins of the Church. The monastic buildings are on the south side.]

KNARESBOROUGH, DRIPPING WELL

=How to get there.=--Train from King's Cross. Great Northern Rly.

=Nearest Station.=--Knaresborough.

=Distance from London.=--204 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 5 to 7 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 28s. 5d. ... 17s. 0-1/2d.

Return 56s. 10d. ... 34s. 1d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Commercial Hotel," "Crown Hotel,"

etc.

Knaresborough, in the West Riding of Yorks.h.i.+re, is a town of great interest and antiquity, and occupies part of the site of an ancient forest which was 20 miles in length. It was a crown manor before the Conquest, and was given by William the Conqueror to Serlo de Burgh, a Norman baron, by whom the stately castle was first erected. The place was afterwards held by Richard Plantagenet, who founded a priory in the vicinity, Piers Gaveston, and John of Gaunt, and the castle was for some time the place of confinement of Henry II. During the Civil War it was held for the King; but after the battle of Marston Moor it was taken by Fairfax, and dismantled by order of Parliament in 1648.

The castle, one of the finest of its kind, is situated in a remarkable position on a lofty rock, and was once practically inaccessible. It was formerly flanked by eleven towers, of which only one remains. The other ruins consist of a small portion of the keep and some very beautiful and elaborate vaulted apartments, in which the murderers of Thomas a Becket took refuge. On the cliffs opposite the castle is the famous Knaresborough "Dripping Well," whose waters have the property of "turning into stone" any articles left for a time under the dripping waters of the well. The water being highly charged with limestone in a state of impervious powder, rapidly encrusts the object until it appears to be made of solid rock, and various specimens of this result may be obtained.

About half a mile below the castle are the remains of the priory for brothers of the Holy Trinity, founded by Richard Plantagenet; and further south, hewn out of the solid rock, at a considerable height above the river Nidd, is St. Robert's Chapel, with a fine groined roof.

It has an altar on the east side and contains carvings of the Trinity and the Virgin Mary.

Knaresborough was at one time a place of fas.h.i.+onable resort on account of the efficacy of its mineral waters, but they have long since been abandoned for those of Harrogate.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

THE DRIPPING WELL AT KNARESBOROUGH.

The water contains limestone, and coats over whatever substance it falls upon.]

FOUNTAINS ABBEY

=How to get there.=--Train from King's Cross _via_ Leeds. Great Northern Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Ripon (2 miles from the Abbey).

=Distance from London.=--214 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 5 to 8 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 29s. 9d. ... 17s. 5d.

Return 59s. 6d. ... 34s. 10d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--At Ripon--"Black Bull Hotel,"

"Black Swan Hotel," "Bradford Hotel," etc.

Fountains Abbey, about 2 miles south-west from Ripon in Yorks.h.i.+re, stands in a beautiful wooded valley, through which runs a pretty stream known as the Skell. The abbey is noted for the great extent of its remains, which seem to have escaped any wanton destruction. A fine tower at the north end of the transept still stands, but the central one has fallen into great decay. Besides the church there are many remains of this famous abbey, which at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries was one of the richest in the country. The cloisters, 300 feet long, are unsurpa.s.sed in England. They extend across an archway over the stream, and are lit by lancet windows. There are also remains of the chapter-house, the refectory, and the kitchen with its two wide fireplaces.

The history of the foundation of Fountains Abbey is of considerable interest. In the twelfth century some monks of the Benedictine monastery of St. Mary at York, being attracted by the sanct.i.ty of the inmates of the Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx in Yorks.h.i.+re, became dissatisfied with their own form of government, and wished to adopt the rules of Rievaulx Abbey and withdraw from their own monastery. This naturally did not please their abbot; but eventually, after appealing to the Archbishop of York, some land in a lonely valley, known as Skell Dale, was granted to them. Here, in the depth of winter, without shelter or means of subsistence, the pious monks suffered great hards.h.i.+p. After a few years Hugh, Dean of York, left all his possessions to the Abbey of Fountains, and after this endowments and benefactions flowed in.

In 1140 the abbey was burnt down, but in 1204 the restoration was recommenced, and the foundations of a new church, of which the present ruins are the remains, were laid. The great tower, however, was not completed till the end of the fourteenth century.

At the Dissolution Sir Richard Gresham bought the estates, and they are now owned by the descendants of Mr. William Aislabie of Studley Royal.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

FOUNTAINS ABBEY.

One of the finest ruined monasteries in England.]

RIPON CATHEDRAL

=How to get there.=--Train from King's Cross _via_ Leeds. Great Northern Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Ripon.

=Distance from London.=--214 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 5 to 7 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 29s. 9d. ... 17s. 5d.

Return 59s. 6d. ... 34s. 10d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Black Bull Hotel," "Black Swan Hotel," "Bradford Hotel," etc.

Ripon is situated on the little river Ure in a picturesque valley in the west of Yorks.h.i.+re. Its past history has been eventful enough, for it was burnt by the Danes in the ninth century, destroyed by King Edred, and laid waste by the Conqueror. It recovered quickly from all these adversities, and is now a peaceful town given up to agricultural pursuits. Besides possessing a small but interesting old cathedral and some ancient houses in its town, many places of historic importance lie in its immediate neighbourhood. Fountains Abbey is 3 miles distant (see Index), and also Fountains Hall, a fifteenth-century building. An interesting relic of old times is the blowing of the horn at nine in the evening by a constable outside the mayor's house and at the market-cross.

Ripon's minster became a cathedral in 1836. In the seventh century a monastery was established here, and St. Wilfrid, the famous Archbishop of York, built the minster. Of this building only the crypt remains, consisting of a central chamber with niches in the walls, and a window known as "St. Wilfrid's Needle" looking into the pa.s.sage outside. It is reached by steps and a long pa.s.sage leading from the nave of the present cathedral. Only the chapter-house and vestry remain of Archbishop Thurstan's Norman church, erected in the place of the Anglo-Saxon one, for Roger, Archbishop of York, pulled it down and began to erect the present building in (_circa_) 1154. Being only a Collegiate Church in those days, it was not built in a cathedral fas.h.i.+on, and it had no aisles to its wide and low-roofed nave. The present aisles were added in the sixteenth century, with the intention of giving a cathedral aspect to the minster church. Much of Roger's work has been altered by subsequent bishops, and the result is a strange succession of styles of architecture. Ripon is the only cathedral that has gla.s.s in the triforium of the choir.

The exterior, viewed from a distance, is a little squat, for it needs the timber spires that formerly crowned the three towers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

RIPON CATHEDRAL--THE MINSTER BRIDGE.]

DARTMOOR

=How to get there.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Railway.