The monasteries and religious houses, ❘ venerable remains, was completed. From 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 Barkerhill. In Beggargate-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 Murdae, 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 8 select number of both sexes; and the priory of St. Trinity, in Trinity gardens, Micklegate.

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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

this time the munificence and picty of princes and nobles, enriched the Abbey of St. Mary, and on the dissolution of the rehgious houses, in the reign of Henry VIII. its annual revenue, according to Speed, amounted to £2085. Is. 51d. 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 limi's; 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 ve. nerable 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

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. ancient edifice, the antiquity of which can

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not 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.

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 for merly 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 occuped by Lady Grant.

York is celebrated for the number and variety of its benevolent institutions, which may be enumerated under the following heads; - HoSPITALS ASYLUMS SCHOOLS and other charities.

The Hospital of St. Anthony, was founded from three to four centuries ago, by Sir John Langton, Knt. nine times Mayor of York, for the brethren of St. Anthony. After the dissolution of the religious houses, it fell into the hands of a fraternity, consisting of a master and eight keepers, who gave a feast every three years, probably out of the remaining revenues of the old hospital; but in 1625, this feast was discontinued, and the fellowship dissolved. The legendary story of St. Anthony, of Padua, and his pig, says Drake, is represented in one of the windows of the church of St. Saviour. The brethren of this mendicant house used to go a begging in the city and elsewhere, and were generally well rewarded for St. Anthony's sake. But if they were not relieved every time with a full alms, they grumbled, said their prayers backwards, and told the people that St. Anthony would plague them for it. There is an inflammatory cutaneous disease, called St. Anthony's fire: this the brethren made the people believe the Saint would inflict upon them if they disobliged him, or would cure them of it, if they merited a cure. In time they had such an ascendancy here, and the pa tron of the hospital was held in such esteem, that when any person's sow pigged, one was set apart, and fed as fat as they could make it, to give to the brethren of St. Anthony, that they might not be tormented by this fiery disease; and hence came the proverbAs fat as an Anthony pig. In 1646, the whole of the building in which the brethren met was re-edified, and it is now appropriated chiefly for the use of the charity school.

Adjoining to the wall of the Castle yard, at the South West extremity of Castleġate, 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 carry ing 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-pic," and the garrison, apparently aware of the approaching catastrophe, all escaped unhurt. At the entrance into the poor aged widows, each of whom receive

Agar's Hospital is situated near the county hospital, and is occupied by six 11. 188. 4d. half yearly towards their maintenance, paid by the feoffees of Mr. Alderman Agar, the founder, out of land which now forms part of the estate of Lord Middleton.

Of Barstow's Hospital, in the suburbs of York, little is known with certainty, except that it consists of six miserable cottages, appropriated to persons of both sexes, who each receive about forty shillingsa-year, The donation, it is said, was given about a hundred years ago, and the donors are supposed to have been two maiden sisters, of the name of Barstow.

The Spital, (a contraction for hospital of St. Catharine, is situated near the Mount, at the entrance to the city. This was anciently a house of entertainment for poor travellers or pilgrims, who could not afford to pay for lodgings in the town. Buildings of this kind were usually placed, extramuros, on the side of the highway, and this was a Xenodo chium of that kind. In Drake's time it was kept up, and repaired at the city's expense, as a habitation for poor widows, though it was then hardly deserving of the name of a charity; but we collect from Hargrove's History, that by the successive donations of various benefactors within the last century, it now affords residences for four ancient widows, each of whom derives an income from the charity, amounting to 182. 3s. per annum.

Colton's Hospital, is situated in Taniner row, and derives its name from the -founders, Dr. Colton, and Mary his wife by whom it was provided, in the year 1717, for the occupation of "eight poor women." At present, the funds which are produced from lands at Cawood and Thorp Willoughby, yield to each of the eight inmates about six pounds a-year.

Ingham's Hospital was founded by Sir Arthur Ingham, a senior Alderman of York, in the year 1640, and endowed with five pounds a-year for each of the ten poor women, its inmates, who have also a new gown every two years. The endowment also provides, twenty nobles for an honest able man to read prayers in the chapel," payable out of certain lands at Sheriff - Hutton. The buildings forming this hospital are situated in Bootham, and consist of ten cottages, of two rooms each, with a chapel in the centre. The badge of these widows is, a silver cock gilt, the crest of the Irvin family, of Temple Newsam, of which family Sir Arthur was the founder. The patronage of this hospital is now in the Dowager Marchioness of Hertford, the eldest daughter of the late Lord Irvin, and one of the lineal descendants of Sir Arthur.

St. Leonard's Hospital is an ancient foundation, which existed before the conquest, and when in the meridian of its usefulness, supported thirteen brethren, four secular priests, eight sisters, thirty choristers, two schoolmasters, twenty-six bead men, and six servitors; but by the consent of the brotherhood, it was surrendered in the 31st year of Henry VIII. and the revenue, amounting to 36%. 118. 1 d. placed at the disposal of the king.

The Spital of St. Loy, like that of St. Catherine, was built for the accommodation of poor travellers and pilgrims, in Catholie times; it stood on the East side of the Monk bridge, but not a vestage of it now remains,

Maison Dieu was founded in White Friar's lane, Layerthorpe, by Edward IV. whence it is natural to infer, that there must anciently have been here a monastery of White Friars also, from which the name has arisen. But on this subject, we can only conjecture; as there are no remains of either building, and even the name of the lane ite self is now no longer retained.

Mason's Hospital, in Colliergate, was founded by a widow of that name, in 1732, for the use of six poor widows, who have an annual income from the original benefactress of one pound a-year, and from the bene volent Countess of Conyngham, of fifty shillings, producing to each of them yearly, three pounds ten shillings,

Middleton's Hospital, in Skeldergate, is a monument of the piety and benevolence of Dame Ann Middleton, who bestowed by will two thousand pounds for its erection and endowment. In this hospital, twenty widows of poor freemen in York, have dwellings, with an income of five pounds sixteen shillings a-year each; three pounds sixteen shillings of which is derived from the funds of the original benefactress, and two pounds from an augmentation bequeathed by Thomas Norfolk, gent. A full length effigy of Dame Middleton is placed in a niche, over the front entrance, with an inscrip tion, partly obliterated, enumerating her charities.

A little beyond Bootham row, and nearly opposite to Marygate, is an alms-house that few ladies in the early part of life would claim as their inheritance, called "The Old Maids' Hospital." The founder of this institution was Mrs. Mary Wandesford, of the city of York, spinster, who by will dated the 4th of Nov. 1725, bequeathed an estate at Brumpton-upon-Swale, near Richmond, with a mortgage of 1200l. and 1200l. South-Sea stoek in trust, "for the use and benefit of ten poor gentlewomen, who were never married," members of the established church.

"who shall retire from the hurry and noise of the world into a house of protestant retirement, with 107. per annum to a reader. Since this time the funds of the Old Maids' Hospital, have been considerably augmented by other bequests, and each of the inmates now receives 161. 17s. 4d. annually, which Mr. Hargrove, from whom we quote, and who has displayed a very laudable zeal in investigating the affairs of the charities of York, intimates should be still further increased from the improved value of land within a period of nearly a hundred years. The Maiden Testator, does not in her will fix at what time of life ladies may become candidates for this charity, but the Court of Chancery, by a decree of the date of 1739, has fixed the age at fifty years. The present steward of this establishment is Mr. John Mills, with a salary of 67. a-year, and the Rev. W. Bulmer, with a stipend of 15d. annually, is the reader or chaplain. Every Wednesday and Friday morning at eleven o'clock, duty is performed in the chapel.

come to upwards of 67. by leaving 25. a-year to be divided in equal parts among them.

Near Merchants' Hall, in Fosgate, stands an ancient Spital, called Trinity Hospital, founded in 1373, by John de Rawcliff, and endowed with lands worth 10l. a-year for the sustentation of a priest or master, and for the brethren and sisters of the same. The priest was to pray for the founder, and for the king, as well as for all christian souls, and to pay weekly to thirteen poor folks and to two poor scholars resident in the hospital, four-pence in silver each. In the 3rd of Edward VI. this hospital was dissolved, and the land was given to the king; but the hospital and chapel were kept standing, and the Merchants' Company of this city perpetuated the charity by their liberality, and at present ten poor persons-five of each sex, live in the house, and receive a stipend of 51. each per annum.

The Hospital of Sir Robert Watter, Knight, twice Lord Mayor of York, is situated in Neutgate-lane. Sir Robert, by his Without Micklegate bar, at the prin will proved June 15, 1612, appointed that a cipal entrance to the city on the left, is an hospital should be erected out of his houses antique stone building, called St. Thomas' in Nowtgate, which should be for the Hospital, erected for the fraternity of Corpus perpetual maintenance of ten persons; to Christi, incorporated by letters patent, the consist of a governor or reader with 3. per 6th of November, in the 37th of Henry VI. annum, and certain brothers and sisters, to This hospital was originally instituted for a each of whom 27. per annum, was to be master and six priests, who were bound to allowed out of the lordship of Cundale. From keep a solemn procession every year, on the some cause not explained, this charity has Friday after Corpus Christi day, and the day been suffered to deteriorate: the number of after to have a solemn mass or dirge, to pray dwellings is only seven, and instead of ten for the prosperity of brothers and sisters there are only seven inmates; the reader, proliving, and for the souls departed; and fur- bably from the smallness of the stipend, does ther to keep yearly ten poor folks, having not exist, and only 142. is paid to the inevery of them towards their living 31. 63. 8d. stitution, instead of twenty guineas annually. a-year, with a further provision that they In St. Dennis Church-lane, stands an should find eight beds for poor people being | alms-house, founded, as is supposed, by the

Company of Cordwainers, and intended as an asylum for poor aged and decayed persons of that craft. This building had anciently a cupola and bell, which was tolled on the death of any of its members, and from the religious services performed in the hospital, it obtained the name of "The Maison Dieu or the House of God. The Cordwainers Company, after existing for several centuries, certainly not less than four, was dissolved in the year 1808, parliament having in that year repealed the act, on which they grounded their right to regulate the markets and their trade in general. On the dissolution of the Company, the entire patronage of the Maison Dieu, with the archieves of the fraternity were transferred to Mr. Hornby, of York, one of the principal members, and by the liberality of that gentleman, the hospital, which had sunk into a state of dilapidation,

strangers. In addition to this hospitality, the fraternity found entertainment of another kind for the citizens, and once in every year, namely, on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, they performed the play of Corpus Christi, in aid of which, every trade in the city was obliged to furnish a pageant. At that time the building was far more extensive than at present; but in the time of Henry VIII. it felt the shock of all other similar institutions, and in 1683, it was inhabited only by ten poor widows, to whom mendicity afforded the means of subsistence. In 1787, the hospital underwent considerable alterations and improvements, and the number of inmates were increased to twelve. In the year 1791, Mr. Luntley, a glover in Blakestreet, left by will 1000%. to this institution, the interest of which, yields nearly four guineas per annum to each of the inhabitants, and Lady Conyngham, augmented their in- I was taken down and re-built at his own cost. This hospital now consists of four comfortable dwellings, appropriated to the use of as many decayed shoe-makers, who pay to their benefactor an annual acknowledgment of one penny. This establishment presents a favourable field for the exercise of benevolence, and we venture to recommend that some charitable person should endow it with a small | - portion of land, from the rents whereof the successive inmates of the Maison Dieu, who are now nearly destitute of income, may through all time have the evening of their days brightened by a humble competency.

The law of Mortmain has wisely kept the endowment of hospitals and religious houses within very moderate limits; and in more modern times the legislaturef has instituted a security against death-bed charitable bequests, by providing that no lands or tenements shall be given for, or charged with, any charitable use whatsoever, unless by deed indented, executed in the presence of two witnesses twelve calendar months before the death of the donor, and enrolled in the Court of Chancery within six months after its execution, and unless such gift be made to take effect immediately, and be without power of revocation.

Winterskelf's Hospital, nearly opposite St. Margaret's Church, in Walmgate, was founded by Perceval Winterskelf, gentleman, early in the last century, and forms accommodation for six poor aged persons, who enjoy a revenue of from 71. to 8. a year.

The ladies of York have contributed essentially to swell the number of the public eharities of this city, and their benevolence has in several instances embraced more than one institution. In addition to the names of pious memory already enumerated, Mrs. Wright, Dame Hewley, Mrs. Wilson, and Lady Conyngham's, remain to be mentioned:

Mrs. Jane Wright, of the city of London, widow, left by will, in 1675, 1000%. in money, with the residue of her property, amounting to about 550%. more, to be devoted to the purpose of placing out as apprentices, as many poor boys and giris, who are natives and inhabitants of "the parish of Goodramgate, near the Minster, in the city of York, being the parish, as she says, in which I was born," as the minister, churchwardens, and vestry-men of the said parish may think proper the residue of the income, if any, to be applied to the relief of poor widows and housekeepers in the parish, and to the assistance of the apprentices at the expiration of their apprenticeships, in commencing business. The trustees very judiciously ex

+ By the act 9th George H. c. 36.

pended the sum which they realized, in the purchase of a house in Goodramgate, and lands in Rufforth and Water Poppleton, which now together yield for the purpose of the charity 3637. a year, and which sum is distributed half-yearly, according to the will of the testatrix. By a decision of the Court of Chancery, two-thirds of this ample income is distributed in the parish of St. Trinity, and one-third in the parish of St. John del Pyke.

Lady Hewley's charities comprehend an hospital and a liberal annual contribution towards "teaching the children of the poor to read and write." The hospital is a neat briek building, situated in Tanner Row, in which ten poor women, of the Unitarian persuasion, find a comfortable asylum.. Originally, the annual stipend was only 67. each, but from the nature of the property, under the provident management of the trus tees, it is now swelled to 151. a year, which is paid in monthly instalments by the Rev. Charles Wellbeloved. In 1708, Dame Sarah Hewley," as she is styled, paid into the Exchequer 1000%, thereby purchasing an annuity of 62/. 10s. for ninety-nine years, to be applied to the purpose of teaching the children of the poor to read and write." For thirteen years; namely, between 1780 and 1793, the payment of the annuities was suspended for want of new trustees to fill the places of those who were deceased: but, by the zeal and publie spirit of Robert Driffield, Esq. the payment of the annuity was resumed, and the arrears refunded, the effect of which has been, that the capitał stock is swelled to 1650/. four per cents. and that fund is rendered permanent, which would have expired in the year 1807. The annual income from this stock is now devolved, in compliance with the will of the testatrix, to the support of free sehools, in York and its vicinity, at the discretion of the trustees, John Rawden, Esq., the Rev. Charles Wellbeloved, and George Palmes, Esq.

Wilson's Hospital, situated at Fossbridge, was founded in 1717, by Mrs. Dorothy Wilson, spinster, for the reception of ten poor women, each of whom has a room to herself, and for their maintenance the donor left certain lands at Skipwith and NunMonkton, from which each of them receives 151. per annum. The same lands were also

* Dame Hewley, (whose maiden name was Wolridge) when a spinster, was a ward in chancery, and tradition says, we believe truly, that she eloped with Mr., afterwards Sir John Hewley, upon a matrimonial expe dition, she riding before and he behind, on the same horse, thinking thereby to protect her intended husband from the censure of the Lord Chancellor, by alleging, that she ran away with him, and not the with hert.