NORTHERN BURY CHAPTER XLVII Swaledale OUTSKIRTS OF RICHMOND SKEEBY-SCOTCH CORNER-SED PARK-GILLING-RAVENSWORTH CASTLE-KIRKBY RAVENS WORTH-ASKE HALL-WHITCLIFFE WOODS-HUDSWELL-MARSKE ANCIENT FAMILY OF SWALE-FREMINGTON-ARKLE BECK-REETH- N I ORTHWARD of the town of Richmond and lying on the verge of the watershed which divides the valley of the Swale from that of the Tees, there is a stretch of country to which the traveller should turn aside ere he prosecutes his journey westward into Swaledale proper. It can scarcely be said to be a part of Swaledale, yet it is closely connected with it by a tributary of that river which, first under the name of Gilling Beck and secondly under that of Skeeby Beck, intersects an undulating tract of land from a point northwest of Ravensworth Castle to one situate between Easby Abbey and Brompton-upon-Swale. A convenient and pleasant fashion of exploring this district may be found by following the road from Richmond through Skeeby to Scotch Corner, thence turning to the north-east along the old Roman road which ran between Greta Bridge and Leeming Lane, until Dunsa Bank is reached, and a southward route taken back to Richmond by way of Ravensworth, Gilling, and Aske Hall. Such a route introduces the traveller to some of the most delightful scenery in this part of the North Riding, and leads him through various places of some historic importance. Almost at the outset of his journey he is rewarded with a fine view of Richmond itself, seen from the highroad to the north-east of the town, and from that point showing itself much beneath him. Here the promontory-like character of the hill on which Richmond is principally SKEE BY SCOTCH CORNER 399 built is realised more than in any other obtainable view-the town appears to jut out above the north bank of the Swale almost as abruptly as Flamborough Head from the east coast. Here, too, the Swale winding round the sharply-outlined edge of the great plateau topped by the castle, is seen as it rushes over the falls beneath the ruins of St. Martin's Priory, and disappears behind the wooded bank which shelters the riverside path between Easby and Richmond. This, though not the finest view of the town and castle, is an impressive and interesting one, especially when seen early in the morning as the blue smoke curls above the gables and towers and forms a misty curtain which only half hides the purple stretches of the fells and moors of Upper Swaledale. There is little of interest in Skeeby, a lonely little farming village, overlooking the valley in which the beck to which it gives a name runs southward to the Swale, but on its western outskirts the traveller by turning somewhat out of his way may see in a meadow known as the Whitefield an embankment of considerable magnitude, which is part of the famous earthwork that ran from Barforth on the Tees to a point south of Easby on the Swale, and was called the Scot's Dyke. It ran almost parallel with the Roman road from the south, which having crossed the Swale at Catterick Bridge divides itself at Scotch Corner into two branches, one leading away to the north-west to Greta Bridge, Bowes, Westmorland, and Carlisle, the other proceeding due north to Durham and Northumberland. Scotch Corner, situate on the ridge of the high ground which tops the north bank of Skeeby Beck, is interesting for more than one reason. The ancient inn which stands in the angle of the two great roads has a lonely and almost desolate appearance, which is heightened by the knowledge of the traveller that it must at one time have been a busy and flourishing hostelry in the days when these roads were thronged with traffic, and when droves of Scotch cattle were continually traversing the highway southward. It is a quaint and picturesque house, and is still entitled to call itself a roadside inn of some note, for though it stands in such a lonely situation, the visitors' book inside its parlour shows that it is visited with great frequency by that modern successor of the traveller of old days—the cyclist. It is at such spots as these, however, that the loneliness of the old highways is most felt. Seventy years ago it would have been impossible to visit a roadside inn like that at Scotch Corner without finding numerous sights and sounds of bustle and hurry-horses being removed from one coach, a new relay being harnessed to another, a couple of runaway lovers clamouring for fresh horses for their journey northward to Gretna Green, horsemen, coachmen, grooms, post-boys, crowded about the door of the inn, travellers refreshing themselves inside, and everything betokening the highway life which the introduction of steam banished for ever. Nowadays there is nothing of this to be seen-a waggon lumbers along, a cyclist dashes up, dismounts for a few moments, and is on his way again, a tramp, down at heel, and out at elbow, cocks a longing eye at the sign and shambles nearer to the next casual ward, and the road, once full of life and bustle, is deserted. Little wonder that if the landlord of wayside inns like this be an ancient man, he should shake his head sadly when he thinks of what piping times he and his fellows knew ere the coaches were driven off the road. The stretch of highway between Scotch Corner and Dunsa Bank runs at first along the northern boundary of Sedbury Park-the "pretty place callid Sedbyre, having a pretty parke, and a little lake in it," whereat, says Leland, Sir Henry Gascoigne dwelt when he came into these parts. Sedbury was for a long period the seat of the Boynton family, the last of whom, Sir Henry Boynton, appears to have died in 1531, judging from an inscription in the chantry chapel of the Boyntons at Gilling. There is record that in 1463, Joan, widow of Christopher Boynton and daughter of Lord Scrope of Bolton Castle, obtained permission for the celebration of mass in the private chapel of Sedbury. Hereabouts the land is richly wooded, and there is much fir, pine, and larch in the woods of Sedbury and on the roadside. Where the highway intersects the road from Richmond to Piercebridge on the Tees there is a fine view of the village of Gilling, lying in the valley below, with the woods of Aske rising above it to the southward. Northward of the road and on the summit of the watershed of the Tees are long stretches of country, once presumably moorland and unproductive, since they are known as Gatherley Moor, Caskin Moor, and so forth, but which now appear to be under a good state of cultivation. The most charming aspects of the stretch of highroad between Scotch Corner and Dunsa Bank, however, are undoubtedly the magnificent prospects of moor and fell scenery which open out to the west beyond Ravensworth and Dalton-long, wide, sweeping stretches of soft grey and purple colour, which, seen under an autumn sun, are a delight to behold. Unlike the great Roman highway of which it is an offshoot, the road from Scotch Corner to the north-west of England is of such an undulatory character as to deserve at times the title of hilly, and at Dunsa Bank and again at Brewson Bank, a little further on, it rises in long, trying slopes. From Dunsa Bank a road turns sharply south into the wide, fertile valley above which rises the church of Kirkby Ravensworth, a prominent object in the wide-spreading landscape. Before it is reached, however, the ruins of Ravensworth Castle are seen on the hillside. There is little of them left now, but they have a history full of interest. There was a stronghold here in Saxon times, some part of which, it is thought, may be traced in the present ruins. After the Norman Conquest the castle was for a time in possession of Bardolph, who is said to have become a monk of St. Mary's Abbey at York in his old age, and it was at later periods held by the families of Fitz-Hugh, and of Parr, and of Wharton. Leland says that he found nothing remarkable about it, but mentions that when he saw it there were two or three towers still standing. The most notable part of the present ruins is a small tower on which appears the following inscription, each word of which is carved on a separate stone: xp'c. dn's. ih'c. via. fons & origo. alpha & oo. The church of Kirkby Ravensworth is situate at some distance from the castle and the village-a charmingly situated place which excited Leland's admiration three centuries ago and contains some quaint and curious architecture of the fourteenth century. Cooke records that in this parish an ancient gold ring was discovered, bearing the inscription in old English letters, Ee, Me, Tien. In the neighbouring hamlet of Dalton and within sight of the road leading from Scotch Corner to Greta Bridge there are some remains of a Roman summer camp wherein several objects of interest have been unearthed at various times, amongst them being a square stone coffin which is said to have contained treasure. The stretch of valley between Ravensworth and Gilling makes up in pastoral prettiness for what it lacks in boldness. It is somewhat reminiscent of the pastoral valleys of the middle part of the county and abounds in rich meadow lands, thick coppices, and tall hedgerows. The beck from which the last-named village takes its name runs through its midst, closed VOL. II. 3 E in on the south by the slopes rising towards Aske, and on the north by the tree-crowned glades of Hartforth Park. Gilling itself, lying at the foot of the steep hill up which the highroad climbs at a sharp angle to the northwards, is one of the most interesting and picturesque villages in the district. The beck runs under a stone bridge through its midst, and winds down the valley towards Skeeby between broad meadows well stocked with sheep and cattle. Half-way down the long, slightly-curved village street stands the church, dedicated to St. Agatha, and surrounded by trees which almost hide it and its parsonage from the gaze of passers-by. It contains numerous traces of Norman work, and though restored about fifty years ago its architecture is quaint and interesting. A bright and cheery-looking place when seen on a sunny day, Gilling has nothing in its appearance to suggest to the traveller that it was the scene of a king's murder. Yet if tradition be true it was here that one of the ancient Kings of Deira, having been basely betrayed to his enemy, the King of the Bernicians, was foully murdered. Here, too, according to the same tradition the murderer, following the pious custom of those days, caused a monastery to be built, and endowed it for the health of his own and his victim's soul. It is supposed that Gilling was the royal seat or town of the Angle kings, and that their castle, together with the monastery, was destroyed by the Danes towards the end. of the ninth century. But of all these matters the Gilling of to-day says nothing; it is as quiet and peaceful a village, nestling snugly amidst the surrounding slopes, as all the north country can show. High above it, on the hillside that slopes upward from the highroad leading to Richmond, stands Aske Hall, the seat of the Marquis of Zetland, a mansion of great size and beauty, standing amidst thick woods and fronted by a long wide stretch of verdurous park. Held prior to the Norman Conquest by Tor, the Saxon, Aske was afterwards given to Wyomer, kinsman of Alan Rufus, first Earl of Richmond, whose descendants not only held it and its broad acres for over five hundred years, but took new name from it. When the last male of the Askes died the estate passed by the female line to the family of Bowes, and was subsequently owned by the Whartons, the D'Arcys-who set about building the present house in close proximity to the ancient stronghold of the Askes-and the Dundases, whose present head is the Marquis of Zetland (cr. Baron Dundas 1794, Earl of Zetland 1838, and Marquis of Zetland, 1892). From one branch of the Aske family sprang the ill-fated Robert Aske, the leader and instigator of the Pilgrimage of Grace, who after making himself master of Pontefract, Hull, and York was captured by the Royalist forces, and hung in chains at Clifford's Tower in the latter city in 1537.. Although surpassed in size and magnificence and in the value of its historical associations by more than one of the great Yorkshire houses, Aske Hall possesses a proud pre-eminence above all of them in the beauty and charm of its situation and surroundings, and in the picturesqueness of its aspect from whatever point it is viewed. |