ROUTE 15.

York to Scarborough.

BY CASTLE HOWARD AND MALTON.

(NORTH-EASTERN RAILWAY.)

[13 trains daily (23 in July and Aug.), 423 m., in 1 hr. to 1 hr. 42 min. The portion of the line between Barton Hill and Malton, which runs in sight of the Derwent, is very pleasing.

CYCLING NOTE.--York to Barton Hill Stat., 103 m. (at 8 m. turn N. through Flaxton for Sheriff Hutton Ch. and Castle, 4 m.; at 11 m. take road to rt. to Kirkham Abbey, 11 m.); Whitwell Hill, 12 m. (at 123 m. take road to 1. to Castle Howard, 3 m.); Malton, 18 m.; Norton, 183 m.; Scagglethorpe, 21 m.; Rillington, 23 m.; W. Heslerton, 27 m.; E. Heslerton, 28 m.; Sherburn, 30 m.; Ganton, 32 m.; Staxton, 34 m.; Seamer, 37 m.; Falsgrave, 401 m.; Scarborough, 41 m. Level road from York for 11 m., then the long and steep ascent of Whitwell Hill, followed by long descent and another sharp ascent; a fairly level road all the way from Malton to Scarborough, with good surface throughout.]

The line to Market Weighton (Rte. 10) branches off rt.; and the Rly. proceeds across the great plain of York, passing

4 m., Haxby Stat. (small Norm. Ch., restd. 1878), where the river Foss is crossed; and

7 m., Strensall Stat. (Ch. rebuilt 1865-6). A camp has been formed here by the War Office for training soldiers, and is much used during the summer months. It then reaches

10 m., Flaxton Stat.

This

[About 2 m. N.W. are the very interesting ruins of Sheriff Hutton Castle. A field-path (as to which the pedestrian should inquire at the Stat.) passes (at about halfway) through an earthwork, square and nearly effaced, with low mounds (tumuli?) attached to it. earthwork is probably of Roman origin. A long intrenchment running across the country beyond it may have been earlier. It then reaches Sheriff Hutton Park (John Coates, Esq.), where are some fine old oaks, and crosses the ch.-yd. into the village.

The *Castle, originally built c. 1140 by Bertram de Bulmer, Sheriff of Yorkshire (from whom the place gains its distinctive name), passed to Henry de Neville, who married Bulmer's only daughter and heiress. The Nevilles retained the castle and manor until the death of the great Earl of Warwick, the "King-maker" and the last of the barons," at the battle of Barnet in 1471. Edward IV., who seized them, gave them up to his brother Richard, afterwards Richard III., who confined in the castle Elizabeth of York and his nephew Edward, son of George Duke of Clarence. It was from Sheriff Hutton that the "White Rose of York," as Elizabeth was called, was conducted to London in 1486, to become the wife of Henry VII. The manor afterwards passed through various hands (the Duke of Norfolk, 1490-1500, and Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, natural son of Henry VIII., both inhabited the castle) until it became the property of the Marquis of Hertford. From him it passed, with much land in the parish, into the hands of the Hon. Mrs. Meynell Ingram, of Temple Newsam.

Ralph Neville, first Earl of Westmoreland, the "gentle cousin West

The

moreland" of Shakespeare's" Henry IV.," entirely rebuilt the castle on a scale so much enlarged that Leland says he saw "no house in the North so like a princely lodging." All the existing remains are of this date (c. 1410). The walls, which formed a square of considerable size, stood on a lofty mound, and had a great square tower at each angle. These towers, with a portion of wall on the S. side, show great masses of ruin, the towers at the S.W. and N.E. angles being the most perfect. Two large arched window-openings in the S.W. tower lighted a great hall. On the S.E. tower are 3 shields, with the saltire of Neville, and the coat of the 1st Earl of Warwick, impaling France and England for his second wife. The principal entrance has been on the E. side; and on the W. some remains of grass-grown outworks may be traced. inner courts of the castle were surrounded by a deep moat, which still exists, and beyond it are remains of a wall enclosing the outer bailey. The plan and arrangement of the castle should be compared with that of Bolton (see Rte. 30), of somewhat earlier date, built by Lord Scrope, temp. Richard II. Bolton is far more perfect than Sheriff Hutton, but the general plan of both castles seems to have been very similar. From below the S.W. tower there is a striking view over the rich plain towards York, worth the artist's attention. There are great ash-trees on the castle mound, then a wide stretch of woods and meadows, with a blue distance beyond. Flocks of pigeons rest on the grassgrown ledges of the ruined towers. A good general view of the castle is gained from the S.E. angle of the moat, round which the visitor should walk.

The *Church of Sheriff Hutton (ded. to St. Helen) is Dec., with later insertions. In the N. aisle, the windows, nearly square-headed, show a peculiar tracery, which occurs in many churches on the Neville Manors-most conspicuously at Staindrop, adjoining Raby Castle. Here, the windows may have been inserted by the 1st earl, the rebuilder of the castle. A door, original and curious, at the end of the aisle, opens to what is now the vestry, of earlier date than the rest of the ch., with small square-headed windows S. and N., and a narrow lancet, now closed, which opened to the chancel. The arrangement of the tower at the W. end is very peculiar. The lower part forms a porch, with entrances N. and S., and flights of stone stairs on either side, leading to an upper platform; another flight descends under the W. arch to the floor of the nave within. The lower walls of the tower are pre-Norm., and show traces of circular-headed windows. The upper part is 14th cent. Under the E. window of the N. aisle is the effigy of a knight, c. 1350? The arms on his shield seem to be those of Thomas Wytham, since they occur also on a brass on the floor, with an inscription, but no date, recording the building of a porch (vestibulum) and the foundation of a chantry by this Thomas and his wife Agnes. The "porch may perhaps mean the arrangement in the tower already noticed. Under the next window is a tomb with a short effigy, in a robe, and wearing a coronet. It is of the 15th cent. and represents a Neville, since the saltire is on the shield at the head-but has no inscription. This is probably the tomb of the Duke of Bedford, son of John Neville, Marquis of Montacute, a nephew of the King-maker. The dukedom was conferred on him in 1469, when Edward IV. intended to marry him to the Princess Elizabeth (afterwards wife of Henry VII.).

His father's death in 1471 in the battle of Barnet in open rebellion brought his family into disgrace, and he lost his father's titles and estates under an act of attainder. In 1477 he was degraded from all his honours by Act of Parliament (17 Edward IV.) on account of his poverty, he being absolutely without any estates. He lived until 1483, and was buried at Sheriff Hutton. The princess was herself a prisoner in the castle for part of 1483. In front of the tomb are shields, that in the centre having a representation of the Holy Father supporting the crucifix. From the ch.-yd. there is a view E. towards the Wolds. On the S. side are some mounds which have been considered Roman, but which do not seem to have been properly examined.

Stittenham, 1 m. N.E. of Sheriff Hutton, is said to have been the birthplace (1320) of John Gower, the poet, and the "master" of Chaucer, to whom he is indebted for his title of "moral Gower." The Gowers were settled here from a very early period. The poet succeeded his elder brother in the family estate, which still belongs to the LevesonGowers, Dukes of Sutherland.

Sand Hutton, 33 m. S. of Flaxton Stat., is the seat of Sir Robert J. M. Walker, Bt.]

12 m., Barton Hill Stat. 1 m. N.W. is Foston-le-Clay, the living which Lord Chancellor Erskine gave to Sydney Smith. There was then no house on it; the living comprised 300 acres of glebe land of the stiffest clay, and there had been no resident clergyman for 150 years. Sydney Smith first settled at Heslington, near York, until he had built his new house at Foston, "the ugliest in the county," he says, “but all admitted it was one of the most comfortable," although it was, as he described it, "20 miles from a lemon." How he built it, and how he furnished it; how Lord and Lady Carlisle arrived in their "gold coach," stuck in the clay, and were ever after among his firmest friends; of Bunch, and of his carriage the "Immortal," we have all read in his daughter Lady Holland's memoir. In 1829 he left Yorkshire for Combe Florey, in Somersetshire. The Ch. has a Norm. doorway and font. The chancel was restd. in 1886. In the vestry remains the pewter communion-plate.

Soon after leaving Barton Stat. the column on Bulmer Hill (1.) comes into sight. This was erected, by public subscription, in 1869, on the S. edge of the Castle Howard demesne, as a memorial of the 7th Earl of Carlisle, who for 12 years, as Lord Morpeth, represented first Yorkshire and then the West Riding in Parliament, and for years was Viceroy of Ireland. The design of this Grecian column is by F. P. Cockerill. The cost was about 2000l. From its position it is visible far and wide over this part of Yorkshire. In the parish of Bulmer is the Castle Howard Reformatory for juvenile offenders from the N. and E. Ridings.

Here the Rly. makes a sharp curve, and enters the picturesque Vale of the Derwent, passing 1. the wooded hills of Crambe.

On rt. is Howsham, the birthplace of Mr. Hudson of Rly. celebrity, and on rising ground above the Derwent is Howsham Hall (H. W. Cholmley, Esq.) a very fine specimen of Elizabethan architecture (said to have been built with stones from the priory of Kirkham). Its front

appears almost panelled with glass from the number and size of its square mullioned windows. Its roof is surmounted by a curious vandyked parapet. The house (only to be seen by special permission) is rich in portraits, chiefly of Cholmleys and of Yorkshire families with which they have intermarried. On the staircase is a very remarkable series of paintings on cotton, representing the deeds of Cortez in the New World, and said to have been found by a Cholmley in a Spanish ship taken by him. On the 1. is the village of Whitwell, where is a good Ch. (G. E. Street, archit.), built in 1860 at the cost of Sir Edmund and Lady Lechmere.

15 m., Kirkham Stat. In a meadow (Kirk ham=Church Meadow), on the opposite side of the Derwent, 1. are the remains of

KIRKHAM PRIORY (key at the Hall or Lodge), now but scanty, but to be visited by all ecclesiologists for the sake of one exquisite fragment of E. E. date, sufficient to show that the Ch. must have been one of the most beautiful in Yorkshire. The situation of the ruins, in a valley bounded by low wooded hills, is one of great beauty. The priory was founded for Augustinian Canons in 1121 by Walter Espec, the great baron who (1138) led the English army at the battle of the Standard (see Northallerton (Rte. 21), and his wife Adeline. Their only son, Walter, is said to have been killed by the fall of his horse at Frithby or Firby, on the Derwent, not far from Kirkham; and his father, resolving by the counsel of his uncle William, rector of Garton, to devote the greater part of his wealth to God, founded three religious houses this of Kirkham, Rievaulx (Cistercian, founded c. 1131-see Rte. 24), and Warden (Cistercian) in Bedfordshire. It is remarkable that no reference whatever is made to the son of Walter Espec in any of the charters of foundation. The story of his death is told in a volume of collections among the Cotton MSS. (Vitell. F. 4) whence it was copied into the "Mon. Angl." The local legend asserts that a wild boar, rushing across the road, startled the horse, which flung its rider against a stone that now forms part of a cross before the gatehouse of Kirkham, and then dragged him by the stirrup to the place where he was found, which was therefore chosen as the site of the high altar. Walter Espec became a monk in his own abbey of Rievaulx, and died there in 1153. His sister married the heir of the great house of Ros or Roos, in Holderness (see Rte. 8), and afterwards of Helmsley Castle (Rte. 24); and that family continued to be the patrons of Kirkham until the Dissolution. Many of them were buried here. The annual value of the house at the Dissolution was 2697., nearly the whole of its property having been the gift of the founder, Espec. The ruins are the property of Cecil Foljambe, Esq., F.S.A.

Before the Gatehouse, through which the visitor passes into the precincts of the priory, is the base of a cross (the stone against which the heir of Espec is traditionally said to have been thrown). On a particular day in autumu," Kirkham bird-fair" was held at this cross--jackdaws, starlings, and larks being the articles of commerce--but it ceased some years ago. The Gatehouse itself was erected in the latter half of the 13th cent., and the small apartments E. and W. of the archway are of this date. The archway itself was rebuilt in the early Dec. period, and is very picturesque. There are 10 shields, arranged

The hall, into which the visitor enters, 35 ft. square and 60 ft. high (100 ft. to the top of the cupola), has its ceiling painted with the "Fall of Phaeton," by Pellegrini. The subject is curiously unfitted for its position, and "a person standing under feels as if the four horses of the sun were going to tumble on his head." Some antique sculptures, among which the finest is a bust of Bacchus, are arranged here.

The apartments 1. of the entrance-hall are generally first entered; but as occasional changes are made in the position of the pictures, it will be best to describe them in alphabetical order. As each picture has a number corresponding with the Catalogue, it will be easy to refer to the notice of it. Only the most important are mentioned here. The quotations marked “W.” are from Waagen's Treasures of Art in Great Britain.

Giovanni Bellini.-*The Circumcision. "The real original, marked with the artist's name, of the many copies made at a remote period, of the middle time of the artist."-W.

Ferdinand Bol.-*A Boy holding a Goblet. Very spirited, and carefully executed in a bright golden tone. The cover of a table is of a deep glowing red. Life-size, full length.

Paul Brill.-View of the Campagna from Tivoli.

Canaletto.-A Large View of Venice. "In every respect one of the capital works of this master, whose extraordinary merit is not to be appreciated except in England."-W. There are more than 20 pictures by Canaletto, some very excellent.

Carracci, Agostino.-The Virgin and Infant Christ presenting the Cross to St. John.

Carracci, Annibale.-(1) Two large landscapes-one representing a very poetical mountainous country, "in which the influence which Brill had on him as a landscape-painter is very evident."--W.; (2) A Boy and a Girl with a Cat. Very animated and humorous; (3) The painter's own portrait, looking earnestly round; (4) The celebrated picture, from the Orléans Gallery, known by the name of *THE THREE MARYS. The Virgin, in the excess of her grief, has fallen back in a faint, with the dead body of Christ on her lap; Salome holds the Virgin's head. In front is the Magdalen, in "her red robe of love," with yellow mantle over it. Mary, the mother of James, is in green, by her side. The expression of intense grief is marvellous. The figures about one-third as large as life. (0.)

Carracci, Ludovico.-*The Entombment. noble in the composition and characters. Mary Magdalen is present. keeping. (0.)

Claude.-Landscape.

Life-size figures. Very Of the holy women only

The too dark shadows injure the

Correggio.-A Virgin and Child, and St. John.

Cuyp.-Six Landscapes.

Domenichino.-St. John the Evangelist looking up in rapture. "This is one of the most indisputable and capital original pictures of Domenichino that exist."-W.

Domenico Feti.-Portrait of a Man, possibly the painter.

"Conceived