CHESTER EASTGATE STREETCHESTEREASTGATE STREET
The city they called Cœr Leon Vawr—City of Leon the Great. This name is supposed to have been given out of compliment to Leon, son of Brut Darien, the eighth king of Britain. By some historians this origin is contested. They say that this Welsh name of Cœr Leon Vawr indicated the "city or camp of the Great Legion." They also supply "Cœr Leon," or "Dwfyr Dwy," and render their meaning into "the city of the Legion on the Dee," from its connection with that people. The city was also called Deunana and Deva, after the same river. However, it is conclusively provedthat here the Twentieth Roman Legion established a station after the defeat of Caractacus, who, after having made a mighty effort to withstand this second invasion of England by the Romans, was taken prisoner. He and his wife and family were taken to Rome, and, according to custom, were paraded through the streets for the benefit of the public, but afterwards honourably treated. This second occupation of England lasted from 43 A.D. till the Romans finally departed in 446A. D.The first was a short stay by Julius Cæsar inB.C., some ninety-seven years previous. In 46 A.D., within three years of the landing of the Romans, Chester was established as a Roman camp, during the reign of Claudius, the Roman Emperor.
From the disposition of the four principal streets,—Northgate Street, Eastgate Street, Bridge Street, and Westgate Street, together with the walls surrounding the city, and the selection of a rocky site on the bank of a fair-sized river, Chester gives a good illustration of the principles upon which the Romans went to work. From a determined centre these roads run out to their respective gates in the boundary walls, in the direction of the four cardinal points. The walls of this city are the only ones in England that are perfect in their entire circuit of two miles, though the gateways have all beenrebuilt within the last hundred years. On the departure of the Roman soldiery, England reverted to the Britons, who appeared to have been helpless, so long had they relied upon their late conquerors for protection. From them Chester was taken by Ethelfrith, King of Northumbria, who defeated them under the King of Powysland in 607. The Britons, however, regained possession and maintained it till 828, when Egbert, who was then the sole monarch of England, annexed it to his possessions. The Saxons, during their occupation of the city, named it Legancæster and Legecester.
The Danes, in the ninth century, caused severe damages. On their retreat Ethelfreda, Countess of Mercia, repaired the walls. On her death the Britons once more became the city's masters, but were driven out again by Edward the Elder. Athelstan, it is said, revived its mint. About the year 972 Edgar assembled a naval force on the river Dee. To demonstrate his supremacy he caused himself to be rowed by eight tributary kings from his palace on the south bank of the river to the Convent Church of St. John's. To increase the desired effect, we are told that he took the helm,—the symbol of government.
CHESTER THE ROWSCHESTERTHE ROWS
On the division of England, in 1016, betweenCanute and Edmund Ironside, Canute gained possession of Mercia, in which were included Chester and Northumbria. Chester remained as a city of Mercia, governed by its earl, till the Norman Conquest. William then bestowed it with the earldom on his nephew Hugh Lupus. He was, in view of the proximity of Wales, invested with sovereign or palatine authority over the tract of country now represented by the county of Cheshire and the coast-line of Flintshire as far as Rhuddlan. Chester was made the seat of his government.
At that time it is described in "Doomsday Book" as Cestre, and as possessing four hundred and thirty-one houses within its walls. For over two centuries after the Conquest this city formed an important military station for the defence of the English border against the Welsh. The Norman Earl Ranulph I. granted the first charter, though its purport proves that Chester already enjoyed certain municipal rights. On account of its garrison it was frequently visited by reigning monarchs.
Chester was captured by the Earl of Derby, who held it for the Crown during the war between Henry III. and the barons. The contest was ended with the defeat of the barons at the battle of Evesham, close to Worcester. Here, in 1300,it was that the Welsh chieftains paid homage to the first English Prince of Wales, the infant son of Edward I.
Richard II., by Act of Parliament, erected the earldom of Chester into a principality to be held only by the eldest son of the King. This was rescinded in the next reign. In fact, Richard II. was made captive by Henry of Lancaster, and was imprisoned in a tower over the gateway of the Castle. The city suffered greatly during the Wars of the Roses. It was visited by Queen Margaret of Anjou, the wife of Henry VI. This queen played a prominent part with regard to the claim to the English throne. She was daughter to Réné, who was a relation of the King of France. He was titular king of Sicily, but without territories. Though Margaret brought to Henry a rich dower, he was persuaded to consent to the deduction of a large portion of Maine and Anjou to her father Réné. During the Duke of Gloucester's life, who had strongly opposed the royal marriage, Margaret and her coadjutor, the Duke of Suffolk, had not dared to carry into effect the agreement they had extracted from Henry. The Duke of York, who was regent in France, through his integrity, was also a serious obstacle. She and Suffolk had him recalled, and the regency given to Beaufort, Dukeof Somerset, nephew to Cardinal Beaufort. York felt injured, and took revenge by asserting his claim to the Crown.
By his father he was descended from Edward III.'s fourth son. From his mother, the last of the Mortimers, he inherited that family's claim from Lionel, the second son of the same king. On the other hand, John of Gaunt, from whom Henry VI. was descended, was Edward's third son. Thus York, through his mother, had a prior claim. These rival claims caused confusion and tumult throughout England. In the meantime the English possessions in France were lost one after the other, till in 1451 only Calais remained. The misgovernment of the regency in France under Somerset contrasted most unfavourably with that of York.
In these troublous times England looked towards York as the only one to be trusted, who then became Protector during the King's mental weakness. He imprisoned the Duke of Somerset. The latter as soon as he was free assembled an army, and was killed at the battle of St. Albans, the first War of the Roses. His followers, the Lancastrians, were defeated by the Duke of York, and the King made prisoner. Eventually York declared himself. By Act of Parliament he and his heirs were constituted successors to the throne of England afterthe death of Henry VI. Margaret, however, defeated the Yorkists in battle, in which York was slain. He left behind him three sons,—Edward, George, and Richard,—the first of whom later on deposed Henry VI. and became Edward IV. We have ventured to give this brief sketch of the origin of these rival claims, in that most of the cathedral cities were affected by the fortunes or misfortunes of their favoured party.
Chester, in the years 1507, 1517, and 1550, suffered from a terrible visitation of the sweating sickness. From 1602 to 1605 the plague made it necessary to suspend all the city fairs, and to hold the assizes at Nantwich. This epidemic occurred again with great loss of life to the inhabitants, between 1647-48. During the Civil War this city of Chester endured great sacrifices for its loyalty to Charles I.
The King came there in 1642, when the citizens gave him great pecuniary assistance. Not till after a memorable siege, lasting from 1643 to 1646, did the citizens agree to surrender. The garrison were allowed to march out with all the honours of war, the safety of the persons and property of the citizens with liberty of trade were secured, and the sanctity of the sacred buildings and their title-deeds preserved.
CHESTER ST. WERBURGH STREETCHESTERST. WERBURGH STREET
Sir Charles Booth, in 1659, with the aid of the citizens, overcame the garrison of Charles II., then an exile, but was afterwards defeated by Lambert, Cromwell's general.
The presence of the Duke of Monmouth, in 1683, stirred the populace to a tumult. Amongst other excesses the mob spent its fury in forcing the cathedral doors, breaking the painted glass, destroying the font, and other regrettable damage to this building. In 1688 the city was taken by the Roman Catholic lords, Molyneux and Ashton, for James II., who, after all, rendered further efforts useless by his abdication. Under William III. Chester was included in the six cities for the residence of an assay master, and was permitted to issue silver coinage. The last important military event that took place in this city was in the Rebellion of 1745, when it was fortified against the Pretender.
In architecture the great characteristic is the quaint way the houses have been built. The streets have been cut out of the rock below the general surface of the land. The houses appear to have been built into the rock, or rather to have been piled up against it. The shops are level with the streets, and over them runs a balustraded gallery. Steps at certain intervals lead the way down intothe streets. These galleries are called by the inhabitants "The Rows." These Rows are houses with shops. Overhanging the shops, like the eaves of a house, are the upper stories, to which additional flights of steps give access.
Two explanations are given for this unusual construction of houses: one, that the Rows, or promenades, are the remnants of the ancient vestibules of the Roman houses; the other that they were probably originated to afford ready defence against the sudden raids of the Welsh. The latter appears the more likely. The Rows, from their position to the streets, would afford the besieged greater facilities of shelter and attack.
In Bridge Street and Eastgate Street the Rows are made pleasant promenades. Though many of the houses have been rebuilt, they still retain the old character. In addition to these interesting buildings there was the castle built by the Conqueror, of which there remains only a large square tower, called "Julius Agricola's Tower." The front has been entirely renewed. This tower served probably as a place of confinement of the Earl of Derby. Here were imprisoned Richard II. and Margaret, Countess of Richmond. Just shortly before the Revolution James II. heard Mass in the second chamber.
Though the Cathedral has been left to the last, its history is no less interesting than the other features of Chester. The Cathedral was originally the church attached to the convent of St. Werburgh, under which name its ecclesiastical site is mentioned in "Doomsday Book." It was first dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, but Ethelfrida afterwards transferred their patronage to that of the Saxon saint, Walmgha, the daughter of Wulphen, King of Mercia. Besides this princess the great benefactors were Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and Hugh Lupus, who substituted Benedictine monks for secular canons.
On the dissolution of the abbey, in lieu of the abbot and monks, a dean, prebendaries, and minor canons were appointed, the last abbot being made dean. Here it is as well to remember that a church was called an abbey, whatever its former denomination might have been, if an abbot became its head. In much the same way the name "minster" is derived from a monastery, and cathedral is due to the fact that the bishop had his cathedra, or throne, placed in the sacred building for his own use. At the dissolution the Cathedral of Chester was dedicated to "Christ and the Blessed Virgin." Though there are some interesting remains of the abbey, the present building was built in the reigns ofHenry VII. and Henry VIII. The diocese of Chester dates at the period of the kingdom of Mercia. It was afterwards incorporated with that of Lichfield, but in 1075, Peter, Bishop of Lichfield restored the See to Chester. His successor, however, removed it for the second time to Lichfield. Henry VIII., in 1541, created six new sees, in which he included Chester. With a portion of the possessions of the Abbey of St. Werburgh, which was dissolved, he endowed the new see. The first bishop after the dissolution was John Bird. In 1752 the palace of the bishop was rebuilt by Bishop Keene.
The cathedral site is on the eastern side of Northgate Street. Excepting the western end, it presents the appearance of a heavy, irregular pile, when viewed externally. The interior is very impressive, and contains portions in the Norman, and in the Early and Decorated styles of English architecture. It possesses a clerestory in the Later style. Some chapels in the Early English style, are to the east of the north transept. The south transept, separated from the Cathedral by a wooden screen, forms the parish church of St. Oswald. The style of the Bishop's throne, sometimes known as St. Werburgh's Shrine, belongs to the Early period of the fourteenth century. In the easternwalk of the cloister stands the Chapter House, of Early English style, built by Earl Randulph the First. It served as the burial-place of the earls of the original Norman line, except Richard, who perished by shipwreck.
CHESTER BISHOP LLOYD'S PALACE AND WATERGATE STREETCHESTERBISHOP LLOYD'S PALACE AND WATERGATE STREET
The sacred edifice has from time to time undergone extensive reparations.
As a port Chester was at one time most important, but through the silting up of the Channel in the fifteenth century, it lost a considerable amount of its shipping trade. In spite of the Channel being deepened in 1824, its shipping prosperity cannot be said to have advanced hand in hand with the progress of the city, though it possibly may be greater than it was in the fifteenth century.
The great Chester Canal comes from Nantwich, passes through Chester, and merges into the Ellesmere Canal, which winds up northwards to the river Mersey. Thus the city is connected with Liverpool.
As the crow flies, the country traversed from London to Chester is most interesting. The track passes through the counties of Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, with its famous towns, Stratford-on-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare, and Coventry, through Staffordshire, famous for its beautiful old china and itsCathedral at Lichfield, and finally into Cheshire, the county containing Chester and Northwich.
Among the many eminent men born at Chester was Randolph Caldecott, in 1846. He is handed down to posterity as the famous illustrator of the works of Washington Irving. But the achievement that gained him the greatestacclamewas a series of coloured books for children. They began in 1878 with "John Gilpin" and "The House that Jack Built," and ended the year before his death, in 1886, with the "Elegy on Madame Blaize" and "The Great Panjandrum Himself." In the crypt of St. Paul's, London, his memory is perpetuated through the great artistic expression of a brother artist, Alfred Gilbert, R. A.
Thus, in this brief sketch, an attempt has been made to give a categorical history of one of England's most ancient cities from its earliest occupation by the British Cornavii, and its subsequent events down to the royal visit in 1869 by the then Prince of Wales, now our King Edward VII., on which occasion he opened the new townhall. It would require far greater space to record every feature of interest in connection with Chester than can be allotted within the present limitations. To the antiquarian Chester furnishes a most interesting and absorbing study,and will in all likelihood continue to do so for many years to come yet.
To those interested in horse-racing the fine race-course attracts annually a great concourse to Chester.
Rochester
Roucestre.("Doomsday Book.")
IN the illustration is seen to great advantage the temporal and spiritual power of Rochester: the State, as represented by the Norman keep; the Church, as symbolised by the cathedral. Ever since Christianity came to England, these two mighty levers of power have marched, if not always hand in hand, more or less in accord. Though the two have frequently struggled for supremacy, yet their feuds have done more towards the enlightenment of the people than any harmonious concert could have effected. In marked contrast to mediæval times the State and Church of the present day formulate and carry out the will of the people. They are the channels of purpose as determined by the nation. Great as the power of the Church still is, it has nevertheless lost that tremendous authority it once wielded under the popes.
Henry II. set up a strenuous opposition, whilst Henry VIII. dealt it a crushing blow. The dissolution of the monasteries was a terrible check to Roman Catholicism in England, as well as Luther's reforms in Germany. Yet in spite of all this the Church of Rome has more adherents in Europe than any other religion. The menace to the Church of England lies in the lack of absolute obedience to the spiritual head, and the many different sects. The Church of Rome exacts absolute obedience and faith, and by these means is steadily increasing its influence. The Roman Catholic Cathedral recently erected in London is a convincing proof of the untiring energy of the followers of that wonderful religion. It is also curious to notice that the Latin races are the staunchest supporters of the Papacy.
As its name implies, Rochester was a Roman camp. This place formed one of the stipendiary towns of this Latin race, and was called "Durobrivae." Not much information has been preserved concerning their occupation of the town. That it was important, and served as a military basis, is clearly demonstrated by the great Roman Watling Street, which passes through the city, and which bears evidence to their great engineering skill.
The great Roman streets were at that time the chief and only means of quick communication from one camp to another. To read the account of the wonderful system of roads organised by Darius the Persian is as interesting to follow as any modern fiction. He realised that quick communication with the outlying quarters of his possessions meant increased power and security. Along the roads, at proper distances, were blockhouses guarded by soldiers. The messenger on horseback drew rein at each of these wayside places to take refreshment and get a remount, or to hand over the dispatches to a fresh messenger.
In much the same way the Romans constructed their roads for their postmen, and, no doubt, to serve as their first line of defence if a retreat should be necessary. We can almost conjure up the sight of a mounted bearer of important dispatches racing along. Suddenly the horse, almost thrown on to his haunches, is pulled up in front of one of these guardhouses dotted at regular intervals along the great road. A hasty meal is snatched, a fresh horse mounted, and off again, with a clatter and a whirlpool of dust, hurries the messenger, as if a kingdom depended upon his quick dispatch. We cannot attach too much importance to this method of communication, if we remember that it is onlywithin the last two centuries or so that the semaphore came into existence. When first introduced, this medium of conveying rapidly a message by the waving of a wooden arm up and down on a post, which was generally planted on a commanding site, was considered a wonderful invention. Even at sea it was left to Admiral Rodney to construct an efficient code of signals. Of course the most primitive method was the lighting of beacons in times of great danger.
Besides Watling Street, the city of Rochester is known to have been defended by walls built in the direction of the cardinal points, according to the Roman custom. They extended for half a mile from east to west, and close upon a quarter of a mile from north to south. After the Romans had departed, this place came into the possession of the Saxons. They renamed it "Hrove Ceaster," which in process of time became contracted to Rochester.
During the early Saxon period Ethelbert, King of Kent, through the influence of his queen and the preaching of St. Augustine, who had just arrived, became a convert to Christianity. By this king, as we have seen, Canterbury Cathedral was richly endowed. To help carry out the papal instructions given to Augustine, Ethelbert in 600founded a church in Rochester. By erecting this into a see, he, at the same time, laid the foundation of the future prosperity of the city. The building was dedicated to St. Andrew. A monastery for secular priests was also established, over whom was appointed for their bishop, Justus, who had accompanied St. Augustine and his forty monks into Britain.
This cathedral suffered at many times, in common with the city, from several incursions of the Danes. The city, more especially in 676, was sacked and almost destroyed by Etheldred, the King of Mercia, whilst in 839 the Danes landed at Romney, defeated the troops sent to oppose them, and massacred most of the inhabitants. Again, in 885, they sailed up the Medway under the leadership of Hasting, and laid siege to Rochester. Fortunately for the city it was rescued by the timely assistance of Alfred. Three mints established by Athelstan in 930, two for himself and one for the bishop, and the fact of the city being then recognised as one of the chief ports of England, show with what rapidity it had regained prosperity. This peaceful state was rudely awakened, however, in 999. The Danes reappeared in the Medway, before whom the terror-stricken inhabitants fled and abandoned the city totheir fury. At the Conquest, Rochester was given by William to his half-brother, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who was also created Earl of Kent. In the reign of William Rufus he was implicated in a conspiracy to dethrone Rufus in favour of Robert Duke of Normandy. Thereby his possessions reverted to the Crown. In this Rochester suffered. In 1130 Henry I. attended at the consecration of the church of St. Andrew by Lanfranc. During the ceremony a fire broke out. The city was almost reduced to ashes.
ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL AND CASTLEROCHESTERCATHEDRAL AND CASTLE
It was again visited, seven years later, by fire, from which it had hardly recovered when a third conflagration occurred and left traces of devastation for ages. In 1141, Robert Earl of Gloucester was placed in the Castle. He was the chief general and counsellor of Matilda, and had been captured prisoner at Winchester after having effected the Queen's escape. He was eventually exchanged for King Stephen. In 1215 the barons seized and held the Castle against King John, who gained it. Henry III. repaired the Castle.
The Castle was again, in 1254, successfully defended for the King by Edward Earl Warren, against Simon de Montford and the barons. In the reign of Richard II. the insurrectionists underWat Tyler released one of their comrades imprisoned in the Castle.
Rochester has been at different times visited by reigning princes. Henry VIII., with Emperor Charles V., came there in 1521, whilst in 1573 Queen Elizabeth honoured it with her presence. Charles II., on his restoration, passed through the cityen routefrom the Continent to London. In fact Rochester, being also a port, was a convenient place for James II. to embark secretly on board of a trading-vessel lying in the Medway, by which he was conveyed to France.
This Norman castle, which has played such an important part in the history of the city, deserves some notice. Its extensive remains, situated on a commanding site, overlook the right bank of the river. The Castle is supposed to have been built by Gundulph, when Bishop of Rochester, in the latter part of the eleventh century. It preceded by a few years the building of the Cathedral by the same prelate. The architecture of this castle is a striking example of the simplicity of plans generally employed by the Normans. By preference the castle was a rectangular keep in form. The sides varied from twenty-five to a hundred feet in length, and equally so in height. At the corners the walls advanced so as to form square towers, the faces ofwhich were usually relieved by flat pilaster-like buttresses. The walls at the base measure sometimes as much as thirty feet in thickness, and diminish to as much as ten feet at the summit.
The internal arrangements consisted of a store-room, from which a narrow staircase, made into the thickness of the walls, gave access to the rooms of the garrison and those of the owners above, wood being employed for the floor and roof. A well was always dug. The entire building was surrounded by a deep moat filled, if possible, with water. The entrance was small, and was defended by a draw-bridge and portcullis. It was on the thickness of their walls and the moat that the Normans chiefly relied for their impregnability. They seldom departed from this simple form of architecture. Their defence was rarely constructed on a series of fortifications. Local advantages and a lofty site were invariably the Norman idea of a safe stronghold.
Great interest is attached to the Cathedral of Rochester. Its see is the smallest in the kingdom and the most ancient after Canterbury. The two were established, as we have seen, within a few years of each other, under the auspices of St. Augustine and King Ethelbert of Kent.
The present cathedral dates from the commencementof the twelfth century, when it was built by Gundulph. If what we are told about this structure be correct, its importance cannot be too greatly enhanced, for it is claimed that its architecture, though much altered and repaired since, is in the main a copy of Canterbury Cathedral at that time. Thus, in describing the plan of the one in Rochester, a general idea can be gained about the other at Canterbury.
Gundulph's contribution is a spacious and venerable building in the form of a cross, with a central tower surmounted by a spire. The Norman style forms the basis of the architecture, to which the Later English style was added chiefly in the many windows of the nave and other parts of the church. The west front was entirely restored between 1888 and 1889, the Norman style being strictly adhered to. The doorway is a most decorative bit of Norman workmanship. Let into the clustered columns on either side there is, on the right, an effigy of Queen Maud, and on the left another of Henry I. The door is covered with a rich mass of geometrical design in metal.
The crypt, invariably a great feature in a cathedral, is partly the work of Gundulph; that is, the western portion is. The eastern part consists of cylindrical and octagonal shafts with a lightvaulting springing from them, and belongs to the same period as the superstructure of the thirteenth century.
There are several chapels, a finely groined roof, and ancient tombs, which all lend interest to this fine cathedral.
The red-veined marble statue of Walter de Merton cannot fail to attract attention. He was the founder of the great scholastic college at Oxford called Merton College. Though small in size, theentréeto it demands high classical attainments.
With regard to commerce, Rochester has a favourable position on the river Medway, in the creeks and branches of which are the oyster fisheries. The Corporation, assisted by a jury of free dredgers, hold a Court of Admiralty, in which they make regulations for the opening, stocking, and closing of the oyster beds.
In conclusion, we cannot help saying that Kent should be a proud county, possessing, as it does, the two most ancient sees in the kingdom, the dioceses of which are separated only by the Medway.
Ripon
("Doomsday Book.")
IN the West Riding of the county of York, twenty-two miles north-west of the city of York and eleven miles north of Harrogate, the ancient city of Ripon is situated at the juncture of the Ure, Laver, and Skell. The narrow and irregular streets and well-built houses, some of which still retain the quaint, picturesque gables so reminiscent of earlier times, envelop the city with that delightful, indefinable air of mediævalism—a something which, tempered with old associations and traditions, no modern city with all its improvements can supply. To saunter through the ancient, ill-lighted streets of an old town at night, when life is dormant and commercialism quiescent, is the time to view unexpected beauties of architecture unfold themselves, and to become oneself imbued with a spirit of romanticism and a feeling of rest. If a figure in mediæval costume and rapier were to come round a corner suddenly, or emerge fromsome dark nook, it would scarcely startle the senses, so appropriate would it seem with the surroundings, enshrouded in mysterious shadows.
A new city can be admired, but can never be revered till it has survived the many storms of generations, and has emerged with a halo of traditions respected and treasured.
Ripon, in common with other cathedral cities, possesses this charm, and after many vicissitudes presents us with a magnificent cathedral. To revert to the commencement of the city's history, it is supposed to have derived its name from the Latin "Ripa," owing to its situation upon the bank of the river Ure. The earliest authentic record gives it under the name of Inhrypun, in connection with the establishment of a monastery in 660 by Eata, who was then Abbot of Melrose. It was subsequently given by Alfred, King of Northumbria, to Wilfrid, who had been raised to the archbishopric of York. He was afterwards canonised as a saint. Under Wilfrid's administration and influence the town very much increased its wealth and importance. Through the division of the bishopric in the year 678 Ripon became a see.
A great calamity overtook the city in the ninth century. The Danes burnt and plundered it, causing such devastation that it was almost wipedout. From its ruins, however, it recovered so quickly as to be incorporated as a royal borough by Alfred the Great. This happened by the year 886. In the suppression of the insurrections of the Northumbrian Danes it suffered severely through the terrible laying waste of the land which Edred found necessary to subdue them.
Little time was left for the city to regain its former prosperity, when the surrounding country was again laid waste, in 1069, by William the Conqueror after defeating the Northumbrian rebels. This monarch's vengeance so completely demolished the town that it still remained in ruins and the land uncultivated at the time of the Norman survey. The monastery, destroyed by Edred, was rebuilt by Oswald and his successors, who were archbishops of York. It was endowed and made collegiate by Archbishop Aldred somewhere about the time of the Conquest. The city was now enjoying comparative peace, and was regaining lost prestige when it again became a mere wreck. Under Robert Bruce, in the reign of Edward II., the Scots compelled the inhabitants to surrender everything of value they had, and burnt the town. This period of devastation lasted from 1319 till 1323.
RIPON THE CATHEDRALRIPONTHE CATHEDRAL
By the exertions of the Archbishop of York,ably assisted with donations from the local gentry, the city rapidly recovered by the time a terrible plague compelled Henry IV. to leave London and take up his residence here. The court of necessity followed him.
This royal sojourn did the city immense good, and again it derived benefit some two centuries after by the presence of the Lord President of York in 1617. He had been obliged by a similar plague to remove his court hither.
Ten years later another royal visitor came, namely, James I., who rested a night here on his route from Scotland to London. On this memorable occasion he was presented with a pair of Ripon spurs. From early times till the sixteenth century Ripon was a recognised centre for the manufacture of woollen caps. On the decline of this industry the city acquired such a fame for the manufacture of spurs that it became quite a current phrase to say "as true steel as Ripon rowels." Ben Jonson and Davenant make references in their verses to Ripon spurs. This industry, together with those of manufacturing buttons and various kinds of hardware, flourished till quite recently, when mechanical industries supplanted them.
In 1633 Charles I. also paid the city a visit. During the Civil War the parliamentary troops,under Sir Thomas Mauleverer, took possession of Ripon. After mutilating many of the monuments and ornaments of the church, they were eventually driven out of the town in 1643 by the Royalists, under Sir John Mallory of Studley, a township comprised under Ripon. In recounting the political fortunes of the city little has been said about its chief attraction, the Cathedral, not because it has played no important factor in the welfare of the city, but because it has been considered better to give, apart, the chief characteristics of its architecture.
We have seen how a monastery was established in 660, by Eata, which later came under the patronage of St. Wilfrid. From the ruins of St. Wilfrid's Abbey the present cathedral was founded about 680 A.D., in the reign of Egfrid. With the exception of St. Wilfrid's crypt, called St. Wilfrid's Needle, which tradition says was used for the trial of female chastity, nothing of the original Saxon fabric remains. From the similarity of this crypt, and of another at Hexham, both erected by St. Wilfrid, in formation and arrangement to the catacomb chapels at Rome, it is inferred that this churchman had made himself familiar with their peculiarities during his residence in that Latin city. This is interesting to note.
The Cathedral, as it now stands, embraces various styles of architecture, and is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Wilfrid. It is a large cruciform church, with a square central tower and two western towers. They at one time carried spires, each not less than one hundred and twenty feet in height; but the central spire having been blown down in 1660, caused considerable damage to the roof, and it was thought advisable to pull down the others. Their removal accounts for the stunted appearance of these square towers. The construction of the present church was commenced by Archbishop Roger, dating from 1154 to 1181. To this period belong the transepts and portions of the choir. The western front and towers were carried out in the Early English style, most probably by Archbishop Gray, between 1215 and 1255, and near the close of the century the eastern portion of the choir was rebuilt in the Decorated style. The nave and part of the central tower were also rebuilt in the Perpendicular style at the close of the fifteenth century. The fabric was entirely renovated under the guidance of Sir Gilbert Scott, from 1862 to 1876. The episcopal palace is a modern building in the Tudor style, and is about one mile from the town.
The present bishopric dates only from the year1836. There are several charitable institutions: namely, the Hospital of St. John the Baptist, founded by an archbishop of York in 1109; the Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, for women, by another prelate of York in 1341; and the Hospital of St. Anne, by some unknown benefactor who lived in the reign of Edward IV. A clock-tower was presented to the town to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. There is now, in place of the ancient industries, an extensive trade in varnish, in addition to the manufactories for saddle-trees and leather, but the most interesting industry is that of the Ripon lace. It is a torchon lace much resembling, in uniformity of pattern, the design used in peasant laces in Sweden, Germany, and Russia.
Ely
Ely.("Doomsday Book.")
IN the early history of the majority, if not of all of these cathedrals, it is interesting to note the many points of resemblance. It will be observed that most of them had their inception in the seventh century. A most convenient way also of remembering, if actual dates be forgotten, is that the commencement of the same century heralded the arrival of St. Augustine and his forty monks at Canterbury, and the re-establishment of Christianity in England. Whatever previous efforts had been attempted to christianise the natives (prior to this century) pale into insignificance after the landing of this great missionary from Rome. The subsequent important events are invariably five; namely, the devastations of the Danes in the ninth century, the erections of castles to overawe the inhabitants with the ecclesiastical foundations, still extant, after the dreaded millennium had passed, from the Conquest; the dissolutionof the monasteries by Henry VIII.; the desecration and mutilation of the churches under Cromwell's Protectorate; and the inevitable restoration, not always happy, of these grand buildings.
The Venerable Bede, in his "Ecclesiastical History," ingeniously attributes the derivation of the name to an eel, called "Elge," on the assumption of the great abundance of this fish in the neighbourhood. At the same time another rendering, by some one else, supposes that the Saxon "Helyg," a willow, which flourished extensively, owing to the marshy nature of the soil round about the city, gave rise to the present contraction. However it may be, Ely dates from the year 673. The subsequent history of the Church and state of this famous place originated in that year from the small foundation of a monastery for monks and nuns by Ethelreda. This princess was the daughter of the King of the East Angles, and the wife of Egfred, the King of Northumberland. She had devoted a great deal of her life to monasticism, and eventually constituted herself as the first abbess of her religious effort. A contradictory account gives it that this lady more likely became the first abbess of a religious house which she had filled with virgins. Their number is notstated. Nothing more is heard or worth relating of the welfare of this royal benefice until the ninth century, when, in the natural order of things, it was destroyed by the Danes. In 879, a matter of nine years after this devastation, it was partially restored by those brethren who had fortunately escaped the massacre. Under the government of provosts they were established and existed as secular priests for nearly a century. At the end of this period of inactivity it received much attention from Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester. This prelate in 970 purchased the whole of the Isle of Ely from Edgar. He then rebuilt the monastery and endowed it munificently. In it regular monks were placed under the rule of an abbot, to whom Edgar granted the secular jurisdiction of two hundreds within and five hundreds without the Fens. Many other important privileges were bestowed by the same monarch, recognised by Canute, and greatly increased by Edward the Confessor in recognition of part of his education here received. These many marks of royal favour caused it to become the richest in England, and the city participated in its prosperity.
ELY FROM THE WEST FRONTELYFROM THE WEST FRONT
Soon after the Conquest a determined resistance was made by many of the nobility against what they considered the tyranny of William. Led bysuch leaders as Edwin, Earl of Chester, Egelwyn, Bishop of Durham, and headed by Hereward, an English nobleman, they contrived to do considerable damage in the surrounding country. They built a castle of wood in the Fens, and made a vigorous stand against the Normans, who besieged the island, constructed roads through the marshes, threw bridges across the streams, and erected, as usual, a strong castle at Wiseberum. With the exception of Hereward, the rebellious subjects were reduced to submission. According to one authority, it is supposed that William's camp was simply an old Roman camp repaired for the occasion. We learn that the field, which contained the ancient site, was known as Belasis in some records of the reign of Henry III. It appears that one of William's generals was called Belasis, and that he was quartered on the monastery, which he had taken possession of after the conquest of the isle. He treated the monks with every mark of courtesy, allowing them to remain under an abbot of his own choosing. At first he laid them under certain restrictions, but subsequently restored the privileges they had previously been accustomed to.
ELY THE MARKET PLACEELYTHE MARKET PLACE
In 1107 the eleventh and last abbot, Richard, employed all his interest with Henry I. and gained the royal sanction to the establishment of anepiscopal see at Ely. To this the monarch granted, for a diocese, the county of Cambridge, which had till then been under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Lincoln. The isle was also invested with sovereign powers. Richard, however, did not live to become the first bishop, an honour which was conferred in 1109 on his successor, Hervey.
By this arrangement the Abbot was superseded by the Bishop, and an entire distribution of the property belonging to the abbey was effected between them. As the abbey became the church of the See, the Abbot was obliged to alter his dignity to that of a prior. A fair, to continue for seven days, commencing from June 20, to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Ethelreda, was instituted by the Bishop. The prelate Nigel, in the reign of Stephen, built a castle here, of which no remains exist, and whose site is now conjectural. The year 1216 witnessed dreadful scenes of spoliation of churches and large sums of money exacted from the inhabitants under the guise of ransom.
The cause of all this devastation being visited upon Ely was John's idea of revenging himself upon the barons. At their hands he had, the year previously, been compelled to undergo the mortification of signing the Magna Charta at Runnymede,a field between Windsor and Staines. Ever since that time the irresolute and mean king had been devising schemes of vengeance against his opponents. Three months spent in the Isle of Wight had enabled him, through agents and the promise of the estates of the barons as plunder, to raise a considerable army of the Brabanters. At their head he suddenly emerged from concealment, and surprised the barons by appearing before Rochester Castle and defeating them.
In the meantime John was well supported at Ely by his general, William Bunk, or rather an unexpected incident hurried on its doom. The elements unkindly betrayed the city into the hands of the Brabanters. At a critical time, the treacherous swamps—the isle's hitherto great natural fortifications—became the city's undoing; for a sharp frost set in and rendered a ready glacial access to the city. The enemy lost no time in reducing the barons to submission and the wretched inhabitants to great misery. The barons, thus reduced to dire extremities, invited Louis, the eldest son of the King of France, to aid them, promising him through his wife the crown of England.
ELY INTERIOR OF THE NAVEELYINTERIOR OF THE NAVE
The French landed at Sandwich, retook Rochester Castle, and compelled John to flee. John, crossing over the Wash, in his march from Lynnin Norfolk into Lincolnshire, suffered great loss through the return of the tide swamping the rear of his army, all his money, and stores. He himself escaped to Swineshead Abbey, in the Lincolnshire Fens, where a monk is said to have administered poison to him. With great difficulty and exhaustion the monarch arrived at Newark, where he died in the October of the year 1216.
From this time onward the city enjoyed comparative peace, and exercised the privileges granted by Edgar, Edward the Confessor, and William the Conqueror.
Till the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Henry VIII. the royal franchise of Ely, in several statutes, was recognised as the county palatine of Ely. Henry, by Act of Parliament, remodelled the privileges, and ordered the justices of oyer and terminer, and gaol delivery, and justices of the peace for the Isle of Ely, to be appointed by letters patent under the Great Seal. The dissolution of the monasteries also was the means of converting the conventual church into a cathedral—much more appropriate to the dignity of the Bishop, whose title had been granted, as we have seen, by Henry I. in 1107. This ecclesiastical building, first a conventual and then a cathedral church, was commenced in 1081, and entirely completedin 1534. The dedication to St. Peter and St. Ethelreda was changed to "The Holy Trinity."
It is a magnificent cruciform structure, displaying the many changes that took place in ecclesiastical architecture from the early years of the Norman Conquest down to the latest period of English style.
The main feature is the extraordinary variety of arches built according to successive styles. Though this peculiar treatment suggests an unfinished appearance, it cannot rob the church of its wonderful beauty. There is a departure from the general plan of other cathedrals. The nave is continued through an extended range of twelve arches. It belongs to the Late Norman period, and its completion probably dates from about the middle of the twelfth century. From 1174 to 1189 the western tower and the transepts were built by Bishop Ridall. Bishop Eustace, between 1198 and 1215, erected the Galilee or western porch, a noble Early English structure. Much at the same time a curious coincident is noticeable. Bishop Pudsey was busy at Durham building the Galilee or Western Chapel, which is such a noble adjunct to that city's cathedral.