Richmond, Yorkshire
=How to get there.=—Train from King’s Cross. Great Northern
Railway.
=Nearest Station.=—Richmond.
=Distance from London.=—237 miles.
=Average Time.=—Varies between 6-1/2 to 9-1/2 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—Single 33s. 6d. … 19s. 9d.
Return 67s. 0d. … 39s. 6d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=—“Fleece Hotel,” etc.
=Alternative Route.=—Train from St. Pancras via Sheffield. Midland
Railway.
Richmond was a place of considerable importance at the time of the Norman Conquest, when William I. gave the title of Richmond to his kinsman, Alan Rufus, on his obtaining the estates of the Saxon Earl Edwin, which then extended over nearly a third of the North Riding of Yorkshire. When Henry VII., who was Earl of Richmond, came to the throne, these possessions reverted to the Crown, and many years later Charles II. gave the title to the Lennoxes, with whose descendants it still remains.
The castle, which is the most striking feature of Richmond, stands on an almost perpendicular rock, 100 feet above the level of the Swale, and in its best days must have been practically impregnable. The structure is now in ruins, though the Norman keep with pinnacled corner towers is still intact, the walls being over 100 feet high and 11 feet thick. At the south-east corner is the ruin of a smaller tower, beneath which is a dungeon 15 feet deep, and at the south-western corner is another lofty tower. The castle originally covered five acres, and from its magnificent position commanded the whole of the surrounding country.
The church, standing on the hillside near the castle, is full of interest, and has been admirably restored by Sir Gilbert Scott, who used the old materials as far as possible. The greater part of the choir and the tower are Perpendicular, the rest Decorated, and two of the old Norman piers remain at the west end. The screen and stall work brought from Easby Abbey are of great beauty, and the carvings on the subsellia are quaint and humorous.
Besides the castle, there are the remains of a Grey Friars’ monastery, founded in 1258 by Ralph Fitz-Randal, and situated at the back of French-gate; and about a mile from the town the ruins of the monastery of St. Martin and the abbey of St. Agatha, on the north bank of the Swale, in the adjoining parish of Easby.
Richmond Castle
It stands upon a perpendicular rock one hundred feet above the river Swale.]