"At the deanery is a gothic door bearing Decorated mouldings; it perhaps belonged to a rectory house converted into the deanery, (as was the vicarage at Darlington); in the wall of an adjoining out-house, attached to the same, is a curious tomb-stone, only 1 foot 9 inches long, with two wheel-crosses of unusual design, which probably commemorated two children.

"Let into the rear of a dwelling, opposite the principal front of the castle, are also two mutilated sculptures; one a pheasant or peacock, the other apparently a stone rood, with the Saviour extended on the cross between St. Mary and St. John, or perhaps the two Marys."

In a volume like this, professedly devoted to ecclesiastical matters, it may seem for a moment irrelevant to introduce any details merely of a secular nature; yet, associated as the castle of Middleham was with both the earlier and later fortunes of its church, it is impossible to pass it over altogether unnoticed.

It has been already observed that the massive and gloomy Keep, forming the original pile, and still surviving the lapse of centuries, was the work of Robert Fitz-Randolph, third lord of Middleham. From him it passed in regular succession to his lineal descendants, male and female, until it came into the hands of king Henry VI. on the forfeiture of Richard Neville earl of Salisbury.* After that

* Richard Neville, earl of Salisbury, was the eldest son of Ralph Neville, earl of Westmoreland, K.G. by his second wife Joane, daughter of John of Gaunt. From marrying Alice, the daughter and heir of Thomas de Montacute, earl of Salisbury, K.G. he was created earl of Salisbury, and was appointed lord great chamberlain of England, 39 Hen. VI. but was beheaded at York shortly afterwards. His eldest son Richard, K.G. acquired the earldom of Warwick by marrying Anne, sister and heir to Henry duke of Warwick, and is celebrated in the history of England as the "King-maker," from his great influence and power. Testamenta Vetusta, p. 287; Halsted's Rich. III. i. 115, 116.

event the castle, with an annuity of 100 marks accruing from certain manors in Wensleydale, was granted by the king (a° 38 Hen. VI.) to sir John Neville (brother to Ralph first earl of Westmoreland, and uncle to the earl of Salisbury) as constable for life, but the feudal fortress, with all its vast domains, manors, and retainers, on the accession of Edward IV. reverted to its rightful heir, the renowned Richard earl of Salisbury and Warwick; and after his untimely death, at the battle of Barnet, was allotted to Richard duke of Gloucester, who had married the lady Anne Neville, Warwick's younger daughter.

"Some interesting scenes of English history have taken place in and around this castle. Hence the earl of Salisbury marched through Craven at the head of 4,000 Richmondshire men to the battle of Bloreheath. Here, too, according to Stow, the bastard Falconbridge was beheaded, A.D. 1471. On a neighbouring plain, Edward IV. having been committed to the charge of archbishop George Neville, at Middleham, being indulged with the privilege of hunting, and having probably bribed his keepers, escaped on a fleet horse to York, and thence to Lancaster, where he resumed the government. Here Edward, son of Richard III. was born; and here the father, green in years but old in craft and cruelty, amidst the sports of the field or the appearances of devotion, meditated no doubt some of those tragedies which time and prejudice have left so mysterious." *

Whitaker's Richmondshire, i. 348.

Modern research has, however, considerably modified these statements. It has been discovered from the Fœdera, that Edward IV. while said to be the prisoner of archbishop Neville, was at full liberty, and doing acts of regal power: while the biographer of Richard III. if she has not completely removed from his character every stain, has at least adduced sufficient evidence to create serious doubts of his alleged crimes in every reflecting mind.

With respect to the edifice itself very few particulars can be given.*

The small remains of this once magnificent castle stand on the south side of the town. It consists of an outwork fortified with four towers, inclosing a body or keep. This envelope is in figure a right-angled parallelogram of 210 feet by 175; its greatest length running north and south, and each of its sides forming one of the cardinal points of the compass. As a specimen of architecture Middleham is an unique but not a happy work. The Norman keep, the fortress of the first lords, not being sufficient for the vast trains and princely habits of the Nevilles, was inclosed by a complete quadrangle, which almost entirely darkened what was dark enough before, and the first structure now stands completely insulated in the centre of a later work.

This building, which is much higher than the outwork, is of a shape similar to it. The main building is unequally divided by a wall which runs from north to south, and here still remain the broken stairs.

The entrance into this castle was by a very strong arched gateway on the north side. The remnants of a moat † now appear on the south and east; but the ditch is daily filling up with weeds and rubbish the leaden pipes, for the conveyance of water, were taken up within the memory of the mother of a person now living. In 1663 it appears as if the castle was occupied by

:

*The following memorials of the castle and town have been principally collected from Whitaker's Richmondshire, i. 342; Maude's Wensleydale, pp. 79, 80; White's History of the North Riding of Yorkshire, pp. 617, 618; and the Gentleman's Magazine,"lxxxiv. part ii. p. 318.

† Since the above was written the moat is completely filled up, and not a trace of it now remains. This has been done within the last twenty years.

CAMD. Soc.

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