Town hewn from golden stone
Perched on a rocky crag, the Yorkshire town of Knaresborough reveals a past shaped by royalty, roads and religion
FROM HIGH UPON a crag, a spectacular view unfolds. The River Nidd is snaking through its S-shaped gorge and on the far side are gentle slopes lined with bare trees, glistening in the morning’s frost. Opposite, a pretty town clings to the edge of the ravine; rows of homes and shops descending to meet the water’s edge. Woodsmoke rises through the cold air. In the summer, this view would be a riot of noise and colour: at Christmastime, Knaresborough is much quieter, and perhaps all the more beautiful for that calmness.
The story of Knaresborough is inextricably linked with this commanding viewpoint. Its sandstone cliff, rising 120ft (37m) above the Nidd, is the heart of the town. In fact, the name ‘Knaresborough’ is thought to derive from ‘knar’, meaning rocky outcrop, and ‘burgh’, meaning fortified place. Thus ‘the fortress on the crag’ at once combines the history and geography of this North Yorkshire town.
Royal home
Knaresborough Castle is now in ruins, but it tells a complex and vivid story.
The first stone castle was built in the late 11th century by Baron Serlo de Burgh, who was granted the Manor of Knaresborough as a reward for his part in the Norman invasion of 1066.
In 1158, it came under the control of Sir Hugh de Morville. In 1170, he famously misinterpreted an angry outburst by King Henry II over Thomas Becket, the then Archbishop of Canterbury. Believing they were doing their king a favour, de Morville and three other knights went to Canterbury Cathedral, where they murdered Becket in cold blood.
When the king reacted angrily to the news of the killing, the four knights fled back to Knaresborough Castle, where they hid for more than a year. Eventually, the Pope ordered them to atone by making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, followed by 14 years’ service as soldiers in Jerusalem.
In the 13th century, King John extended the castle significantly, and he visited the town several times during his reign. On 15 April 1210, he distributed the first-ever Maundy money, which actually consisted of garments, food and cutlery, to the poor people of Knaresborough, establishing a royal tradition that continues to this day.
The castle thrived in the 13th and 14th centuries. Edward I fortified it as part of his suppression of the Welsh, and Edward II greatly embellished the castle as a gift to his favourite nobleman, Piers Gaveston. His additions included the King’s Tower, which is the main remnant seen today.
The castle enjoyed its most prosperous period when Edward III gave it to his wife, Queen Philippa, as part of her marriage settlement in 1328. The two were married at York Minster, and Philippa transformed Knaresborough Castle into a lavish Royal residence. She spent most of her summers there with her young family, including two sons who grew up to become Edward the Black Prince and John of Gaunt.
In Tudor times, the castle became an administrative centre, with courthouse and jail, controlled by the powerful Slingsby family. During the English Civil War, the castle was a Royalist stronghold
under Sir Henry Slingsby. In November 1644, it was besieged by Parliamentary forces. The castle held out for a month before the walls were finally breached by cannon fire, and the occupants were forced to surrender.
“In 1648, most of the castle was demolished to prevent any further use by Royalists,” explains Nicola Baxter, assistant curator for Harrogate Museums. “But the townspeople campaigned to keep the courthouse and jail. That was allowed, which is why we still have this building.”
Sir Henry led a further rebellion in 1654, but he was captured and beheaded at Tower Hill in London. His headless body lies in the nearby parish church of St John the Baptist, alongside other scions of the Slingsby line.
The castle estate has been owned by the Duchy of Lancaster since 1372. Today, the courthouse building is a museum, which includes the original Tudor courtroom. Other remnants include an underground sally port, which leads to the castle’s dry moat.
“The castle remains at the heart of the town, because people come to walk or play in the grounds every day,” says Nicola. “I like being here in the winter because the town is quieter, and, with the trees being bare, you can see much more of that wonderful view over the gorge.”
There are also talking birds at the castle. Local blacksmith Igraine Skelton, who describes herself as ‘keeper of Her Majesty’s ravens at Knaresborough Castle’ has trained several of her birds to speak. One of them, Mourdour, has developed a habit of asking “y’alright, love?” to passers-by, in a broad Yorkshire accent.
Famous residents
From the castle entrance, a labyrinth of streets and alleys leads through to the town centre. The streets are beautifully illuminated, and a two-day Christmas market takes place in early December, rounded off by a firework display across the river, which can be viewed from the castle grounds. The castle is lit up, while a Nativity play is staged in the Market Place, complete with a donkey.
Knaresborough earned its Royal Charter for a market from Edward II in 1310, and market day has been held every Wednesday since. A notable feature of the market place is a stone cross surrounded by benches, on which sit statues of two of Knaresborough’s most famous residents. One is Ursula Southeil, better known as Mother Shipton, the renowned 16th century ‘seer and prophetess’. The other is John Metcalf, known as Blind Jack.
Born into a poor family in Knaresborough in 1717, Jack was
blinded by smallpox at the age of six. Nonetheless, he went on to become an accomplished diver, swimmer, card player and fiddler. But he was best known for the period between 1765 and 1792, when he became a renowned road builder, laying out 180 miles of turnpike road across the north of England.
Metcalf learned his craft while working as a carrier, or goods transporter. He believed a road should have good foundations, efficient drainage and a smooth, convex surface to allow rainwater to drain quickly. He also impressed far more qualified engineers by managing to build some of his roads across blanket bog, using rafts made from bundles of heather and gorse as foundations.
Metcalf died in 1810 and is buried in the nearby village of Spofforth, to where he had retired in 1792. But his name lives on in one of Knaresborough’s best-known pubs, the Blind Jack, which sits just behind the statue of Jack himself.
Old-fashioned charm
On the other side of the Market Place stands a black-timbered shop front, which bears the proud moniker of Ye Oldest Chemyst Shoppe in England. It is reputed to have dispensed medicines continuously from 1720 to 1997. Today, it sells sweet treats and souvenirs, while the upstairs has become the popular Lavender Tea Rooms.
Co-owners Rowan Bardon and mum Carole bought the business in 2010. “It’s always lively in here,” says Rowan. “People
“Nor mark’d in vain—high deeds his manhood dared, And commerce, travel, both his ardour shared. ‘Twas his a guide’s unerring aid to lend—
O’er trackless wastes to bid new roads extend” Extract from the epitaph on John (Blind Jack) Metcalf’s headstone
like the old-fashioned charm of the place, so we keep it very traditional.”
The shop prides itself on using local suppliers, including lavender from a nearby farm and meat from the neighbouring butcher’s shop, Hutton’s.
“Our lavender and lemon scones are our best sellers,” says Rowan. “Mrs Lawrence, the wife of one of the chemists who owned the shop, used to bottle her lavender water in the upstairs room. So lavender is an important connection to the former life of the building.”
From industry to art
The walls of several older buildings in the Market Place are painted in black-and-white chequerboard style. Shops currently tenanted in ‘chequerboard houses’ include The Farm Dairy and Ruebury Flowers. The trend can also be seen on pubs and houses all along the riverside. The reason for the quirky style is not known, but some locals believe it may have been a form of marketing, promoting Knaresborough’s delights as a spa town.
Heading along Castlegate, a detour left leads to Green Dragon Yard and Art in the Mill. This vibrant art gallery is housed in a 220-year-old mill which once served Knaresborough’s thriving textile industry. Today, it hosts contemporary art over three floors. It is run by Andy and Elaine Grinter, former scientists who worked in the food industry before buying the mill in 2007 to embrace their passion for art.
“This building used to be a heckling mill, where flax fibres were heckled, or combed out,” says Andy. Flax was a huge industry here. It was grown in large quantities nearby, then the stems were bundled up and soaked in the river to separate the threads, a process called retting. The fibres would have gone to the mill to be combed out.
“From here, they would have been taken down to Castle Mill, on the riverside, for weaving,” says Andy. “The resulting clothes and furnishings were taken to Leeds and York to be sold.”
In the 19th century, Knaresborough became well-known for its linen. In 1838, Walton and Co, the owners of Castle Mill, were appointed linen manufacturers to the Royal Household. Queen Victoria used Knaresborough linen for her tablecloths. In 1851, the company was awarded the Prince Albert Medal for a completely seamless shirt woven on a hand-loom.
Many hints of the town’s textile industry remain. Tentergate, a street close to the mill, was where linen was hung on tenterhooks to be dried and stretched.
The gallery showcases many locally-based artists, including Mark Sofilas, an Australian who fell in love with Knaresborough and relocated to Yorkshire to paint the town in every season. Perhaps the best-known local talent is Ray Mutimer, who provided the artwork
“And still she slept an azure-lidded sleep, In blanched linen, smooth, and lavender’d” John Keats, ‘The Eve of St Agnes’
for John Cunliffe’s original Postman Pat children’s books.
Andy believes December is a wonderful time to visit the town. “The illuminations, the Nativity play, the carol services; all these events involve the whole community coming together,” he says. “We also have ‘Bright Friday’, which is our antidote to ‘Black Friday’. It’s a celebration of the community, with children leading a torchlit procession through town. It helps us support our local shops and businesses, but without the high-pressure consumerism of Black Friday. It’s wonderful to see.”
Festival of fir
Another seasonal fixture is the Christmas Tree Festival, in which St John the Baptist Church is filled with trees decorated by the local community. Last year, 105 filled the church nave.
The Rev Garry Hinchcliffe, rector of Knaresborough’s five Anglican churches, cannot wait to see what turns up at this year’s festival. “It’s a great way to bring everyone together, without being overtly religious,” he says. “I love the creativity that goes into it.”
Mr Hinchcliffe admires the rich vein of history that runs through Knaresborough. It is particularly evident in St John’s, the oldest of the town’s churches. “The walls are a metre and a half thick in places; it’s as much a fortress as a church,” he explains. “And you can see why. It was severely damaged by fire during Scottish raids in 1318. We have Queen Philippa to thank for what we have today, as she paid for an extensive restoration. Knaresborians often think of it as ‘the Queen’s church’.”
In another nod to history, bell-ringing practice always takes place on a Tuesday night. “Wednesday is market day, and for hundreds of years, our bells guided farmers across the marshes and through the forest to Knaresborough market,” says Mr Hinchcliffe. “So, to this day, we always practise the night before.”
He is particularly fond of an inscription on the church clock: ‘Redeeming the time’.
“It comes from St Paul. It urges us to make the most of the time we have,” he says. “That always feels like a very important message.”
Small and sacred space
The least steep way of getting down to the riverside is by way of the former castle moat. A short detour out of the moat leads to the tranquil setting of Bebra Gardens, named after Knaresborough’s German twin town, which offer respite from the bustle of the town. Reaching the riverside, the first landmark is the former Castle Mill, now converted into apartments. Turning south on Waterside, Low Bridge is reached. It is flanked by two pubs, the Half Moon and the Mother Shipton Inn, one either side of the River Nidd. On Boxing Day, teams from the two pubs take part in a tug of war across the river, although the contest is stopped before the losing side is dragged into the water.
Just south of the bridge is the start of Abbey Road, which formerly led to Knaresborough’s abbey. The abbey was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, but Abbey Road is still a place of pilgrimage, thanks to a small landmark on the left: the Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag.
Hewn into a sandstone cliff, with an ornate window frame and a sculpted knight on guard at the door, this exquisite stone shrine was established in 1408.
The founder of the chapel was known as John the Mason. It is believed it was created as a wayside chapel to give thanks when setting out on, or returning from, pilgrimage. It may also have served as an advertisement for the stonemason’s skills. But a popular legend gives another reason. Close to the chapel is a quarry, where John is likely to have worked.
The story goes that his young son was playing there when he was caught in a rockfall and presumed dead. But John prayed to the Virgin Mary, and his son emerged from the boulders unharmed.
Thus, John built the chapel in thanksgiving for his son’s life, and dedicated it to Mary.
William Wordsworth mentions having visited the chapel in his poem Memorials of a Tour of Scotland, 1814, in which he recalls seeing the knight “sculptured out of living stone, standing upright and alone”.
The chapel was owned by the Benedictine monks of Ampleforth Abbey throughout the 20th century. In 2017, the abbey sold the chapel to a local trust, whose volunteers now tend to it. Last year, the Bishop of Leeds performed a service there, and it was attended by more than 100 worshippers.
“It is a place of great simplicity; a place for contemplation,” says trustee Chris Maunder, who has written a book about the chapel. “It predates Columbus, Shakespeare and Galileo. I think of it as nature’s cathedral. It gives you a sense of belonging in a sacred space.” In front of the chapel is a small terraced garden. Such gardens were common at wayside chapels. Volunteers Peter and Viv Thornes have carefully planted it out with herbs and flowers, using Maud Grieve’s 1931 tome, A Modern Herbal, as their guide.
“To the left of the chapel, we have plants which were used as medicines for different ailments in medieval times,” explains Peter. “On the right, we have species associated with particular saints. Plants which can be touched and smelled are close to the path. Poisonous species, such as monkshood, are a bit further back. The effect is to create a pause as you arrive at the sacred place.”
Among the plants used for medicinal purposes are lemon balm “for nerves and digestion”, lady’s bedstraw “for easing childbirth” and sweet cecily “for flatulence, snakebites, ulcers and gout”.
The chapel is normally open on Sundays during the summer, but winter visits can be made by arrangement.
Towering above the chapel is the House in the Rock. This unusual four-storey edifice was partly quarried from the rock face by linen weaver Thomas Hill, between 1770 and 1791. The sandstone-brick frontage of the house sits 10ft (3m) proud of the cliff and is topped by a crenellated roof. The house was originally known as Fort Montague and was home to several generations of the Hill family. In the 19th century, one family member was a boy with a shock of blond, woolly hair resembling the fleece of a sheep. Known as the Woolly-Headed Boy of Fort Montague, he would conduct tours around the family home.
The house was open to the public for many years and had a separate tearoom at the top. But the building was sold in 2000 and has been a private residence ever since.
The Knaresborough saint
At the far end of Abbey Road, shortly before Grimbald Bridge, is a small cave by the river, once the home of Robert of Knaresborough. While most visitors might think of Mother Shipton as the town’s biggest celebrity, to local people it is Robert who is its true hero. Although he was never formally canonised, he is widely known as St Robert around Knaresborough, and a church in nearby Pannal is named St Robert’s in his honour.
Robert Flower was born in York circa 1160. His father and brother both served in senior civic roles in the city. Robert initially sought a monastic life, but later became a hermit, withdrawing to this quiet cave on the banks of the Nidd.
In the years that followed, Robert vacillated between monastic life, public work and seclusion at the cave, but he was always concerned with the poor and needy. He was given land to tend by benefactors and sought alms for those in need. He often sheltered thieves and fugitives, arousing the ire of local authorities.
In 1216, King John came to visit him, only to be told that Robert was at prayer, and the king would have to wait. Impressed by Robert’s dedication, John
rewarded him with land and favour.
“I think King John was at a very interesting point in his life when he came to seek out St Robert,” says local historian Peter Lacey. “He had been obliged to comply with the Magna Carta the year before. He had fought a war in Scotland, and he was old and in failing health.
“I think his mind was on his legacy and doing good works to ensure salvation. That very much informs his interest in coming to see a holy man who lives by a river and is adored by this community.”
Peter is fascinated by Robert’s story and spearheaded a series of events during 2018 commemorating the 800th anniversary of Robert’s death in 1218.
“Robert was not a hermit in the traditional sense, because his ministry was about doing good towards other people,” Peter explains. “He was ahead of his time in so many ways. He was a pioneer of food banks and a friend to the lonely, which ties in with today’s concerns around mental health and well-being.
“Hopefully, after the events that were staged last year, Robert is now better