THE KNARESBOROUGH SPA. This spring is at Starbeck, between Harrogate and Knaresborough. The establishment is supplied with baths, waiting rooms, and every accessory for the comfort and convenience of visitors. The following is Professor Hoffmann's analysis of the contents of a gallon of the water :

RIPON.*

THE old cathedral city of Ripon is situated in a fertile plain, at the junction of the small streams Skell and Laver with the Ure, which is here crossed by a handsome stone bridge of seventeen arches. The name is thought to be derived from the Latin ripa, on account of its position on the bank of the river. There can be no doubt that the place is of great antiquity. Mr. Walbran, Mayor of Ripon, an accomplished antiquarian, is of opinion that there was a settlement of Brigantian Celts here, and that this was even their seat of government; the remains which have been found being such as, in his opinion, to establish the point. A few Roman remains have been discovered in the neighbourhood; but there is nothing to indicate that they had any permanent settlement there. The Roman Watling Street passes Ripon at a distance of three miles to the east. It is recorded that, about the year 660, Alfred, or Alchfrid, King of Deira, bestowed a piece of ground here upon Eata, Abbot of Melrose, for the erection of a monastery. The Scotch monks were expelled because they differed with the king on the computation of Easter; and Alchfrid bestowed the monastery on a fraternity more subservient to the royal will. At the head of the monastery was Wilfrid, a man of extensive learning and piety, who was subsequently made Archbishop of York. An imposing building erected by Wilfrid was destroyed by the Danes in 860. A conical tumulus, called Ailey Hill, on the east side of the town, is supposed to have been heaped over those who fell in the dreadful carnage that occurred about this time. The tumulus contains large quantities of human bones; and Saxon coins have been found in it from time to time. Towards the close of the thirteenth century, Ripon was judged of sufficient importance to be represented in Parliament. About this time the manufacture of woollen cloth appears to have been carried on to a considerable extent. This trade, however, did not continue to

HOTELS.-Black Bull, Mrs. Beaumont-Bed 1s., breakfast ls. 9d., dinner 2s., tea 1s. 9d. Unicorn; Crown and Anchor; Dragon.

Population in 1851, 6080; inhabited houses, 1345. Members of Parliament, 2.

From Leeds, 29 miles; from York, 23; from Harrogate, 11; from London, 208; from Edinburgh, 191.

thrive; for we find Leland, who visited Ripon in the early part of the sixteenth century, saying " But now idleness is sore incresed in the town, and clothe makeing almost decayed." Ripon suffered severely from the plague in 1534, and again in 1625. In 1640 the Scotch lords met here with the English commissioners. The house where the negotiations took place, with the benches and table with which the apartment in which the commissioners met was furnished, were in existence within the memory of persons still alive. A skirmish occurred here, in 1643, between the Parliamentarians and Royalists. There are no events of importance in the subsequent history of Ripon.

The interest of Ripon lies entirely in the past. Its very manufactures are matter of antiquity. The woollen-cloth trade has long ceased, and the Ripon spurs, once excellent to a proverb, are no longer manufactured. But, though undistinguished for commercial activity, Ripon will continue to have attractions for those who admire noble architecture and beautiful natural scenery. The tourist who wishes to examine the cathedral of Ripon and the Abbey of Fountains, and to explore the beauties of Wensleydale, and other parts of the adjacent country, cannot find more convenient head-quarters than this old town.

THE CATHEDRAL. Of the early structures erected by Eata and Wilfrid there are no remains. The present cathedral has generally been ascribed to Archbishop Thurstan; but Mr. Walbran has conclusively shown that it owes its erection to the liberality and piety of Archbishop Roger, who devoted £1000 ("mille libras veteris monetae") to the purpose. Archbishop Roger died in 1181. In 1284 and 1287 money was raised, in furtherance of the works of the church, by letters of indulgence. On the occasion of an incursion of the Scots in 1319, considerable damage was done to the building, the roof, screens, stalls, and other wood-work being consumed. Additions and changes were made at many different periods.

"As true steel as Ripon rowels.' It is said of trusty persons, men of metal, faithful in their employments. Spurs are a principal part of knightly hatchments; yea, a poet observes

"The lands that over Ouse to Berwick forth to bear,

Have for their blazon had the snaffle, spur, and spear.'

Indeed, the best spurs of England are made at Ripon, a famous town in this county, whose rowels may be enforced to strike through a shilling, and will break sooner than bow. However, the horses in this county are generally so good, they prevent the spurs, or answer unto them, a good sign of thrifty metal for continuance."-Fuller's Worthies, vol. iii. p. 398.

The great spire fell down in 1660, demolishing the roof of the chancel, which was shortly afterwards restored. In 1664, to obviate a similar catastrophe, the spires which surmounted the two western towers were removed. Some alterations and repairs were made in 1829. In 1836 the Bishoprick of Ripon was established, and C. T. Longley, D.D., formerly head master of Harrow School, consecrated first bishop.

It has been already stated that the present building was originally raised by Archbishop Roger. The cathedral, as it now stands, is only an amplification of his original plan, though much of it has been rebuilt. The different parts of this edifice afford materials for a study of various styles of architecture. Early English, transition Norman, perpendicular, and decorated, may all be seen; and there are even some remains of early Saxon. The persons who have charge of the building, and offer their services to visitors, will point out the varying styles to the tourist who is not acquainted with these details.

The West Front, approached by Kirkgate, is a lofty and imposing façade. It consists of a gabled compartment, 103 feet high, and 43 feet wide, flanked by two massive square towers of somewhat greater altitude. This front was erected nearly a century after the death of Archbishop Roger by some unknown benefactor, and is regarded as one of the finest specimens of early English in the kingdom. The entrance on this front is by three deeply-recessed doorways in the central compartment. Above the doorway are two tiers of five lancet windows each. These windows are chastely divided into trefoil-headed lights and surmounting quatrefoils. In the pediment above are three lancet lights. The towers are divided into three storeys, pierced with lancet lights. They are surmounted by a battlement and pinnacles, added in 1797, as the best substitute for the original octagonal spires of timber and lead which had to be removed in 1664. The south tower contains a fine peal of bells. Proceeding with a survey of THE EXTERIOR,

The

The Nave will be next viewed. It is divided into six bays, with windows in the early English style. The south side seems to be somewhat earlier than the north. Transepts are extremely interesting, being (with the exception of a small portion of the south transept) precisely as built by Archbishop Roger. The windows, which are almost semicircular, are in two tiers, the space between them being occupied by the triforium in the interior. A window of three lights, similarly shaped, occupies the pediment of each tran

P

sept. There is a doorway in both transepts. "This doorway," says Mr. Walbran, "is very remarkable, having a plain trefoil head rising from a corbel-like projection, placed at the impost of the soffit, and is flanked by three receding shafts, whose elegantly foliated capitals assimilate with this Romanesque trefoil, and support an archevolt of bold but undecorated mouldings." The Choir is divided into five bays. The three next the transept, on the north side, are the work of Archbishop Roger, and perhaps the best specimen of it remaining. The other two bays are in the decorated style, as are also the windows of this side of the choir. The east end is in the same style. Its great window of seven lights, 51 feet high and 25 wide, is a magnificent example of this style in its early type. Attached to the south aisle of the choir is a building, now used as a Vestry and Chapter House, by some supposed to be the original church of Wilfrid, or, at all events, that erected by "Odo, Archbishop of Cantewarbyri," who, according to Leland, "had pitie on the desolation of Ripon Chirch, and began, or causid a new work to be edified wher the minstre now is," about the year 950. The building, however, seems rather to be Norman than Saxon, and is probably part of a church erected shortly after the Conquest.

We come now to an examination of THE INTERIOR, the best general perspective of which is obtained on entering at the western door. The entire length of the interior is 270 feet-the nave being 171 feet, and the choir 99. The other interior dimensions are as follows:-Breadth of nave and aisles, 87 feet; breadth of choir, 67; height of nave, 88; height of choir, 79; length of transept, 132; breadth, 36; length of chapter house, 341; of vestry, 28; breadth of both, 183.

The Nave, as originally built, was without the side aisles which now add so much to its breadth and beauty. Archbishop Roger's plan, however, permitted, and probably was meant to provide for, the addition of aisles to the nave; as the western towers projected beyond the line of the original nave, defining a space on either side of it, which could be fitly and beautifully rendered available for making the church perfectly complete in this respect. The aisles are open to the roof, and are separated from the nave by tall and graceful pillars. In the west end of the south aisle is the font. It is octagonal in shape, and formed of blue marble. Near it is an altar-tomb, on the slab of which is a sculpture in low relief, representing a man and a lion in a grove of trees, the lion retreating with his tail between his legs, and the man on his knees, probably returning thanks for his deliverance. The inscription is