HELMSLEY-(INN: Crown; Population 1481. From Pickering, 13 miles; from Kirkby Moorside, 51), Helmsley is a small market town situated on the Rye. Its large market place is surrounded by quaint old wooden houses. The inhabitants are generally employed in agriculture and the linen manufacture, and several fairs are held annually for cattle, sheep, linen, woollen cloth, etc. The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is a fine old building, in the perpendicular style, with a tower at the west end. In the chancel are monuments to members of the Duncombe family, lords of Feversham. But the object of chief interest in Helmsley is

The Castle, the ruins of which are situated on an eminence to the west of the town. It was built in the twelfth century by Robert de Roos, surnamed Fursan, from whom it was sometimes called Fursan Castle. After continuing in this family for many generations, the castle and estate passed by marriage to the first Duke of Buckingham. On the miserable death of his profligate successor, as already detailed 83), the estate was sold by his trustees to Sir Charles Duncombe, Knight, with whose descendants it still remains. Pope refers to the sale of the estate in one of his "Imitations of Horace

"And Helmsley, once proud Buckingham's delight,
Slides to a scrivener or a city knight.

Let lands and houses have what lords they will,
Let us be fixed, and our own masters still."

The only historical event of any interest connected with
Helmsley Castle is its siege by the Parliamentarians in 1644.
After maintaining a strenuous defence for some time, the
garrison made an honourable capitulation.

The castle has been defended by an outer and an inner moat, both of them very broad and deep. The sides of the inner moat are adorned with trees, which add very much to the. picturesqueness of the ruin. The principal entrance has been from the south; and the remains of the gateway and barbican are very interesting. The most important part of the building now remaining is the keep, a fine fragment about ninetyfive feet high. It has been square, about fourteen yards each way; but only one side, the west, remains complete. It is battlemented at the top, and has bartisans at the two angles. The style is early English; the windows in this western front are only slightly pointed on the outside, but somewhat more acutely within. The interior arrangements of this keep seem to have been much of the same description as those noticed

in similar and more important fortresses in this county-a dungeon, of course, below; and three storeys above it, communicating with each other by a stone staircase, the remains of which may be seen. A fireplace also remains on the north

side.

On the western side of the castle, close to the moat, is a range of buildings in the Elizabethan style of architectureperhaps the scene of some of the revelries of "proud Buckingham." A large upper room in this range of buildings is used as a court-room for the manor of Helmsley.

DUNCOMBE PARK, the splendid mansion of Lord Feversham, is half a mile from Helmsley.* It was built by Wakefield, from a design by Sir John Vanbrugh, the architect of Castle Howard and Blenheim. The style is Doric, and the general effect good, though in some parts rather heavy. A high gratification awaits the tourist in the inspection of this fine mansion and its grounds-the noble owner, in the most liberal spirit, throwing them open to the public.

The interior of this mansion is worthy of its exterior. Many of the apartments are magnificent in their proportions and decorations. The hall and saloon are especially admired. The Hall is 60 feet long by 40 broad, and is surrounded by lofty Corinthian columns. This splendid apartment contains much valuable sculpture. The Saloon, 88 feet by 242, is formed into three divisions by Ionic pillars, and is adorned with sculpture and paintings. It is impossible to particularize the other apartments, which are in a corresponding style of magnificence. The mansion contains a large and valuable collection of works of art in sculpture and painting. Our space admits of only a bare mention of the most important of these.

Sculpture. The Dog of Alcibiades, supposed to be the work of Myron, the famous Greek artist; and the Discobolus, or Quoit Thrower, said to be the finest antique statue in England-are the gems of this collection. Besides these, there are antique statues of Apollo, Bacchus, Mars, Mercury, etc.; busts of Greek and Latin poets; medallions, etc.

Paintings. These are numerous, and include specimens of several of the great masters. Among the pictures in this collection which are most admired are the following:Leonardo da Vinci.-Head of St. Paul, one of his masterpieces.

Old Palma.-Scourging of Christ. This picture is from * From Pickering, 14 miles; from Castle Howard, 14; from York, 23.

the Justinian Palace at Rome. It was painted in competition with Titian, and crowned.

Poussin.-A Land Storm.

Titian.-Venus and Adonis; and the Madonna della Co

niglia.

Carlo Cignani.-Madonna and Child.

Claude Lorraine.-Two Landscapes.

Hogarth.-Garrick in the character of Richard the Third. Guido.-The Adoration of the Shepherds; and numerous other works.

This collection contains paintings by Rubens, Carlo Dolci, Parmegiano, Salvator Rosa, etc.

The Grounds are very tastefully laid out, and command prospects of great extent and beauty. The view from the Tuscan Temple, in particular, is universally admired. The grounds contain many objects worthy of notice.

RIEVAULX ABBEY, 2 miles from Helmsley, is one of the most beautiful ruins in Yorkshire. It is beautiful alike in style and in situation, and is eminently deserving of a visit. The style of this monastery is the purest early English, with the exception of some remains of Norman work in the lower part of the west sides of the transept. The small round windows here may have been part of an earlier structure. With the exception of these, and some similar traces in the dormitory, the architecture is of singular purity throughout. Probably a finer example of the earliest English style is not to be found in the kingdom.

This abbey was founded in 1131, by Sir Walter L'Espec, who dedicated it to the blessed Virgin, and endowed it with the extensive tract of Bilsdale, the manor of Helmsley, and other possessions. Sir Walter L'Espec was also the founder of Kirkham Priory, in this county. The death of his son was an affliction from which he never recovered; and, having made Christ his heir, by devoting his property to religious purposes, the Norman warrior retired in his old age to Rievaulx Abbey, took the vows, and died a mork. He was interred in the chapter-house, March 8, 1153.

The principal remains are those of the church and refectory. The Church, instead of standing east and west, which is the usual position, approaches more nearly to north and south. This is evidently owing to the nature of the ground. The dimensions of the church have been as follows:-Length of choir, 144 feet; breadth, 63; length of transepts, 118; breadth of transepts, 33; length of nave, 166; breadth of

nave, 59. The views of the exterior from different points are much admired, and a minute examination of details will give no less pleasure. The south front has two fine rows of lancet windows, and is beautifully clothed with ivy. The wall of the choir has flying buttresses. The nave has probably been the oldest portion of the church, and of Norman construction, but it is entirely destroyed, only its foundations being now traceable. The choir and part of its aisles, the transept with its aisle, and the commencement of the tower, are the portions of the church which still remain. The transept is the oldest part, as may be seen from the windows already referred to. The arch opening from the transept into the choir is 75 feet high; and the circumference of the pillars from which it rises, is 30 feet. The aisles of the choir are divided from the centre by clustered columns, above which is the triforium arcade. The clerestory windows above are small lancet lights, in pairs, each pair enclosed by one bold arch. The southern (what should have been the eastern) end of the choir is lighted by two tiers of lancet windows, three and three. The architectural details of the clustered columns and arches are of extreme beauty. The mouldings, foliage, and other decorative sculpture, are for the most part as fresh as when they came from the hand of the workman. Between thirty and forty years ago, the choir and transepts were cleared of rubbish, when part of a tesselated pavement, and some fragments of stained glass, were discovered.

The Refectory has been a magnificent apartment, 125 feet long, and 37 broad. It is in a good state of preservation. It is lighted by beautiful lancet windows, and has a recess for a reader's pulpit, reached by a winding staircase, part of which yet remains.

There are the ruins of other monastic buildings of less importance. The dormitory, which is in a line west from the transept of the church, has been of great extent, but is now completely ruinous. A Norman doorway, leading into a square court, is also worth notice. The foundations, which can be traced far beyond the bounds of the present ruins, show that this monastery has been an establishment of great extent.

On the hill above the abbey is a terrace, from which are obtained fine views of the ruin and neighbouring scenery. Here there are a Grecian temple and a pavilion, with paintings of classical subjects by an Italian artist.

The scenery of Bilsdale, above Rievaulx, possesses in some places features of grandeur. The view from the summit of the dale is said to be very magnificent.

BEVERLEY.*

BEVERLEY, the ancient capital of the East Riding, is situated at the foot of the York Wolds, and about a mile from the river Hull. There are some grounds for believing that it was founded in the second century by Lucius, a British king, in the reign of Aurelius Commodus, and that it is the Petouaria mentioned by Ptolemy. It was known anciently by the names of Beuerlega, Beverlacus, and Beverlac. It is supposed by most writers that the name means "lake of beavers," from the abundance of these animals in the neighbourhood, which was a lake or a morass, according as the waters of the Hull rose or fell.† Its ancient history is, however, very obscure till the time of St. John of Beverley, who founded a church here. St. John died in 721. He was archbishop of York for thirty-three years, but died and was buried at Beverley. In 867 the church and the monastery attached to it were destroyed by the Danes; but they were rebuilt three years afterwards. Athelstane, after his great victory over the Danes in 938, on which occasion the standard of St. John of Beverley had been carried before his army, granted many privileges to the town and monastery. In 1188, the principal part of the town was destroyed by fire, the church of St. John sharing its fate. During the civil wars in the time of Charles I., Beverley was alternately in the possession of Royalists and Parliamentarians. Sir John Hotham, who had represented the town in successive parliaments, was arrested here on his flight from Hull (which he had been making overtures to betray to the king), as a traitor to the Commonwealth.

* HOTELS.-Beverley Arms, Morley. Bed 1s. 6d. to 2s., breakfast 1s. 9d., dinner 2s. and upwards, tea 1s. 6d. Cross Keys, Holderness, Queen's Arms. Population in 1851, 10,058. Inhabited houses, 2183. Two members of Parliament.

From Hull, 8 miles; from Scarborough, 45; from York, 52; from Selby, 39-all by rail. From Market Weighton, 10.

+ Phillips controverts this derivation: "Beverley itself, instead of being Bever-lac, owing its name to beavers and lakes, is simply Pedwar-llech, the ancient Petouaria, marked, as other British towns seem to have been, by 'four stones'-in this instance stones of sanctuary, a privilege of higher antiquity, it is probable, than Athelstane, by whom it is said to have been granted after the battle of Brunanburgh."