What to See in England Part 33

The monastic buildings are all beyond the gra.s.sy s.p.a.ce inside the gateway.]

HAWARDEN

=How to get there.=--Train from Euston _via_ Chester. L. and N.W. Rly.

=Nearest Station.=--Hawarden.

=Distance from London.=--186 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 4 to 5 hours.

=Fares.=--To Chester-- 1st 2nd 3rd Single 27s. 10d. 18s. 8d. 14s. 11d.

Return 51s. 9d. 32s. 8d. 29s. 10d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Glynne Arms," etc.

=Alternative Route.=--Train from Paddington _via_ Wrexham. Great Western Railway.

Hawarden is a small town, about 6-1/2 miles from Chester. The great interest of the place centres in Hawarden Castle, the home, until his death, of the Rt. Hon. W.E. Gladstone. There are really two castles, but little remains of the old one except the large circular keep and part of the banqueting-hall. On the spot previously occupied by the old battlements a modern wall has been built, from which a fine view across the Dee estuary can be obtained. The castle was probably built before the time of Edward I. Here Simon de Montfort surrendered the castle to Llewelyn. After its reversion to the Crown it was again taken by Llewelyn's brother, and it was about this time that the present keep was built. After its dismantling during the Parliamentary War, it was purchased by Serjeant Glynne, in whose family it still remains.

Within full view of the old castle, and enclosed by the same park, stands the modern mansion, constructed in the style of a castellated Gothic building of the thirteenth century. It was originally a square brick building, but it has had so many additions, besides being turreted and encased in stone, that it is almost impossible to trace the former structure. The south-east front looks on a gravel walk surrounding some formal flower-beds, which was one of Mr. Gladstone's favourite walks when he was unable to take other exercise. Visitors are not admitted to the modern castle.

Euloe Castle, some two or three miles from Hawarden, is said to be connected with the few remains of the old chapel by means of an underground pa.s.sage. It is a picturesque, ivy-mantled ruin, but little is known of its history.

Hawarden Church has a central tower, surmounted by a short spire; it was restored by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1857. A window to the memory of Mr.

Gladstone, by the late Sir Edward Burne-Jones, has just been placed in the west end.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photochrom Co., Ltd._

HAWARDEN CASTLE.

The home, until his death, of the Rt. Hon. W.E. Gladstone.]

YORK MINSTER

=How to get there.=--Train from King's Cross. Great Northern Rly.

=Nearest Station.=--York.

=Distance from London.=--188-1/4 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 3-3/4 to 5 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 27s. ... 15s. 8d.

Return 54s. ... 31s. 4d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Harker's York Hotel," "Black Swan Hotel," "Station Hotel," etc.

=Alternative Routes.=--Train from St. Pancras _via_ Sheffield, Midland Railway. Train from Liverpool Street, Great Eastern Railway.

The city of York is one of the most famous and interesting in the kingdom. It was originally the _Eborac_ of the British and the _Eborac.u.m_ of the Romans, who made it an imperial colony, and the capital of _Maxima Caesariensis_. Later the place changed hands many times between Danes and Saxons until the time of William the Conqueror, who built the castle. The whole city was burnt in 1137, with the cathedral and forty churches, and in the Wars of the Roses it was continually the scene of sanguinary conflicts between the rival parties.

It has been visited at various times by nearly all our kings, and numerous insurrections have been quelled within its walls. The cathedral--the chief glory of York--dates from Saxon times. The first church was founded by Edwin, the fifth king of Northumbria, but before it was finished he was slain, and the work thenceforward was carried out by his successor Oswald. The present cathedral was mainly built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Its chief features are a nave with the most magnificent side-aisles in the kingdom, two transepts, a choir, a lady chapel, a large central tower, two bell towers, and a wonderfully fine chapter-house. During the last century it was twice nearly destroyed by fire, first by the act of a lunatic, and then by the carelessness of a workman.

The present structure takes rank with the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in the world.

Apart from the minster, the whole city teems with archaeological interest. There are many fine old churches, and much mediaeval architecture, including the gates of the city, which are wonderfully well preserved, one of the best being Micklegate Bar, where Richard Duke of York's head was exhibited. The city walls built by Edward I. still remain in a remarkably good state of preservation. Many of the towers, of which Leland stated there were forty, still exist.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOTHAM BAR AND YORK MINSTER.]

c.o.xWOLD, YORKs.h.i.+RE

THE HOME OF STERNE

=How to get there.=--Great Northern Railway, King's Cross Station.

=Nearest Station.=--Easingwold _via_ York and Alne; from thence runs a branch line to Easingwold.

=Distance from London.=--199 miles.

=Average Time.=--About 5 hours.

=Fares.=--No through fares in operation.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--The village inn--"The Fauconberg Arms."

The pretty little village of c.o.xwold, where the Rev. Laurence Sterne wrote _A Sentimental Journey_, lies about 18 miles north of York. The hamlet stands on slightly rising ground. At the bottom of the hill is the village smithy, the well, a farm, and facing a big elm tree is the inn, bearing a great hatchment-like signboard showing the Fauconberg arms and motto. The cottages of the villagers are on the slope of the hill, and at the top is the church to which Sterne was appointed vicar in 1760. Close at hand is the quaint seventeenth-century house he occupied. It is a singularly picturesque little building, with its mossy stone-covered roof, its wide gables, and ma.s.sive chimney-stacks. Sterne, in his humorous way, called it "Shandy Hall." The stone tablet over the doorway states that Sterne wrote _Tristram Shandy_ and _A Sentimental Journey_ at Shandy Hall; but this is not quite accurate, for he entered upon the inc.u.mbency of c.o.xwold in 1760, whereas two volumes of _Tristram Shandy_ had already been published in 1759. Of his life at c.o.xwold one gathers that the vicar was more devoted to his books than to his parish.

In the intervals of writing and his clerical duties he amused himself with painting, fiddling, dining out and telling stories, at the same time suffering from ill-health and other discomforts. His gift of humour, however, helped him to bear his troubles better than might otherwise have been the case. He was firmly persuaded that "every time a man smiles, but much more so when he laughs, he adds something to the fragment of life." Sterne's study may still be seen. It is a tiny room with a low ceiling, although it undoubtedly possesses the charm of cosiness. On one occasion Sterne writes: "I have a hundred hens and chickens about my yard, and not a paris.h.i.+oner catches a hare or a rabbit or a trout but he brings it as an offering to me." Sterne died in London in 1768 at the age of 55 years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "SHANDY HALL" AT c.o.xWOLD.

Where the Rev. Laurence Sterne lived while he was Vicar of c.o.xwold. Part of _Tristram Shandy_ was written here.]

LLANGOLLEN AND VALLE CRUCIS ABBEY

=How to get there.=--Train from Paddington. Great Western Railway.

=Nearest Station.=--Llangollen. Valle Crucis Abbey lies 2 miles from Llangollen.

=Distance from London.=--203 miles.

=Average Time.=--Varies between 4-1/2 to 7-1/2 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd =Fares.=--Single 28s. 10d. 19s. 3d. 15s. 4-1/2d.

Return 53s. 6d. 33s. 9d. ...

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--At Llangollen--"Hand Hotel," "Royal Hotel," "The Eagle Hotel," etc.

The scenery of Llangollen can scarcely be called mountainous, but the little town is situated in the most beautiful part of the hill district of Wales. Its chief charm, in common with all other Welsh villages, is in its contrasts,--deep lanes with fern and flower-clad banks lead you past picturesque cottages and farms, surrounded with low stone walls, half hidden by brilliantly coloured creepers; bold crags, high above the valley, give place to bright green sheep pastures, they in turn changing to thick woods of oak and ash.

Llangollen Bridge, across which runs the chief thoroughfare, is one of the so-called "wonders of Wales." It was built in 1346 by John Trevor, afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph, and was the first stone bridge in Wales.

It is borne by five stone arches, and beneath them rushes the fine river Dee. The church is dedicated to St. Collen, but is of no particular interest. In the churchyard is a monument to the two fas.h.i.+onable ladies who at an early age tired of the vanities of this world, and lived in complete seclusion at Plas Newydd, a house just beyond the village, famed for its old oak.