Part 17

The existing buildings are extensive, and are approached from the market-place through a castellated gateway. One of the most prominent and interesting features is the chapel, which was originally the great hall. It was adapted for its present purpose and consecrated by Bishop Cosin. Prior to the great Civil War, there were two chapels, variously referred to, and as early as 1338, as the major and the minor. One of these was over the other, and they stood to the south of the castle proper, near to a postern which opened on to a road outside the park. When for a while the Episcopal Church was abolished by a Puritan Government, and the old story of spiteful spoliation began, Auckland Palace was sold to Sir Arthur Heslerigg for £6,102 8s. 11½d. This redoubtable worthy appears to have dismantled a considerable portion of the buildings. He blew up the chapels,[11] and commenced to alter the place to suit his own ideas.

It seems probable that Sir Arthur left his projected buildings in an unfinished state, for when Bishop Cosin came to his diocese at the Restoration, he wrote that the castle "had been pul’d down and ruined." The Bishop commenced an extensive restoration, and a number of interesting letters and agreements have been preserved showing the progress made.

As it now stands, the chapel is divided into nave and aisles by arcades, each of four bays. The supporting pillars are clearly those described by Leland, who, speaking of the great hall, says: "There be divers pillars of black marble speckled with white." Each pillar consists of four clustered cylindrical shafts, two being of Weardale marble, and two of freestone. The four pillars nearest the west are banded half-way up, and the capitals of the two western pillars are carved with foliage, the north-western showing also the spiral scroll or volute. The capitals of the other pillars and the bases of all are moulded, the latter resting on square plinths.

The arches are richly moulded, and have labels terminating in carved ornaments. They rest at the east end on responds of three clustered shafts, two of marble, and one of freestone, with moulded capitals and bases. At the west end the arches rest on highly ornamental corbels. Each of the latter consists in its lower portion of two carved heads, the northernmost being of Bishops wearing mitres, and the southern of crowned Kings. From within the mitres and crowns rise dwarfed shafts with Late Transitional foliage carved on the bells. Each capital is surmounted with a square moulded abacus, on which rest the bases of a triplet of dwarfed, clustered shafts corresponding to those in the piers of the arcades. In the spandrels between the arches, on both sides, are carved corbels; those on the inner side carry single cylindrical shafts surmounted by moulded capitals, and originally carried the pendant posts of the roof. The outer corbels supported the rafters of the aisle roofs. There is now but little doubt that this portion of the building was erected by Bishop Pudsey.

Bishop Hatfield made further improvements, inserting the windows still existing. At a much later period, as already mentioned, Bishop Cosin altered and restored the castle, which he appears to have made his favourite residence. He certainly took great delight and pride in improving his country home. Most of the fine woodwork in the chapel is his work--the roof, mouldings, and the great screen at the west end being particularly noteworthy.

Since his time the chapel has been but little altered. Bishop Van Mildert refloored it, and Bishop Lightfoot erected a new reredos, and filled most of the windows with stained glass.

The other portions of the castle have been considerably modernized, and bear but little resemblance to Pennant’s picture of it. The room which he describes as "below stairs," and having painted on the old wainscot "the arms of a strange assemblage of potentates, from Queen Elizabeth, with all the European princes, to the Emperors of Abissinia, Bildelgerid, Carthage, and Tartaria, sixteen peers of the same reign, knights of the garter, and above

[Illustration: LUMLEY CASTLE.]

them the arms of every bishoprick in England," is now used as the housekeeper’s storeroom.

The wing containing the servants’ hall (on the ceiling of which is a plaster shield of Bishop Tunstall’s arms) and the dining-room was commenced by Bishop Ruthall, and completed by the former prelate. The arms of both Bishops appear on the exterior of the building. Adjoining this wing to the west is another of some length, still known by the curious name of _Scotland_, and undoubtedly erected by Tunstall. No very satisfactory reason has been offered for the derivation of its name.

Brancepeth Castle stands within a mile from the River Wear, a little to the south of the village of the same name. There was undoubtedly a castle there in the twelfth century, towards the end of which it passed, by the marriage of Emma, widow of Peter de Valoignes, and only child of Bertram de Bulmer, to Geoffrey de Neville, from the former to the latter family.

The present castle is stated by Leland to have been erected by Ralph, first Earl of Westmorland. It was defended north and east by a moat; south and west the walls rise from a rock nearly forty feet in height. The original gateway, defended by a portcullis and flanked by square towers, stood on the site of the present gate, and was approached from the north. It has been destroyed. It opened directly into the courtyard, south-west of which are the residential parts of the castle.

There were, when Hutchinson wrote, four towers, closely conjoined. Three of these remain, containing respectively the dining-room, saloon, and the baron’s hall. The destroyed tower stood north of the last mentioned, but was not so high. It contained three stories, and was probably, as Mr. Boyle has suggested, the great hall.

The projecting angles of the towers are surmounted by small turrets, eight in number, the arrangement consisting of two sides rising directly from the sides of the buttresses on which they are built, whilst the other two are machicolated, the parapets resting on corbels.

Two other towers now standing at either end of the billiard-room are respectively used as the chapel and the library. The castle possesses a number of other interesting features.

Amongst the pictures is one by Hogarth, painted for the first Viscount Boyne, and representing several members of the _Hell-fire Club_. They are supposed to have assembled in a wine-cellar, and resolved not to part until its contents have been consumed. Sir Philip Hoby is depicted sitting on a cask of claret. Immediately behind him, with his hand held up, is Mr. De Grey, and below him is Lord John Cavendish, who has drawn a spigot from the cask to let the wine flow into a bowl. Lord Sandwich is kneeling down, holding a bottle to his mouth. Lord Galway lies extended on a form, in such a position that the liquor from a cask above him is flowing into his mouth. The arrangement of the four central figures is a clever imitation of a statue of _Charity_ shown in the cellar.

There is some fine armour in the present and modern great hall, amongst others a suit richly inlaid in gold, and traditionally said to have been taken from the Scottish King after the Battle of Neville’s Cross, although really it is of Elizabethan date.

The existing castle in Durham City, long the principal seat of the Episcopal Princes, largely helps, with its frowning walls and grim battlements, standing side by side with the cathedral, to make Durham one of the most picturesque cities in this country.

The castle is approached from the north-west corner of the Palace Green, a short avenue leading to the gateway, which was modernized by Bishop Barrington. The iron-bound gates were placed there by Bishop Tunstall, and one of them contains a wicket which is the subject of one of Spearman’s amusing anecdotes. He states that Bishop Crewe had been pressing Dr. Grey, Rector of Bishopwearmouth, and Dr. Morton, Rector of Boldon, to read King James’s declaration for a dispensing power in their parish churches. Both declined and began to argue against it, when the Bishop appears to have lost his temper. He told Dr. Grey that his age made him dote, and that he had forgotten his learning. "The good old Doctor briskly replied he had forgott more learning than his Lordship ever had. ‘Well,’ said the Bishop, ‘I’ll forgive and reverence you, but cannot pardon that blockhead Morton, whom I raised from nothing.’ They thereupon took their leave of the Bishop, who with great civility waited upon them towards the gate, and ye porter opening ye wikett or posterne only, ye Bishop said, ‘Sirrah, why don’t you open ye great gates?’ ‘No,’ says ye Reverend Dr. Grey, ‘my Lord, wee’le leave _ye broad way_ to your lordship, _ye strait way_ will serve us.’"

The gateway leads directly into the courtyard. A door and flight of steps in the wall to the left leads into the Fellows’ Garden, formerly the private garden of the Bishops, through which they could enter Bishop Cosin’s library.

Crossing the court to the left, the first building approached is partly of early Norman date, with additions by Bishop Fox, and a later restoration by Bishop Cosin, whose arms, impaling the see, are upon the front. It is now used entirely as students’ quarters.

A portico farther along the court leads into the great hall, erected by Bishop Anthony Bek. The hall measures 101 feet long by 35 feet wide, and was restored somewhere about 1850.

The window at the north end was filled with stained glass in 1882 to commemorate the jubilee of the University.

The walls are hung with paintings, and include:

1. A collection of thirteen portraits of English Archbishops and Bishops, said to have been made by Bishop Cosin.

2. Ten pictures of the Apostles, which were taken at St. Mary’s, in Spain, in the expedition under the Duke of Ormond, and purchased by the Dean and Chapter in 1753.

3. A number of portraits of prebendaries and professors.

4. Portraits of Charles I., Bishop Cosin, and Charles II.

On the same wall as the last-mentioned portraits the banners of the Durham local volunteer companies, raised to defend the country at the time of Napoleon’s threatened invasion, are suspended.

A door at the north end of the hall leads to Bishop Cosin’s great staircase, which is most handsomely carved.

At the foot of the staircase a corridor, the woodwork of which originally formed part of the same Bishop’s choir screen in the cathedral, may be entered.

The staircase itself, however, leads more directly to Bishop Tunstall’s Gallery, and to several apartments, from one of which a door opens upon the terrace on the north side of the castle.

Tunstall’s Gallery contains several objects of interest, and the walls are covered with sixteenth-century tapestry.

Here also is the magnificent Norman doorway erected by Bishop Pudsey as the entrance to his lower hall. From its position and the weathering of the stonework, it is supposed to have originally been approached by a stairway from the court; the case at the top must have been roofed with open arcades at the sides.

The present Senate-room of the University contains some good tapestry, illustrating the life of Moses, and dating from the sixteenth century. This room also contains a handsome carved fireplace, armorially decorated, and evidently the work of Bishop James. In the centre are the Royal Arms, Garter, and Motto. On either side are the arms of the Palatinate impaling the Bishop’s dolphin and cross-crosslets, with the James’s motto, "Dei Gratia Sum quod Sum."

[Illustration: HILTON CASTLE WEST FRONT.]

The adjoining anteroom contains several paintings, including portraits of King James II. and his Queen, Mary of Modena.

Leaving the county town behind, the picturesque outlines of Lumley Castle may be seen for some miles from the train journeying to Newcastle. It is situated about a mile from Chester-le-Street, but on the opposite bank of the Wear. The place is first mentioned by Styr, the son of Ulf, in a list of gifts made to St. Cuthbert.

The castle is supposed to have been erected by Sir Ralph Lumley, who obtained licences from Richard II. and Bishop Skirlaw to embattle his house of Lumley. It is in arrangement a square courtyard, surrounded by a quadrangle. Two of the fronts, the south and north, measure 65 yards 1 foot in length, the other two 58 yards and 1 foot. Oblong towers, of greater height than the main portions of each front, from which they project, strengthen and guard each corner. The most exterior angle of each tower is capped by a buttress.

The west front is the oldest existing portion of the castle, and is supposed to have been the Lumley manor-house, before Sir Ralph extended and added to it.

Originally the east side of it, that looking into the courtyard, was the principal front, and in its centre the gateway, flanked by semi-octagonal turrets, may still be seen. The front of the gateway is formed of two arches, the outer segmental headed, and the inner one pointed. Between these is the groove wherein the portcullis ran. The arch leads to a vaulted passage which entered the original courtyard. On the north side of the passage is a pointed doorway, leading into a narrow corridor, having a latrine at its east end, and connected originally with the gatekeeper’s room.

The present gateway is in the centre of the east front, and has incorporated with it an earlier round-headed archway, with semi-octagonal jambs and moulded imposts. On either side of it is a square turret, surmounted by octagonal machicolated parapets, the alternate sides of which are embrasured.

The turrets are joined by a machicolated gallery, defended by a battlemented parapet. Above the door are six sculptured coats of arms. Between the two highest, Neville and Percy, is the royal coat of Richard II. Below is the Lumley coat, having on the sinister side the arms of Grey, and on the dexter the coat of Hilton. The shields are all surmounted by the respective family crests.

A room on the south side of the gateway contains in its centre a flag, which on being raised leaves open the entrance to a vaulted chamber about 10 feet square and some 16 feet deep. From the existence of a latrine, and a little ventilation from a small unglazed loophole looking into the courtyard, it seems to have been intended as a safe place for the custody of prisoners.

In the north-east tower are two rooms, divided by a modern partition, and showing evidence that they originally formed the private chapel of the family. The south-east tower contains on its second floor the state bedroom, in which King James I. is said to have slept when he visited Lumley.

In the north-west tower is the famous kitchen, which Howitt described as "one of the most stupendous, lofty, and every way remarkable kitchens in the kingdom." The south-west tower contains the banqueting-hall, celebrated for its very fine stuccoed ceiling, part of the work initiated by Richard, second Earl of Scarborough.

Between the towers on the west side the main building forms the baron’s, or great, hall, which probably remained unaltered from the time of Sir Ralph to the early days of the century before last. The fireplace is the work of John, Lord Lumley, and is decorated with the family arms, impaling FitzAlan. Here also is a large equestrian statue, representing Liulph, a traditional ancestor of the house. There are also a series of interesting family portraits.

Not far from Lumley, Lambton Castle stands on the northern and opposite bank of the river. The original home of the Lambton family was, however, on the same bank as Lumley. According to an old view, it was a double house of stone, with flanking, gabled wings, and the grounds laid out in parterres and terraces. It remained the residence of the family, until it was dismantled in 1797 by William Henry Lambton, who had adopted Harraton Hall as the family seat.[12]

The present Lambton Castle[13] stands on the site and incorporates portions of the original building of Harraton Hall, a manor-house erected about the year 1600. Very considerable additions were made to this hall by William Henry Lambton, grandfather of the late Lord Durham, from designs by the elder Bonomi, in the Italian style. The first Lord Durham also made considerable alterations and additions to the building from plans furnished by Bonomi, the general appearance of the mansion being entirely changed. The south front is in the Tudor style and castellated, and the north is Norman.

The great hall is panelled, and the windows are glazed with richly stained glass, containing a representation of "Ye Legend of the Worme of Lambton," and also the heraldic emblems of the family. The dimensions of the hall are 94 feet by 36 feet, being larger than St. Stephen’s Hall, Westminster. The principal staircase leading out of the hall, communicating with the upper apartments, is 24 feet wide and 36 feet high. East of the hall is the dining-room and west is the drawing-room, abutting on the terraces of the west lawn.

Owing to the subsidence of the hill on which the castle stands, through some old colliery workings underneath falling in, the castle had become, when the second Earl succeeded to the estates, insecure. To meet this, and strengthen the foundations, the workings, two seams deep, round the castle, to the extent of 4½ acres, were filled up with débris. Three seams lower still were bricked up, over 10,000,000 bricks being used, and in several instances in the fourth seam the brickwork exceeded 30 feet in height.

Hilton Castle, like Lambton, stands on the north bank of the River Wear, on a gentle slope commanding an extensive view of the valley to the west.

The present building, a melancholy-looking tower, is only the gatehouse of the original castle. It is first mentioned in the inquisition post-mortem of William de Hilton in 1435, when it is described as "a house constructed of stone, called the Yethouse." The intention of the original builder, the William just mentioned, was evidently to erect an extensive mansion on a similar scale, but there is sufficient evidence to show that he never completed the work.

That there were other buildings probably surrounding a courtyard is proved by various inventories. In 1559, after the death of Sir Thomas Hilton, an inventory of his effects mentions the great chamber, the green chamber, the middle and new chambers, the gallery, the wardrobe, the parlour, the chamber over the hall door, and various out-buildings, such as the brewhouse, buttery, and the barns. The tower is mentioned separately, and the term evidently applies to the existing building.

These surrounding buildings were probably removed by John Hilton, who early in the eighteenth century built

[Illustration: OLD TOWER AT RAVENSWORTH CASTLE.]

a large wing in the Italian style against the north end of the gatehouse. This erection was three stories in height, having pedimented windows in the two lower floors, and square-headed windows in the story above. John Hilton also, to some extent, spoiled the ancient gatehouse by inserting a number of similar pedimented windows in it. His son, the last of the male line to own Hilton, and also named John, added a similar south wing. Both these wings were castellated--at any rate, on the east front.

The castle passed by descent to the Musgraves, and afterwards by successive sales to the Bowes and Briggs families, and again within the last year or two to the Monkwearmouth Colliery Company.

As it now stands, the tower presents a bold and picturesque outline. It is divided, on the west front, into three bays by projecting, square-shaped turrets. The main entrance is through the central bay, over which is a fine array of heraldry. Immediately beneath the arcade, the elaborately carved and projecting canopies of which fell in 1882, is a banner and staff of the Royal Arms of France and England _temp._ Henry V. Beneath the banner are the arms of Neville, Vesci, and Percy, and amongst other coats represented are those of the families of Lumley, Grey, Eure, Washington, Felton, Heron, Surtees, and Bowes. On the right-hand turret, close to the entrance, beneath a canopy, is a large banner of the Hilton arms. The east front shows a curious sculpture of the family badge, _a roebuck collared and chained_. Below is the family coat, accompanied with their curious crest--_the head of Moses, horned with triple rays_.

The battlements are exceedingly picturesque and decorated with numerous statued figures, one of which apparently represents the slayer of the Lambton Worm.

The ancient family chapel stands in a semi-ruinous condition a little to the north of the castle.

Ravensworth Castle was erected towards the end of the thirteenth century, and has belonged successively to the Fitz-Marmadukes, Lumleys, Boyntons, Gascoignes, and Liddells. It originally consisted of four towers, one standing at each angle of a courtyard and joined by curtain walls. Two of these towers still stand and form part of the present castle, which was erected shortly after 1808, from designs by Nash. It may be added that the castle was formerly known as Ravenshelm, Ravensworth being the name of the adjoining village. Not far from the castle, and near to the road leading to the north entrance, is an old cross commonly known as the "Butter Cross." It is stated that the country people left their produce here for the citizens of Newcastle to take when that city was infested by the plague in the sixteenth century.

[Illustration: THE CROSS AT RAVENSWORTH.]

A few miles to the west, Gibside, a seat of the Earl of Strathmore, stands in an exceedingly picturesque position. A terrace at the back of the house stands above a sheer descent to an exceedingly wild glen. The older portions of the building were erected by Sir William Blakiston, who had inherited the estate from his grandmother, an heiress of the Marley family, in the reign of James I. Over the entrance are the Royal Arms, and the arms of Blakiston and Marley quarterly with the initials W. I. B. for Sir William and his wife Jane Lambton. There is also an interesting sundial inscribed with the motto _Ut hora, sic vita_. The old drawing-room has a large fireplace, with figures of Samson and Hercules at either side, and above a further heraldic display of the family alliances.

There are four baronial mansions lying between the Wear and the Tees.

Barnard Castle, once a residence of the princely house of Baliol, has for long years been a ruin.

Originally erected by Bernard de Baliol, son of Guy de Baliol, Lord of Bailleul en Vimeu in Picardy, and founder also of Baynard’s Castle in London, it passed on the attainder of his descendant John Baliol, sometime King of Scotland, in 1296 to Bishop Bek. A few years later Edward I. severed the Durham fees of Bruce and Baliol from the control of the Palatinate and granted Barnard Castle to the Beauchamps. By marriage the estate passed to the Nevilles, and by marriage again to the Crown. Later it passed to the Vanes, who hold it still. The castle, which was of some size and great strength, stands in a commanding position above the River Tees. A great portion of the remaining buildings dates from Norman times. One of the towers is still known as the Brackenbury Tower, evidently deriving its name from the family of the famous Constable of the Tower of London. The castle is also associated with Richard III., whose badge of "the hog" occurs in one of the rooms.