Tag: mediaeval
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The Wayward Nuns of Baysdale Abbey
This rickety cairn seems to teeter precariously over Baysdale but it has stood for at least half a century. A former resident once informed me that it was constructed by Roland Close, an estate worker and renowned local archaeologist who grew up in Shepherd’s House, the ‘last’ house in the dale. Close would pass by…
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Hartlepool’s Medieval Town Wall
Today, only a fragment of Hartlepool’s medieval town wall endures. Rising 18 feet high and six feet thick, it overlooks the Fish Sands and includes the pointed arch of the Sandwell Gate. Though this is but a small portion, it still offers a splendid glimpse of the town wall’s former defences. The wall had originally…
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Saint Julian’s Park: a testament to the passage of time
A view across West Beck reveals the medieval Saint Julian’s Park, now known simply as Julian Park. Once a striking landscape feature, this park has transformed greatly over the centuries. Eight hundred years ago, visitors would have encountered a circular boundary enclosing the park, a segment of the so-called ‘Roman road’ crossing it, a grand…
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An Echo of Grosmont Priory
The Grandmontine Priory of Grosmont was established around 1200 at a site overlooking the River Esk. It was one Joan de Turnham who granted the site to the monks, and according to the deed of gift, a “mansion house” already existed there. Its surrounding fields, covering about 200 acres, were already in cultivation, evidenced by…
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From Battersby to Farndale: A Stone that Guides the Way
Standing stones, those charming columns of rock, are strewn all over the North York Moors. Some mark parish or estate boundaries, others waymarkers or religious crosses. Take this small, irregular stone, for instance, standing unobtrusively just south of the old Rosedale mineral railway line. It is probably post-medieval, though it marks a trod from Battersby…
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It were a bit barren on t’moors like, nowt much to see!
A view along the Cleveland Way as it traverses Newton Moor, with the elusive Highcliffe Nab shrouded in mist. The cartulary concerning the founding of Gisborough Priory records a significant route named Melegate, extending from a point on the Percy Cross track, known as Molecros, to Roseberry Common. The Cleveland Way here likely follows the…
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Midilest Middleton
En route to Edinburgh, I found myself in need of a leg stretch. Upon consulting my map, the name ‘Middleton Old Town‘ leapt forth in an intriguing Gothic script. Without hesitation, I decided to explore. The remains of this medieval hamlet straddle the Coldgate Water, with the stream and a sunken path dividing it into…
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Thirlwall Castle
An excess of photographs from the recent walk along Hadrian’s Wall. However, not all remnants were of Roman origin. This ruin is distinctly medieval. Erected in the 1300s, Thirlwall Castle served as a fortified home for the Thirlwall family. Built from robbed stones from the Wall, its stout walls shielded them from Scottish incursions during…
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A Path up Little Roseberry, Everything has a History
On the hills and moors lie many landscape features, their origins lost in the mists of time. Contemplating their history evokes me with a sense of curiosity. Take, for instance, the path ascending towards the deep notch in the Little Roseberry spur—it stands as a prime example. The erosion scored into the slope suggests either…
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Parvus Othensberg
Many will be aware with the old name for Roseberry Topping as “Othenesberg,” dating back to a 12th-century medieval charter. The initial element, a relic of Old Norse, traces its origins to the personal name Óthinn or Authunn. The subsequent constituent, also Old Norse, derives from “bjarg,” meaning a rock, thereby bequeathing the toponym “Óthinn’s…