Tag: medieval

  • Old Wives’ Well

    Old Wives’ Well

    A chance to explore the moorland south of Goathland known as Simon Howe Rigg and into the depths of Cropton Forest in search of a moorland cross and a well said to be a holy well. The two features are just 373 metres apart which may or may not be a coincidence. Old Wives’ Well,…

  • The Hospital of St. Leonard of Lowcross

    The Hospital of St. Leonard of Lowcross

    A miserable morning so I thought I had better take a photo or two before venturing up into the gloom. The old Ordnance Survey map shows a “Leper Hospital (Site of) A.D. 1392” to the left of centre within the curve of the track. This location is confirmed on the North York Moors Historical Environment…

  • Lammerside Castle

    Lammerside Castle

    In the Mallerstang valley overlooking the River Eden, the ruined Lammerside Castle dates from the 14th-century. It is a Peel-house, a fortified house built by a lesser landowner to protect his family, livestock, and retainers against predatory raids. Life in the Middles Ages was hazardous, particularly so in Northern England where a state of insecurity…

  • Roseberry from Carr Ridge

    Roseberry from Carr Ridge

    It seems a bit of a waste. Posting a distant photo of my local hill. I had planned a wander over Urra Moor. A dull start but I could see this patch of sunlight slowly making its way over the Eston Hills. I figured sooner or later it would shine on Roseberry. I wasn’t disappointed.…

  • Castle Hill, Easby

    Castle Hill, Easby

    From a distance Castle Hill is barely a ripple on the flatlands of the Vale of Cleveland. Now dominated by mature trees, it would, in the 12th-century, have commanded fine views and overlooked any movement on the King’s road from Stokesley to Whitby that passed the foot of the eminence on which the castle stood.…

  • Kildale and St. Cuthbert’s Coffin

    Kildale and St. Cuthbert’s Coffin

    I delayed going out this morning because of the dismal weather. It was still raining when I left the house at 12:00 but by the time I crossed the River Leven at the other end of the village the sun was out. I discovered something about Kildale the other day, although when you think about…

  • A view of Swainby from Scarth Nick …

    A view of Swainby from Scarth Nick …

    … but the point of interest is not the village of Swainby, nor the wooded Whorl Hill on the far right. It is the field visible in the between the gap in the treeline on the left. Or more specifically the isolated tree in that field. It is around about here that a stone coffin…

  • The Wishing Stone

    The Wishing Stone

    This has been on my to-do list since the spring after reading a blog post on the Arcanum web-site. It’s a large, deep, circular basin on a boulder on Ingleby Moor that is speculated to have be manmade and used for ritual purposes: the making of wishes or prayers, or curses and so on. As…

  • Percy Cross Rigg

    Percy Cross Rigg

    These posts often result from a faint memory which I then spend an hour or so trying to verify or research further in the evening — it beats watching ‘Strictly …’. But then, every so often, I plunge head first down a rabbit hole after I’ve pressed the post button. Yesterday was a case in…

  • Rudland Rigg

    Rudland Rigg

    I have often wondered what the old medieval roads across the moors were like. The temptation is to imagine they were similar to modern access roads but these have had the benefit of contemporary maintenance techniques with hydrocarbon fuelled machines. I think pot-holes and deep mud would have been the norm. Route were north-south, following…