34 WRESSLE CASTLE 



Wresslc Caslle continued in all its pomp and splendour until 

 the civil wars of Charles I., when the earl espousing the cause of 

 the Parliament, it was garrisoned with soldiers ; and the losses 

 he suffered from his own party between 1641 and 1646, by his 

 tenants being unable to pay their rents, in consequence of the heavy 

 contributions levied upon them, and the damage done to his buildings 

 by the soldiers, amounted to £42,554, a sum more than equivalent 

 to £200,000 at the present day. 



Notwithstanding the zeal which the earl manifested for the cause 

 of the Parliamentarians, an order was issued a.d., 1650, for the 

 demolishing of Wressle Castle ; and, in consequence, a number of 

 Cromwell's soldiers, after destroying Howden Church, proceeded to 

 this building, and threw down the battlements, and demolished three 

 sides of the quadrangle, destroying the materials in the most wanton 

 manner. At the close of this scene of destruction nothing was left 

 standing but the south front, in the west tower of which was the 

 dining-room, and in the east the chapel, the space between the 

 towers being occupied with the antichamber and withdrawing- 

 chamber, which were very magnificent. 



For a short time after this demolition the remaining portion was 

 used as a manor-house, and was then occupied as a farm-house, and 

 contmued to be so until an accidental fire, which broke jMJk^ t^® 

 19th February, 1794, completed its destruction, and left nothing 

 but the blackened walls, which now 



" Stand up against the injuries of time 

 And brave unmoved the fury of the storm." 



They are partly overgrown with ivy, and in a pretty good state of 

 preservation. 



On beholding the interesting remains of Wressle Castle, as 



" Now in ruin'd majesty they lie, 

 The fading relics of departed day." 



The mind is led to contemplate the vast change that has taken place 

 during the three centuries which have elapsed since its noble posses- 

 sors sat in all their pomp and splendour within its walls ; but the 

 evils of feudalism, which at that period reigned supreme, and which 

 system called into existence this once majestic edifice, forbids us to 

 shed a tear over its fallen greatness. 



