AN8IENT HISTORY F KIRKBY-MOORSIDE. 89 



No thoughtful person can reflect on the subsequent 

 account of the Earls of Westmoreland, without per- 



the great hall is slight. A terrace nearly circular sur- 

 rounds the castle. This castle with the immense estate 

 of the Nevilles, was forfeited for treason, in 1570. Sir 

 Henry Vane purchased it of the crown, in 1632: and 

 here entertained Charles I. the next year, in his way 

 from Scotland ; and again in 1639 ; when he commanded 

 a regiment of 1000 men. Sir Henry Vane died here in 

 1654. This castle, since the reign of Charles I. has be- 

 longed to the ancient family of the Vanes, before named : 

 and gave title of Baron, to Thomas Wentworth, earl of 

 Strafford, in the 15 of Charles I.; to the 110 small jealou- 

 sy of Sir Henry, its owner. 



Lord Darlington's estate, all of freehold tenure, begins 

 at Piersbridge, and runs to the head of the Tees, with. 

 only the intervention of Eggleston, which was part ot" 

 the estate of the Nevilles ; now belonging to Timothy 

 Hutchinson, Esq., and joins the boundary of Wolsing- 

 ham. 



Camden also says, there is a place called Stain-Thorpe; 

 or, the stone town ; where was a collegiate church, the 

 work and burial place of the Nevilles. Near this is 

 Raby ; which Cnute, or Canute, King of Denmark, gave 

 to the church of Durham, together with the country 

 round it, and Stain-Thorpe, to hold free for ever. From 

 which time the family of the Nevilles, or de Nova Villa, 

 held Raby ; paying 4, and a stag yearly. They derive 

 their descent from Waltheof, earl of Northumberland : 

 of whose posterity Robert, son of Maldrada, and Lord 

 of Raby, marrying the daughter of Jetfrey Neville, i 

 Norman, whose grand-father Gilbert Neville, is report- 

 ed to have been admiral to King William 1. ; his issue 

 took the name of Neville, and grew up to a most nume- 

 rous and potent family ; who built here a very spacious 

 castle, which was their first and principal seat. These 

 two places, Stain-Thorpe and Raby, are separated only 

 by a small stream: which after a course of a few miles, 

 falls into the river Tees near Selaby. 



A friend of mine to whose kindness I am very much 



indebted for many valuable communications, had lately 



an opportunity of seeing some very ancient and once 



splendid monuments in Stainthorpo Church, to the raem- 



M. 



