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and literary life more active, and its individual character more strongly marked. 

 York, indeed, by its general physiognomy, is the most English town of all England. 

 Flaxman, the sculptor, was born here. The battle of Stamford Bridge (1066), 

 between Harold of England and Harald Hardrada of Norway, was fought to the 

 east of York, on the Dern-ent; that of Marston Moor (1644) about 7 miles to the 

 west. 



Tadcaster, the Roman Calcaria, lies 8 miles to the south-west of York, and near 

 it is the field of the battle of Towton, fought in 1461 between King Edward, of 

 York, and the Lancastrians, in which the latter were defeated, with a loss of 40,000 

 men. The fight was thickest in the field still called the " Bloody Meadow." In a 

 sweet-brier hedge by its side the white rose now mingles with the red rose, and 

 after having hurried thousands into a bloody death, these flowers have become 

 symbols of peace. 



Vessels of more than 100 tons burden ascend the Ouse as far as York. Those 

 of greater size only proceed to Selby, a place of commerce, with a magnificent 

 abbey church, or to Gook, the great rival of Kingston-upon-Hull. Goole, close to 

 the confluence of the "Dutch Hiver" with the Ouse, is a shipping port of con- 

 siderable importance. It imports fruit and vegetables from Belgium and the 

 Netherlands, and exports iron, cloth, and building stones. 



Ascending the river Don, which traverses the southern portion of the plain of 

 York, we pass Thome, a market town of the Isle of Axholme, and reach Doncaster, 

 the Danum of the Romans, and anciently the capital of the county. It is a quiet 

 town, contrasting with the busy hives of industry to the west of it. Only once in the 

 year, during the race week in September, is it stirred into life, but it then attracts 

 pleasure-seekers and sporting-men from the whole of England. The modern Gothic 

 church of Doncaster is one of the finest works of Sir Gilbert Scott. The Great 

 Northern Railway works, for the manufacture of carriages and locomotives, are 

 close to the town. 



Pichering lies in the centre of the vale named after it, which is drained 

 by the Upper Derwent. Malton, lower down on that river, is a place of some 

 importance. Near it, on a heiglit overlooking the river, rises Castle Howard, 

 the magnificent seat of the Earl of Carlisle, containing a noble collection of 

 works of art. 



The York Moors occupy the north-western portion of the county, rising boldly 

 above the vales of York and Cleveland, and presenting picturesque clifls towards 

 the German Ocean. The greater part of this wild country is given up to sheep 

 grazing, and the narrow valleys which intersect it are but sparsely peopled. 

 Within the last fifty years, however, the discovery of ironstone has attracted a 

 large mining population. 



MidiUeshorongh, the largest town in the district, at the mouth of the Tees, owes 

 its rapid growth, if not its existence, to the discovery of this iron. In 1829 

 there stood but a solitary house upon the site of Middlesborough, whilst now 

 the atmosphere is blackened with the smoke ascending from blast furnaces and 

 iron works, and there is hardly to be seen a blade of grass or a tree to relieve the 

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