YORKSHIRE. 



architea of Blenheim. Caftle-Howard, in its general ar- 

 rangement and appearance, bears an evident refemblance to 

 that fuperb ilrudure, and indicates the geniu3 of that dif- 

 tinguifhed artift. In extent of front it exceeds Blenheim, 

 and in exterior difplay of magnificence it is, perhaps, fupe- 

 rior. Tlie interior, fpacious and lofty, is enriched with a very 

 vahiable alTemblage of paintings by mafters of the greateil 

 celebrity ; and the colleaion of antique ftatues, butts, &c. 

 is pccuUaily interefting. The furrounding park and grounds 

 are diftributed and ornamented in a way fuitable to the 

 grandeur of the ftruaure they inclofe. Duncombe-park, 

 the feat of Charles Slingfty Duncombe, efq., 22 miles N. 

 from York, alfo ereaed by Vanbrugh, is fplendid in itfelf, 

 and fplendidly adorned with paintings of the moft eminent 

 artifts. Harewood-houfe, the refidence of the earl of Hare- 

 wood, fix miles N. from Leeds, is a magnificent ftruaure, 

 commenced in 1760, in which are combined grandeur of 

 defign and ornament, with convenience and accommodation 

 of arrangement. One of the greateft ornaments, not of 

 Yorkfhire only, but of the kingdom, is Wentworth-houfe, 

 once the habitation of the diftinguiftied patriot Charles mar- 

 quis of Rockingham, from whom it defcended to his nephew 

 and heir the prefent earl Fitzwilliam. It is fituated in a 

 fpacious park, four miles N.W. from Rotheram, and feven 

 N.N.E. from Sheffield. The manfion extends in front 

 about 600 feet, forming altogether a ftruaure of uncommon 

 magnificence. Nor is the interior deficient in appropriate 

 arrangement and fplendour. In approaching the houfe, the 

 attention of the vifitor is arrefted by a noble maufoleum, 

 raifed in 1788, by the prefent earl, to the memory of his 

 uncle, the marquis. This monument is placed on an emi- 

 nence, and is in itfelf 90 feet in height, divided into three 

 parts. The fquare Doric bafement fupports a fimilar ftruc- 

 ture of the Ionic order, with open arches on the fides ex- 

 hibiting a farcophagus ; the whole furmounted by a cupola. 

 Within the bafement ftory is a chamber containing a ftatue of 

 the marquis, by Nollekens. Around the walls are bufts of eight 

 of his principal political friends, C. J. Fox, fir G. Saville, 

 &c. Wentworth-houfe, ereaed by the earl of Strafford in 

 1730, but now the feat of Henry Vernon, efq., is a noble 

 fabric. Towards the fouthern border of the county, mid- 

 way between Doncafter and Workfop, is Sandbeck, the 

 fuperb manfion of the earl of Scarborough, ereaed nearly 

 fifty years ago. 



Ecclefiajlical State. — A very important change in the con- 

 dition of the ecclefiaftical eftabhftiments in Yorkftiire, and 

 over England in general, was introduced by WiUiam I. 

 Prior to the Conqueft the Saxon prelates, with their arch- 

 deacons and other delegates, fat in the courts with the earls 

 and (herifTs for the adminiftration of juftice ; receiving with 

 the lay-judges a fhare of the fines impofed on offenders. 

 According to the original charter, however, ft ill prefcrved 

 among the records of the cathedral of Lincoln, the Con- 

 queror declared, that no bifhop or archdeacon ftiould, in 

 future, hold ecclefiaftical pleas in the hundred-court, nor 

 fuffer any caufe of a fpiritual nature to come under the 

 cognizance of fecular perfous. Whoever, therefore, of- 

 fended againtt the canons of the church was to be tried by 

 a tribunal, to be appointed by the bifhop of each diocefe. 

 It was alfo ftrialy enjoined on all fheriffs, royal officers, or 

 other lay perfons, not to encroach on the epifcopal jurifdic- 

 tion. Thefe regulations were afterwards confirmed, in a 

 general council of the nation, by the biftiops, abbots, and 

 all the principal nobihty ; but thofe nobles and prelates 

 were then almoft all Normans or other foreigners. To this 

 artful feparation of the ecclefiaftical from the civil jurif- 

 prudence, the jealoufies, contrarieties> contefts, and open 



ruptures, by which the kingdom was, on various occafioust 

 brought almoft to its ruin, muft be afcribed. In addition 

 to the diffenfions occafioned in this way, the difpute refpea- 

 ing the fuperiority of the fee of Canterbury over that of 

 York was conduaed with peculiar animofity, between^the 

 Norman prelates of both. In 1070, Thomas, a canon of 

 Bayeux in Normandy, appointed to York, repaired to Can- 

 terbury for confecration from the hands of archbiftiop Lan^ 

 franc, who had been previoufly inftallsd ; but refufing to 

 fwear obedience to the fee of Canterbury, the confecration 

 did not take place. The famous Gregory VII. making it 

 now a rule to confer the pall on no prelate who did not ap- 

 pear in perfon before him, the two contending Englifli arch- 

 bifhops were required to prefent theicfelves in the court of 

 Rome, where the difpute was referred for decifion to a 

 fynod of the clergy of England. By this council, affembled 

 at Windfor in 1072, a fentence amounting to acompromife 

 was pronounced. The rights claimed by Canterbury were 

 confirmed ; but Lanfranc difpenfed with the oath of obe- 

 dience from Thomas of York. In his profeflion of obedi- 

 ence, however, Thomas acknowledged that the archbifhops 

 of York and their fuffragans were bound to obey the man- 

 date of the primate of Canterbury, when required to attend 

 him in council, wherever it fhould be held. On the ap- 

 pointment to York of Thurftan, chaplain and fecretary of 

 Henry I. in 1 1 15, the difpute was again revived ; but in 

 1 1 21, Thurftan, who had obtained favour at Rome, was 

 permitted by Henry, whom his pertinacity had irritated, to 

 return to York. It does not, however, appear that he ever 

 made any fatisfaaion for his refiftance to the claims of Can- 

 terbury ; or that a profeflion of obedience to that fee was 

 ever made by any of his fucccffors. From this time, there- 

 fore, York maintained its independency, and, a few years 

 afterwards, had certain fufFragan bifhops placed under its 

 authority. Roger of York, in 1 162, procured a bull from 

 Rome, granting him the privilege of crowning the kings of 

 England, pofTeifed by fomeof his predecefTors, and of having 

 his crofs carried erea before him throughout the whole 

 kingdom. But in 1 165, in the reign of Henry II., the latter 

 privilege was by pope Alexander III. reftriaed to Roger's 

 peculiar province. Oppofing claims were neverthelefs ad- 

 vanced on both fides, until Edward HI. by influence and 

 management procured from Rome a confirmation of the 

 arrangement he had accomplifhed between the contending 

 prelates. Then was introduced the cafuiftical and filly dif- 

 tinaion, ftill preferved, in the titles of the two metropoli- 

 tans, by which the arclibifhop of York is ftyled primate of 

 England, and his brother of Canterbury primate of all 

 England. 



The county of York is wholly and immediately under the 

 fuperintendence of the archbifhop, whofe fuffragans are the 

 bifhops of Carlifle, Chefter, Durham, and the Ifle of Man. 

 The latter, ftyled bifhop of Sodor (the fouthern ifles of 

 Scotland) and Man, prefiding over a diocefe not formerly 

 pertaining to England, has no feat in the houfe of peers. 

 Under the archbifhop, ecclefiaftical affairs are conduaed by 

 archdeacons ; an office firft introduced into the diocefe, as 

 it is faid, by Thomas the Norman, appointed in 1070. 



Fertile and extenfive as is the county of York, the number 

 of religious honfes ereaed within its bounds, in former times, 

 was prodigious. " Thefe were in all," according to Burton, 

 (Monafticon Eboracenfe, ) " 106 ; -viz. abbeys 14, priories 

 44, alien priories 7, cells 13, and houfes of friars of various 

 orders 28." Of thofe eitablifhments the ruins of many 

 houfes ftill exift ; fome of them exhibiting very piaurefque 

 and attraaive monuments of ancient devotion and liberality. 

 St. Mary's abbey adjoining to York gives fufficient indica- 



tipns 



