By the exertions of the Archbishop of York, ably assisted with
donations from the local gentry, the city rapidly recovered by the time
a terrible plague compelled Henry IV. to leave London and take up his
residence here. The court of necessity followed him.
This royal sojourn did the city immense good, and again it derived
benefit some two centuries after by the presence of the Lord President
of York in 1617. He had been obliged by a similar plague to remove his
court hither.
Ten years later another royal visitor came, namely, James I., who rested
a night here on his route from Scotland to London. On this memorable
occasion he was presented with a pair of Ripon spurs. From early times
till the sixteenth century Ripon was a recognised centre for the
manufacture of woollen caps. On the decline of this industry the city
acquired such a fame for the manufacture of spurs that it became quite a
current phrase to say "as true steel as Ripon rowels." Ben Jonson and
Davenant make references in their verses to Ripon spurs. This industry,
together with those of manufacturing buttons and various kinds of
hardware, flourished till quite recently, when mechanical industries
supplanted them.
In 1633 Charles I. also paid the city a visit. During the Civil War the
parliamentary troops, under Sir Thomas Mauleverer, took possession of
Ripon. After mutilating many of the monuments and ornaments of the
church, they were eventually driven out of the town in 1643 by the
Royalists, under Sir John Mallory of Studley, a township comprised under
Ripon. In recounting the political fortunes of the city little has been
said about its chief attraction, the Cathedral, not because it has
played no important factor in the welfare of the city, but because it
has been considered better to give, apart, the chief characteristics of
its architecture.
We have seen how a monastery was established in 660, by Eata, which
later came under the patronage of St. Wilfrid. From the ruins of St.
Wilfrid's Abbey the present cathedral was founded about 680 A.D., in
the reign of Egfrid. With the exception of St. Wilfrid's crypt, called
St. Wilfrid's Needle, which tradition says was used for the trial of
female chastity, nothing of the original Saxon fabric remains. From the
similarity of this crypt, and of another at Hexham, both erected by St.
Wilfrid, in formation and arrangement to the catacomb chapels at Rome,
it is inferred that this churchman had made himself familiar with their
peculiarities during his residence in that Latin city. This is
interesting to note.
The Cathedral, as it now stands, embraces various styles of
architecture, and is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Wilfrid. It is a
large cruciform church, with a square central tower and two western
towers. They at one time carried spires, each not less than one hundred
and twenty feet in height; but the central spire having been blown down
in 1660, caused considerable damage to the roof, and it was thought
advisable to pull down the others. Their removal accounts for the
stunted appearance of these square towers. The construction of the
present church was commenced by Archbishop Roger, dating from 1154 to
1181. To this period belong the transepts and portions of the choir. The
western front and towers were carried out in the Early English style,
most probably by Archbishop Gray, between 1215 and 1255, and near the
close of the century the eastern portion of the choir was rebuilt in the
Decorated style. The nave and part of the central tower were also
rebuilt in the Perpendicular style at the close of the fifteenth
century. The fabric was entirely renovated under the guidance of Sir
Gilbert Scott, from 1862 to 1876. The episcopal palace is a modern
building in the Tudor style, and is about one mile from the town.
The present bishopric dates only from the year 1836. There are several
charitable institutions: namely, the Hospital of St. John the Baptist,
founded by an archbishop of York in 1109; the Hospital of St. Mary
Magdalene, for women, by another prelate of York in 1341; and the
Hospital of St. Anne, by some unknown benefactor who lived in the reign
of Edward IV. A clock-tower was presented to the town to commemorate
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. There is now, in place of the ancient
industries, an extensive trade in varnish, in addition to the
manufactories for saddle-trees and leather, but the most interesting
industry is that of the Ripon lace. It is a torchon lace much
resembling, in uniformity of pattern, the design used in peasant laces
in Sweden, Germany, and Russia.
Ely.
Ely.
("Doomsday Book.")
In the early history of the majority, if not of all of these cathedrals,
it is interesting to note the many points of resemblance. It will be
observed that most of them had their inception in the seventh century. A
most convenient way also of remembering, if actual dates be forgotten,
is that the commencement of the same century heralded the arrival of St.
Augustine and his forty monks at Canterbury, and the re-establishment of
Christianity in England. Whatever previous efforts had been attempted to
christianise the natives (prior to this century) pale into
insignificance after the landing of this great missionary from Rome. The
subsequent important events are invariably five; namely, the
devastations of the Danes in the ninth century, the erections of castles
to overawe the inhabitants with the ecclesiastical foundations, still
extant, after the dreaded millennium had passed, from the Conquest; the
dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.; the desecration and
mutilation of the churches under Cromwell's Protectorate; and the
inevitable restoration, not always happy, of these grand buildings.
The Venerable Bede, in his "Ecclesiastical History," ingeniously
attributes the derivation of the name to an eel, called "Elge," on the
assumption of the great abundance of this fish in the neighbourhood. At
the same time another rendering, by some one else, supposes that the
Saxon "Helyg," a willow, which flourished extensively, owing to the
marshy nature of the soil round about the city, gave rise to the present
contraction. However it may be, Ely dates from the year 673. The
subsequent history of the Church and state of this famous place
originated in that year from the small foundation of a monastery for
monks and nuns by Ethelreda. This princess was the daughter of the King
of the East Angles, and the wife of Egfred, the King of Northumberland.
She had devoted a great deal of her life to monasticism, and eventually
constituted herself as the first abbess of her religious effort. A
contradictory account gives it that this lady more likely became the
first abbess of a religious house which she had filled with virgins.
Their number is not stated. Nothing more is heard or worth relating
of the welfare of this royal benefice until the ninth century, when, in
the natural order of things, it was destroyed by the Danes. In 879, a
matter of nine years after this devastation, it was partially restored
by those brethren who had fortunately escaped the massacre. Under the
government of provosts they were established and existed as secular
priests for nearly a century. At the end of this period of inactivity it
received much attention from Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester. This
prelate in 970 purchased the whole of the Isle of Ely from Edgar. He
then rebuilt the monastery and endowed it munificently. In it regular
monks were placed under the rule of an abbot, to whom Edgar granted the
secular jurisdiction of two hundreds within and five hundreds without
the Fens. Many other important privileges were bestowed by the same
monarch, recognised by Canute, and greatly increased by Edward the
Confessor in recognition of part of his education here received. These
many marks of royal favour caused it to become the richest in England,
and the city participated in its prosperity.
[Illustration: ELY