Skipton is a good market town, entirely built of stone; it consists chiefly of one spacious street, which serves for the marketplace, and some straggling lanes. Here is a well-frequented market on Saturday, to which great quantities of corn are brought, and hence dispersed into several parts of Craven. Skipton being close to the Leeds and Liverpool canal, the latter greatly facilitates the trade.

The present church of Skipton is a spacious and handsome building of different styles of architecture; perhaps no part of the original structure remains, but four stone seats with pointed arches, and cylindrical columns, in the south wall of the nave, may be referred to the earlier part of the 13th century.

The church received considerable repairs in the time of Richard III. but the roof cannot be older than the reign of Henry the VIIIth. It is very handsome, flat, but with light flying springers. At the east end are the arms of the Priory of Bolton.

The screen is inscribed: Anno D’ni mttetmo quingentissimo tciceswimo tertio et regnit Kegis then viii dicessimo qurinto.

Beneath the altar, which is unusually elevated on that account, is the vault of the Cliffords, the place of their interment, from the dissolution of Bolton Priory to the death of the last earl of Cumberland. Dr. Whitaker examined this vault, March 29, 1803, after it had been closed many years, and found "that the original vault, intended only for the first earl and his second lady, had undergone two enlargements; and the bodies having been deposited in chronological order, first, and immediately under his tomb, lay Henry, the first earl, whose lead coffin was much corroded, and exhibited the skeleton of a short and very stout man, with a long head of flaxen hair, gathered in a knot behind the skull. The coffin had been closely fitted to the body, and proved him to have been very corpulent, as well as muscular. Next lay the remains of Margaret Percy, his second countess, whose coffin was still entire. She must have been a slender and diminutive woman. The third was the Lady Ellinor’s grave, whose coffin was much decayed, and exhibited the skeleton (as might be expected in a daughter of Charles Brandon, and the sister of Henry VIII.) of a tall and large-limbed female. At her right hand was Henry the second earl, a very tall and rather slender man, whose thin envelope of lead, really resembled a winding sheet, and folded, like coarse drapery, over the limbs. The head was beaten to the left side; something of the shape of the face might be distinguished, and a long prominent nose was very conspicuous. Next lay Francis, Lord Clifford, a boy. At his right hand was his father George, the third earl, whose lead coffin precisely resembled the outer case of an Egyptian mummy, with a rude face, and something like female mammæ cast upon it; as were also the figures and letters of G. C. 1605. The body was close wrapped in ten folds of coarse cere cloth, which being removed, exhibited the face so entire (only turned to copper colour), as plainly to resemble his portraits. The coffin of Earl Francis, who lay next his brother, was of the modern shape, and alone had an outer shell of wood, which was covered with leather; the soldering had decayed, and nothing appeared but the ordinary skeleton of a tall man." Over him Jay another coffin which Dr. Whitaker suspects had contained the Lady Ann Dacre, his mother. Last lay Henry the fifth earl, in a coffin of the same with that of his father.

The tomb of Henry the first earl, and Margaret Percy his wife, is of grey marble. On the slab are grooves for two figures. There are also inlets for four shields of arms, within the garter. All these brasses were stolen in the Civil Wars, but the epitaphs had been transcribed in 1619. The celebrated Anne Countess of Pembroke caused others to be affixed, which Dr. Whitaker gives at length.

At the south side of the communion-table is another stately tomb of black marble, inclosed with iron rails, and erected by the good countess to the memory of her father, George Clifford, third earl of Cumberland. In the church is a library, for the use of the parish, founded by Silvester Petys, principal of Barnard’s Inn, who was born in this neighbourhood. It consists chiefly of ancient books, that are in bad condition, which is said to arise from the salary of 5l. per annum for their preservation not being paid according to the will of the founder.

The Castle at Skipton is the great object which attracts the attention of strangers. It stands on an eminence that commands the town, and also a good prospect of the surrounding country. It was built by Robert de Romille, styled lord of the manor of Skipton in Craven, soon after the Conquest. It afterwards came to the Cliffords, and at present belongs to the earl of Thanet. Of the original building little besides the western doorway of the inner castle now remains. The oldest part of Skipton castle now remaining consists of seven round towers, partly in the sides, and partly in the angles, of the buildings, connected by rectilinear apartments, which form an irregular quadrangular court within. The walls are from nine to twelve feet thick. This part was the work of Robert de Clifford, in the beginning of the reign of Edward II. For according to his descendant, the countess of Pembroke, "He was the chief builder of the most strong parts of Skipton castle, which had been out of repair and ruinous from the Albemarles’ time." The eastern part, a single range of building, at least 60 yards long, terminated by an octagon tower, was built by the first earl of Cumberland, in the short space of four or five months, for the reception of "the Lady Eleanor Brandon’s Grace, who married his son, in the 27th of Henry VIII." This part remains nearly in its original condition, as the wainscot, carved with fluted panels, and even some of the ancient furniture, serves to prove.

The present entrance, concealing the original Norman doorway, was added by Lady Pembroke, who repaired the castle; a circumstance commemorated by the following inscription cut in stone, over the door at the west end: "This Skipton Castle was repaired by the Lady Anne Clifford, Countess Dowager of Pembroke, Dorset, and Montgomery, Baroness Clifford, Westmorland, and Vesy; Lady of the Honor of Skipton in Craven, and high Sheriffs by inheritance of the county of Westmorland, in the years 1655 and 1658, after the main part of it had lain ruinous ever since December 1648, and the January following, when it was then pulled down and demolished almost to the ground by command of the parliament sitting at Westminster, because it had been a garrison in their Civil Wars in England.—Isaiah, chap. lviii. ver. 12, God’s name be praised." The entrance into the castle is by an ancient gateway on the southern side, nearly facing the marketplace. In one of the courts within the building stands an aged yew-tree, casting a solemn shade over the place. The edifice, however, seems upon the whole better calculated for a dwelling than a fortress, as it commands a pleasing prospect of the town and vale, terminated by distant hills to the south; and the eminences on the northern side might be converted into pleasure-grounds.

Several passages wind round the castle to various rooms hung with old tapestry. In one of these chambers is a curious old family picture, with whole-length figures as large as life. Of this picture Dr. Whitaker has given a beautiful engraving in his History of Craven. It is composed of three parts, a centre and three extremes, the latter serving as doors. In the centre compartment is George Clifford Earl of Cumberland, and on his right hand is Margaret Russel, his countess, holding in her left hand the Psalms of David; on her right hand stands her eldest son Francis, and on his right her other son Robert; nearly over the head of the countess is a half-length, eight inches and three quarters high, and seven inches and a half broad, of Elizabeth, Countess of Bath, eldest sister of the Countess of Cumberland. On the left, at a little distance from it, in the same line, almost at the left side of the picture as it is viewed, is another, the same size, of Frances Lady Wharton, sister to the Earl of Cumberland; and below is one, rather larger, of Margaret Countess of Derby, eldest child of Henry second Earl of Cumberland by his first lady.

The Earl of Cumberland here represented made twenty-two voyages against that bloodthirsty monarch Philip the second of Spain, who felt the effects of his prowess against his Invincible Armada in his European dominions, and also in his more distant ones in America. Queen Elizabeth appointed him her champion in the 33rd year of her reign. In the exercises of tilting and the courses of the field he excelled all the nobility of his time. He died, as the picture informs us, "penitently, willingly, and christianly, October 30th, 1605." The doors exhibit the portraits of their celebrated daughter Anne Clifford, afterwards Countess of Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery. One compartment represents her at the age of about thirteen; the other in a state of widowhood, dressed in black, with a veil; over the latter portrait are the heads of her two husbands, Richard Earl of Dorset, and Philip Earl of Pembroke. This last nobleman died in 1650, when the character of this extraordinary woman began to shew itself, and the greatness of her mind broke forth in its full lustre. She rebuilt or repaired six of her ancient castles, she restored seven churches or chapels, founded one hospital, and repaired another. She resided occasionally at each of her castles, for the noble purpose of being thereby enabled to dispense her charities in rotation to the poor on her vast estates. She travelled in a horse-litter, and often over the worst roads, to find occasion for laying out her money by employing the indigent in repairing the roads. This amiably great woman died at the age of eighty-six, in the year 1676, and was interred at Appleby.

From the back of the castle is a view into a deep wooded dingle, having a canal at the bottom to convey limestone to the great canal. In the castle is a free chapel (originally founded by the Earl of Albemarle who was married to Cicily, granddaughter to the above mentioned Robert Romille), and having some lands called Holm Domain, is consequently said to be the castle parish.

In the castle-yard there is a very large oak, said to be sprung from an acorn that grew on the tree wherein King Charles II. secreted himself. There is also a large fishpond, which surrounds one half of the castle, upon which a pleasure-boat is kept.

Skipton has long enjoyed the benefit of a well-endowed Grammar School, founded in the second year of Edward the VIth, by William Ermestead, canon residentiary of St. Paul's.

The school has a beautiful house, garden, and pleasure-grounds, attached to it, with divers lands in Addingham, Skipton, and Eastby, worth at present near 400l. per annum. The master is chosen by a majority of the vicar and churchwardens of the parish of Skipton, within one month after the demise of the last incumbent; in case of no election within that period, it devolves to Lincoln-College, Oxford; and in case of no appointment there, after one month, to the dean and chapter of St. Paul’s; after allowing the same space of time for appointing a master, and supposing the same failure or neglect, the choice recurs to the vicar and churchwardens, and revolves on the same ground and on the same condition as before. With respect to the master’s duty, he is required to explain to the scholars Virgil, Terence, Ovid, and other Latin poets, and to teach them to compose epistles, orations, and verses. Here is also a school in which all the boys of the town are taught to sing psalms, by the parish clerk, who is allowed a salary for it. Here is a Townhouse, in which the quarter sessions are held once a year, for the West Hiding.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal coming close to the town, opens a channel of navigation to Bradford, Leeds, Selby, York, Hull, and the sea, on one side, and to Colne, Burnly, Blackburn, Wigan, and Liverpool, on the other. All sorts of merchandise are received by it, together with supplies of coal from Bradford, and large quantities of limestone, &c. returned to the glass works, iron foundries, and lime-kilns, in the neighbourhoods of Bradford, Leeds, &c.

Winterwell Hall, in Skipton, so called probably from a well never frozen in winter, which is now swallowed up in the canal, was more than half destroyed when that was cut; part of it, however, remains on the right hand of the canal bridge, on entering the town from Broughton. This was, until the middle of Henry the VIIIth’s reign, the residence of the Lamberts.

At Embsay, two miles east from Skipton, William de Meschines and Cicily de Romille his wife, founded in 1120 a monastery of canons regular of St. Austin, which was about thirty years after translated by their daughter Adeliza to Bolton-in-Craven, and valued at the dissolution at 212l. per annum.

The Vale of Skipton is one of the finest and most fertile in England: its extent cannot be ascertained, as only a very small part of the Vale of Aire bears that name. But though not marked by certain boundaries, it may be considered as extending above the village of Gargrave almost to the source of the Aire, at least five or six miles to the northwest of Skipton, and to the same distance below the town, to the southeast, within about four miles and a half of Keighley. The breadth of the vale is irregular, but appears to be about a mile and a half on the average. It contains little tillage, but displays the most luxuriant meadows and pastures that can any where be seen. Some parts, subject to sudden inundations of the liver Aire, produce larger crops of grass than the rest. The villages of Kildwick and Cross-hill stand opposite each other about four miles below Skipton; the former on the north, the latter on the south side of the Aire, over which is a handsome stone bridge. Here the road from Skipton to Keighley crosses the river. This part of the vale, which forms a parallelogram about a mile and a half, or somewhat more in breadth, and between three or four miles in length, is greatly admired by tourists, and may indeed be esteemed a terrestrial paradise. The lofty hills forming the boundaries on every side, and the well-built villages at the bottom, especially those of Kildwick and Cross-hill; the fertile vale divided into beautiful enclosures, and the scattered farmhouses, altogether present a landscape equally pleasing and picturesque, and the whole scenery exhibits the appearance of a beautiful recess. At the southeast corner of this delightful plain, the Aire makes a turn almost south, and runs through a deep and romantic valley to Keighley. Not far from the northwest corner is Farnhill-hall, once a castellated mansion, but lately only used as a farmhouse. This part of the Vale of Skipton is not less temperate and healthful than the other. About a mile from the town of Skipton, on the left of the Knaresborough road, is a large quarry, from which there is a fine iron road, with a gentle descent, all the way to the town, to which the stone from the quarry is brought by carts without horses. Three carts being strongly linked together, and having iron fellies hollowed to suit the road, are steered by one man at the hindmost, who pushes them forward with his foot applied to a lever. One horse brings back the three carts to the quarry.

SKIPTON, in Domesday called “Sciptone,” “Sceptone,” or “Scepetone,” probably from the Saxon “scep,” a sheep, is an ancient market town, township and parish, head of a union and county court district, a station on the Midland railway, and a polling place for the Northern division of the Riding, giving name to a petty sessional division; it is in the east division of the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, liberty of Clifford’s Fee, in the western division of the rural deanery of Craven, archdeaconry of Craven and diocese of Ripon, 9 miles north-west from Keighley, 15 west from Otley, 15 ½ south-east from Settle, 26 ¼ from Leeds, 18 from Bradford, 39 ¼ from Lancaster, 64 from Liverpool, 35 ¼ from Bury, 45 ¼ from Manchester and 213 from London. The town is situated in a mountainous district on a branch of the river Aire, the Leeds and Liverpool canal passing through.

The town is entirely built of store, the two principal streets being the High street and the Market place.

The church of the Holy Trinity is a substantial and spacious structure, the most ancient parts of which belong to the reigns of Henry II. and Henry VIII.: after being nearly demolished in the wars of the Commonwealth. it was restored in 1655 by Anne, Countess of Pembroke, and again renovated in 1854 by the parishioners at a cost of nearly £4,000, a porch being subsequently added at the sole expense of John Robinson esq. of Ravenshaw; the church now consists of chancel, nave, aisles, 2 mortuary chapels, with a tower containing a fine peal of 8 bells and a clock, an organ chamber, in which is placed an instrument built in 1875, and 3 galleries; the chancel screen, transferred from Bolton Abbey in 1533, and the open oak roof, are fine specimens of ancient carving in Decorated Gothic: a handsome stone reredos, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, has been erected at a cost of £1,000 in memory of the late H. Alcock esq. of Aireville, by his children; and there are memorial windows in the chancel and north aisle: on the raised dais of the chancel, on the north side, is a polished tomb of grey limestone, richly panelled, with brasses to Henry Clifford, first Earl of Cumberland K.G. military commander against the scots, ob. 1542, and his son Henry, second Earl, ob. 1570; and on the south side is the black marble tomb of George, third Earl and last male heir of the Cliffords, a naval commander, ob. 1605; these tombs and other memorials of the Clifford family were restored in 1866 by Sir Gilbert Scott and Mr. Williment at the sole cost of the present Duke of Devonshire: in the vestry is a valuable library of old works, presented in 1719 by Sylvestre Petyt esq. of Barnards inn, London. The register dates from the year 1597, and is in good condition. The living is a rectory, gross yearly value £303 with residence, in the gift of Christ Church, Oxford, and held by the Rev. Philip Chabert Kidd M.A. of Christ Church, Oxford.

Christ Church is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1838: the church, on the south side of the town, is a Gothic structure of stone, built in 1837—8, at a total cost, including the endowment, of £3,000, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, and a square tower with 1 bell: the east and west windows are stained. The register dates from the year 1839. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £130, in the gift of the rector of Holy Trinity and held by the Rev. William Henry Clarke M.A. of St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge.

St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, St. Monica’s convent, the presbytery, and schools are situated just out of the town, on the Gargrave road: the church, built by the late Sir Charles Tempest bart. and his sister, Monica, is a Gothic building of stone, containing several stained windows, and an altar of Caen stone and black marble. The convent is occupied by a community of nuns, styled Faithful Companions of Jesus, who have a day and hoarding school, as well as schools for the poor.

There is a parish estate of 133 acres, producing £270 yearly, which is carried to poor rate. Lord Craven’s charity of 10a. 1r. 22p. produces £50 yearly for the poor; the Earl of Cumberland’s of 6 acres, £12 yearly.

The cemetery, situated on the Carleton road, has two stone mortuary chapels.

Skipton is a place of considerable trade and business, and, through its markets and fairs, is a connecting link between the counties of York and Lancaster.

Skipton is distinguished as the capita] of Craven, and at the time of the Norman accession, being then part of the possessions of Earl Edwin, was granted to Robert de Romille, one of the followers of William the Norman, who built Skipton Castle, as the seat of his barony, about the end of the reign of that king: the erection of this castle as a baronial residence elevated Skipton from a village to a town; but it never had a municipal government, nor was it ever represented in Parliament. Subsequently, the barony of Skipton came by marriage into the Albemarle family, but by the artifices of an officious priest it was diverted from its rightful owner and vested in the crown. Edward II. bestowed this valuable inheritance on his ill-fated favourite, Piers de Gaveston, and the next alienation transferred it, in the year 1311, to a family who, with the exception of a single attainder, have held it for 500 years: this grant was made to Robert Lord Clifford by Edward II. in the fourth year of his reign, at which time the annual rent of arable land in Craven was 10d. and pasture land 4d. an acre. The Cliffords were among the first of the noble families who engaged in the memorable civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster: they were zealous Lancastrians, and Thomas Lord Clifford fell in the first battle of St. Albans, fought on the 22nd of May, 1454. Four years after the accession of Edward IV. John Lord Clifford was attainted, and the castle, manor and lordship of Skipton were granted in tail male to Sir William Stanley knt. and subsequently to the Duke of Gloucester. In the first year of the reign of Henry VII. the attainder of Lord John was reversed, together with those of all the other adherents of the house of Lancaster, and the estates of the family were restored to Lord Henry Clifford, his son, in the year 1485; he was succeeded by Henry, his son, who was afterwards created Earl of Cumberland; Henry, his son, the second Earl of Cumberland, succeeded his father, who it is recorded, died at Brougham Castle. George, the third Earl of Cumberland, was born at Brougham, on the 8th of August, 1558, and succeeded to the title and estates when be was eleven years of age; this Earl was a great navigator, and bore a considerable part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada. The titles, on the death of Earl George, devolved on Sir Francis Clifford. On the death of the last of the Earls of Cumberland in 1643, without issue, all the lands belonging to the family reverted to the Countess of Pembroke, whose daughter and co-heir by Richard, earl of Dorset, the Lady Margaret Sackville, married John Tufton, Earl of Thanet, in the year 1629, and the manor and castle, on the death of the Countess of Pembroke, descended to that noble family. Sir Henry James Tufton is the present lord of the honour and castle of Skipton. Skipton Castle stands a short distance eastward from the church; but of Romille’s fortress little now remains except the western doorway to the inner castle, consisting of a treble semicircular arch, supported upon square piers: the most ancient part now existing, consists of seven round towers, partly in the sides and partly in the angles of the building, connected by rectilinear apartments, which form an irregular quadrangle court within, and have walls from 9 to 12 feet thick; this part was the work of Robert de Clifford, in the early part of the reign of Edward II. The eastern part, a single range of buildings 60 yards long, terminated by an octagon tower, is known to have been built by the first Earl of Cumberland: the present entrance, concealing the original Norman doorway, was added by Lady Pembroke; and it is remarkable that this comparatively modern part of the castle is the only part of the exterior which threatens to fall. Within, however, all is fast hastening to decay; in the third great round tower from the entrance is the muniment-room of the Cliffords, in which the treasures and the writings were anciently kept. Skipton Castle, from its importance and the military character of the families to which it successively belonged, has undergone several sieges; except in the reign of Stephen, but of which there is considerable doubt, it never suffered any material injury by belligerent operations till the time of the Civil war, when it sustained a siege or blockade of three years by the generals of the parliamentary army, Lambert, Poyntz and Rossiter; the Earl of Cumberland, owner of the castle, being then the lord-lieutenant, of the West Riding, and Sir John Mallorie, of Studley, the governor. After the surrender of the castle, which fell on the 22nd of December, 1645, and the success of the Republican cause, Parliament issued an order directing that Skipton Castle should be dismantled and demolished, an order partly carried into effect in 1649; but the castle was restored and again rendered habitable by the Countess of Pembroke, though not tenable as a fortress, for which it was never very well adapted owing to its being commanded by the neighbouring heights: it has since, from time to time, undergone several repairs, and it is now a comfortable and still stately residence. In the grounds of the castle are still to be seen the ruins of the ancient parish church of St. John, part of which is now used as a stable; the old font occupying the centre of the quadrangle and being used as a flower vase.

On the western side of the town is Aireville House, a handsome modern mansion, and the residence of J. B. Dewhurst esq. J.P. the grounds of which are very extensive: northwest is Rockwood, the residence of Mrs. Birtwhistle.

About a mile from Skipton, on the Bolton road and on the estate of Sir H. J. Tufton, is a large limestone quarry, which is leased to and worked by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Co.; the output averages about 1,500 tons weekly.

The area is 4,245 acres; rateable value £23,570 8s. 7d. Thepopulation of the township in 1871 was 6,078. The area of the entire parish is 30,120 acres and the population in 1871 was 8,473; the area of the ecclesiastical parish is 2,450 acres; population 2,193.

National school, Samuel Jackson, master.

Petty sessions held on Saturday. The places in the division are Addingham, Apple tree wick, Bank-Newton, Barnoldswick, Bradley’s (Both), Broaden, Broughton, Buckden, Burnsall, Bracewell, Bolton Abbey, Barden, Bordley, BeamsIey-in-Addingham, Beamsley-in-Skipton, Carlton, Cracoe, Coniston-Cold, Calton, Coniston-cum-Kilnsey, Coates, Cowling, Cononley, Draughton, Embsay-with-Eastby, Earby, Eshton, Elslack, Flasby, Famhill, Grassington, Gargrave, Glusburn, Halton (East), Hurtlington, Hebden, Hetton, Hazelwood-with-Storiths, Kettlewell, Kildwick, Linton, Marton (East and West), Nesfield-cum-Langbar, Rylstone, Skipton, Starbottom, Salterforth. Stirton-with-Thorlby, Threshfield, Thorp, Thornton & Winterburn.

Skipton Union

Skipton union comprises the following places:-Addingham, Appletreewick, Bank Newton, Barden, Barnoldswick, Beamsley-in-Addingham, Beamsley-in-Skipton, Bolton Abbey, Boardley, Bracewell, Bradleys (Both), Brogden, Broughton, Buckden, Burnsall, Calton, Carlton, Coates, Coniston Cold, Coniston-with-Kilnsey, Cononley, Cowling, Cracoe, Draughton, Elslack, Embsay-with-Eastby, Eshton, Farnhill, Flasby-with-Winterburn, Gargrave, Glusburn, Grassington, Halton (East), Hartlington, Hazelwood-with-Storiths, Hebden, Hetton, Kettlewell-with-Starbottom, Kildwick, Linton, Marton (East & West), Nesfield-with-Langbar, Rylstone, Salterforth. Skipton or Skipton-in-Craven, Silsden, Stirton-with-Thorlby, Thornton-in-Craven, Thorpe-sub-Montem and Threshfield; gross estimated rental, £195,983; rateable value, £159,139; population in 1871, 32,000.

Union Workhouse, situated on the Gargrave road, about half a mile from the town, is a substantial stone building, enlarged by the addition of new offices & boardroom; William Hardaker, master; Wm. Jackson L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S. Surgeon; Mrs. O. Hardaker, matron.

Places of Worship (with Times of service):—

Holy Trinity Church, Rev. Philip Chabert Kidd M.A. rector; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Christ Church, Rev. William H. Clarke M.A. vicar; Rev. T. L. Jones B.A. curate; 11 a.m. & 6 30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, Rev. R. Sharp S.J.; 8 & 11 a.m. & 7 p.m.

Baptist Chapel, Otley road, Rev. William Judge; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Congregational Chapel, Newmarket street, Rev. Thomas Windsor; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 6.30 p.m.

Primitive Methodist Chapel, Gargrave road, Rev. W. J. Kirkland; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Inghamite’s Preaching Room, Newmarket street, Rev, Daniel Watson; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

Wesleyan Chapel, Water street, Rev. William Greenwood; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

Schools

Grammar.-The Free Grammar school was founded on the 1st of September, 1548, by William Ermysted, clerk, canon residentiary of St. Paul’s, London, with an endowment of £9 15s. 4d. yearly; the present gross value now amounts to about £930 a year, & there are three exhibitions of £7 each, to Christ’s College, Cambridge, founded by William Petyt esq. in 1707: this ancient grammar school has been reconstituted by the Endowed schools Commissioners, & buildings erected in the Elizabethan style, from designs by Paley & Austin, of Lancaster; it is now a handsome, commodious stone structure, capable of holding 50 resident & 50 day scholars, & comprising a hostel for boarders, large school room, class room, laboratory, bath rooms, with residence for headmaster & rooms tor assistant masters; Governors; Ex Officio-T. H.Ingham esq. J.P. Rev. P. C. Kidd M.A. & K. H. Sidgwick esq.; Co-optative-Sir M. Wilson bart. M.P. J. Coulthurst esq. J.P. J. B. Dewhurst esq. J.P. W. Morrison & T. Heelis esqs.; Representative-G. Robinson, W. Parker, R. Little & G. Kendall esqs.; Clerk to the Governors, John Heelis, solicitor; Head Master, Edward Tomson Hartley M.A.; second Master, R. W. Phillips B.A.

British, Thomas Massey, headmaster; A. King, second mastery Mrs. Massey, mistress; Mrs. Witty, assistant mistress.

Christchurch, H, Williams, master; Miss Broughton, mistress.

National, Alfred Hartley, master; Miss Backhouse, mistress; Miss Butterfield, infants’ mistress Catholic, John Barry, master.

Wesleyan, John Burton, master; Mrs, Burton, mistress.