Yorkshire Holiday - Thursday, 16th September - Part 2 The Parish Church of the Holy Trinity, Skipton and Pendle Heritage Centre

After visiting the castle the rest of the family headed off in search of food which gave me half an hour to have a brief look round the church.

The first church on the site was built around the start of the 12th century and was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. No traces remain of this earlier church but around 1300 construction of the present church began and the church was extended in the 15th century. During the siege of Skipton Castle canon shot damaged the church tower in 1645 and Lady Anne Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, paid for repairs to the tower and Clifford Tombs in 1655. Alterations to the church occurred in the 19th century and there was a major restoration in 1909.



The stone font probably dates back to 1300 and Lady Anne was baptised here at the age of 3 weeks. The intricately carved, 3-tiered, oak font cover is Jacobean.

During the Middle Ages an Anchorite was a man or woman who lived in a cell attached to the church where they had decided to spend their life away from the world spending the time praying and meditating. The cell entrance would be bricked up after the person had entered the cell and a small window was left to allow light, a view of the altar and food. It is possible that what can be seen in the photo below was used as an anchorite cell - it was discovered in 1909 during restoration and rebuilding work.

Skipton Parish Church became the main burial place of the Clifford family following the dissolution of Bolton Priory in 1539.

This is the tomb of the 1st Earl of Cumberland, Lady Anne Clifford's great grandfather.

The tomb of Francis, Lord Clifford who was Lady Anne's younger brother who died at the age of five.

The tomb of Lady Anne's father George, 3rd Earl of Cumberland. He was born in Brougham Castle, 1558 and died in 1605. He was a friend of Queen Elizabeth I, the Queen's Champion and a renowned navigator. He fought the Spaniards in the west Indies and again during the Armada in 1588. Decorating the sides of the tomb are 17 coloured armorial shields showing his ancestry in heraldic terms. It was erected by Lady Anne in 1654 in memory of her father.

This memorial was placed on the north wall in 1631 by Henry, the 5th and last Earl of Cumberland in memory of 3 sons who all died in childhood.

Lady Anne is buried next to her mother at Appleby church.


This organ replaced an earlier one which had been destroyed by fire during a lightning strike. The new organ was made by Rushworth and Draper of Liverpool in 1925.

The stained glass is beautiful - some is very old while other windows are 19th/20th century.

As usual with very little time available I managed to miss some important features e.g. a Kempe Window, a church mouse carving by furniture maker Robert Thompson, a medieval wall painting showing the Hand of Death and I was particularly annoyed to have missed a Green Man Roof Boss :(





We set off home around mid-afternoon. We had travelled up via the M1 but B decided to set the satellite navigation to plan the journey home (which ended up being via M65 and M6 :( ). While I was studying the map trying to work out which way we were going I noticed that we were very close to Pendle. D has been pestering me for ages to go for a day out in this area as he is fascinated by the story of the Pendle Witches. We managed to persuade B to make a mile detour so we could have a look round the Pendle Heritage Centre - it seemed silly to miss out when we were so close especially as it is such a long way for one day out.

The museum in the Heritage Centre was very interesting telling the story of a Lancashire farmhouse, dating back to the 15th century, in which the museum is located. The building has been meticulously restored to show how the house developed over the centuries. The history of two families that lived there, the Bannister and Swinglehursts, is also told. There is a very good exhibition (and video) on the Pendle Witches and their famous trial in 1612.

18th century walled garden.

Sadly, we weren't able to spend as long there as we would have liked but we did buy a booklet on the Pendle Witch trail so I do hope we can return one day.



(the Pendle photos were taken by D - I'd left my camera in the car).



Reference: A History and Guide to the Parish Church of the Holy Trinity, Skipton

Yorkshire Holiday - Thursday, 15th September - Skipton, Part 1: Town and Castle

Our final day of the holiday and we decided to drive just a few miles to Skipton, a historic market town, known as the Gateway to the Dales.

We had a walk round the town centre first.

E was pleased to see a coffee shop named after her! :)

More cakes! I came back from the holiday needing to go on a drastic diet.

*D

The Parish Church of the Holy Trinity

Skipton Castle which we visited an hour or so later.

Now a boat named after E!

We walked back to the car park via the Earl of Thanet's Springs Canal - this area is called Mill Bridge and is probably the oldest route into Skipton following an ancient trade route.

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A bronze statue erected in tribute to the cricketing legend the late Fred Trueman - one of the greatest fast cricketing bowlers in history and known as "Fiery Fred". My mother was a huge fan!

The car park ticket was about to expire so we moved the car nearer to the castle.



Skipton Castle - one of the best preserved and complete medieval castles in England.

The castle dates from 1090 and was much strengthened in 1310 by Robert, the first Earl of Clifford, who was granted the castle by Edward II. Skipton remained the Clifford's principal seat until 1676. During the English Civil war there was a long siege of 3 years between 1642 and 1645 by the Parliamentary Roundhead Army. Cromwell's forces failed to take the castle which was the last remaining Royalist stronghold after the Battle of Marston Moor. Sir John Mallory as head of the Royal Garrison negotiated a surrender with the parliamentary troops and on 21st December, 1645, at the end of the siege the gates (seen in the photo below) were finally thrown open and Sir John Mallory led his troops through Cromwell's army and along Skipton High Street.

Mary, Queen of Scots, was held as a temporary prisoner at the castle.

12th century Chapel of St John the Evangelist

The chapel may have fell into disuse or was vandalised during the Civil War and was used over the centuries as a coach house, stable and cattle byre. The medieval font was returned to the chapel after lying in the Conduit Court of the castle for 300 years.

This ancient well was recently re-discovered. It was used by castle residents during the Civil War siege after the main water supply had been destroyed by Cromwell's soldiers.

After a cup of tea (no cake!) we had a look round the castle interior - you enter via the Lady Anne's steps.

The Conduit Court - so called because it marked the end of the spring water supply used by the castle. The tree - a yew - was planted in 1659 by Lady Anne Clifford. It now has a 9 metre girth.

The Coat of Arms of John Clifford, the 9th Lord of Skipton - he was known as "The Butcher" due to his savagery when fighting in battles.

You are given a very informative Tour Sheet just to make sure you don't miss any of the rooms. There was lots of interest to see but I am including photos of just a few of the rooms.

The Banqueting Hall (1390-1450) the social centre of a medieval castle where Lord and Lady Clifford and residents and guests would have dined each day.

The Medieval Kitchen used between 1300 and 1680. Meat would have been roasted in the large fireplace.

View from the window in the Withdrawing Room. This room would have been the main living area of Lady Clifford, her children and her gentle women.

One of the rooms in the Watch Tower

Entrance to the dungeon

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Medieval Mason Marks

The final post on the holiday will include a visit to Skipton Church (the rest of the family went off in search of food while I had half an hour to explore) and a brief stop in the Pendle area on the way home.

*D - photos taken by D with the Canon SX50