A journey to Scotland in 1759

 

This small notebook records impressions of places visited from Hardwick Hall,  Newsted Abbey, Nottingham, Newark, Lincoln, through Yorkshire to Berwick.  It is part of the Delmé Radcliffe collection, HALS D/ER F163.

I have extracted some thoughts on four Yorkshire towns to illustrate how they have changed in the last 250 years.

It has been dated as 1759, a time when the woollen trade in Yorkshire was growing. The journal notes record that Leeds was better built than Wakefield and situated on the river which had been  made navigable 70 years previously.  Since then the town had increased in buildings and inhabitants.  The merchants had recently “erected a large building in which cloth is placed for market which proclaimed by a bell and lasts for 1 hour and in such short time contracts are made”.

The next stop was at Harrogate spa, a  place “much resorted to in the summer season on account of its waters which are esteemed as efficacious in many disorders  … it is situated on a wild heath  … not like Boston, void of every appearance of cultivation as there is grass and corn grown close to the village.  All unnecessary form and restraint is banished this place as that you may here meet with a more easy introduction than you will find either at Boston or Matlock.”

The party went to Ripon, Fountains Abbey, Thirsk, Pickering and then on to Scarborough where they rested.  Scarborough was clearly a popular resort as it was recorded that “we had frequent opportunities of making many agreeable parties on the water where you may divert yourself with very excellent shooting and fishing, there being an abundance of fish and fowl on this coast.  The town offers excellent accommodation for strangers with lodging accommodation and amusements such as in Bath”.

They had some reservations about York noting that “the cathedral was noble”, “the gaol large and spacious (esteemed the best in the kingdom)” and the “Assembly Room was a most magnificent structure being in length 123 feet, 40 feet breadth and rather more in height”.  However, one of the current charms of the city did not impress.  It was noted that “the city in general is very ill built, the houses being old and the streets narrow.”

Visits were also made to Borough Bridge, Catterick, Richmond, (pleasantly situated on the side of a rising hill), Durham (also pleasantly situated on a hill) and then on to Newcastle, Morpeth and Alnwick where the castle of the Percy family was described as little more than base walls.  However, it was noted that his lordship proposed to lay out large sums on the improvement of it.  The journal ends at Berwick.