Day 2

 Day 2

Breakfast at the hotel.

We had talks on the bus about the dissolution of the monasteries. It was presented by Elizabeth Norton, a visiting historian. Succinctly, they were rich and a target,  as 20% of land was held by them. What was claimed from them went to Henry VIII. This occurred between 1536 and 1541.

As a result of the dissolution, the Pilgrimage of Grace occurred. Nicola Tallis explained that the  Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536, before spreading to other parts of Northern England including Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham and north Lancashire, under the leadership of Robert Aske. The "most serious of all Tudor period rebellions", it was a protest against Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church, the dissolution of the lesser monasteries, and the policies of the King's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, as well as other specific political, social, and economic grievances.^[2]

With this background we then visited Fountains Abbey which was a highlight of the trip. The Abbey buildings and land were seized by the Crown, and sold on 1 October 1540 to Sir Richard Gresham, at the time a Member of Parliament (MP) and previously Lord Mayor of London, the father of Sir Thomas Gresham. It was Richard Gresham who had supplied Cardinal Wolsey with the tapestries for his new residence of Hampton Court and who paid for the Cardinal's funeral.^[56]

In 1597 the site was acquired by Sir Stephen Proctor, who built Fountains Hall. Between 1627 and 1767 the estate was owned by the Messenger family. They sold it to William Aislabie who was responsible for combining it with the Studley Royal Estate.^[57]

The abbey is a Grade I listed building owned by the National Trust and is part of the designated Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[58]

Loved Fountains Abbey

I enjoyed this stop so much. I would have liked more time. We then left to see Markenfield Hall. Markenfield Hall is an early 14th-century moated manor house about 3 miles (5 km) south of Ripon, North Yorkshire, England.

The present house was built for John de Markenfield, an associate of Piers Gaveston and a servant of Edward II. The Crown granted a licence to crenellate Markenfield in 1310, the same year that John was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.^[10] Sir Thomas Markenfield was appointed High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1484 and fought on the side of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. In 1569 Thomas de Markenfield was involved in the pro-Catholic Rising of the North and fled to the Continent.^[11] Markenfield was confiscated and granted to Thomas Egerton, Master of the Rolls.

A news item about the property in May 2019 provided an update with photographs of the interior. The occupant at that time was Lady Deirdre, known as Lady Grantley for some years (née Deirdre Elisabeth Mary Freda Hare) and more recently, as Lady Deirdre Curteis,^[12] widow of the 7th Lord Grantley, who had died in 1995.^[16] Lady Deirdre married her second husband, Ian Bayley Curteis, the dramatist and television director, in 2001. The ceremony was held in the chapel which had been restored and refurnished by that time;^[17] this was the first wedding to be held there since 1487.^[18] Ian Curteis died on 24 November 2021, aged 86.

Markenfield Hall

We also visited Newby Hall.

The Hall was sold in the 1690s to Sir Edward Blackett, an MP for the constituency of Ripon. He demolished the existing manor house and in 1697 built a new mansion, reputedly with the assistance of Sir Christopher Wren. The present owners, the Compton family, are matrilineal descendants of William Weddell, a member of Parliament. They have restored the property.

Its contents weremcollected by an ancestor on the Grand Tour, include a rare setoff Gobelin tapestries, a statue gallery and Chippendale furniture.

We had champagne and canapes in the Statue Gallery. This was a lovely afternoon!

We left there and heard a talk by Alison on royal weddings and then returned to the Hotel.

York Minster

Lynn Henley in front of Henley sign!

View near our hotel in York

Lynn and I walked down to eat fish and chips at Drakes, but they were closed. We ended up in another pub and split. I also had a very large beer, after a long day.