THE FAMILY OF CLOTHING TOWNS.

All the clothing towns present more or less of interesting features to a stranger, chiefly arising from their industrial arrangements. Take Bradford, for example. -a town which has furnished two of our illustrations. (Cuts pp. 39 and 40). It is impossible to approach Bradford from either side without seeing that it is thoroughly a clothing town. Nature seems almost to have planted the spot on purpose. The distance is not far otherwise than equal from Bradford to Halifax, to Leeds, to Keighley, to Wakefield, to Dewsbury, and to Huddersfield: and streams of traffic pass to and fro between them. Bradford was, in Leland's time, a "pretty quick market toune, which standeth much by clothing;" and it has "stood much by clothing" ever since. The streets, the markets, the Cloth Hall, the churches-all are probably about on a level with those of other towns of equal size; but as our topographical details are purposely limited to Leeds and its immediate vicinity, we will notice, in a few lines, how far Bradford and Halifax differ from Leeds in the general character of their wool manufactures.

Bradford and Halifax are famous for varieties of manufactured goods which do not meet the eye at Leeds. Leeds is the head-quarters of woollens, made of short wool, and fulled or milled so as to hide the threads; but Bradford and Halifax are the seat of the worsted or long wool trade, where no attempt is made to hide the woven thread by a nap or pile. The meaning of the word worsted, as here used, is best illustrated by mentioning some of the principal kinds of goods made of long wool-cashmeres,'' orleans,' 'coburgs,' merinos,' lastings,'' alpacas,'' damasks,' 'camlets,'' says,' 'plainbacks:' these are the main results of the spinner's and weaver's labours in the two towns above-named. Mix a little cotton, a little silk, or a little of both, with the long wool, and we have 'challis,'' mousselines-de-laine,' 'paramattas,' 'shalloons,' 'taminets,' fancy-waistcoatings,' and a host of other varieties-all of which spring from this district as a centre.

Such are the forms in which the fleecy clothing of the sheep becomes the fanciful covering of men and women; and such are the directions in which this department of industry gives character and distinctive features to the West Riding of Yorkshire. Leeds, as we have seen, mingles with it a large development of the flax and the engineering trades. When we reach Bradford, we get to the centre of the worsted trade; more worsted, or long-wool yarn, is spun here than in any other town in the kingdom-perhaps in the world: it not only supplies the stuff-manufacturers of other towns in the West Riding, but the shawl-weavers of Paisley, and the bombazeen-weavers of Norwich, come frequently to the same market. At Halifax, the two great staples of the district-the woollens and the worsteds are more evenly divided than at any of the other towns. At Huddersfield, the fancy trade is growing up to a level with the broad-cloth. At Rochdale the worsted trade exhibits itself in the form

TOWER OF THE OLD CHURCH, BRADFORD.

of flannels; and at Dewsbury and Heckmondwike in that of blankets. At Saddleworth, wool and cotton, Yorkshire and Lancashire, come so near to a level in strength, that it is difficult to say which has the precedence: it is a sort of 'border' country, where the wool of the east meets the cotton of the west, and Each of these both use the territory in common. towns-say, about seven in number-has a belt of villages around it-a group of little satellites, which follow the fortune of their primaries; and the primaries and satellites together form the busy, populous, intelligent, and wealthy

'CLOTHING DISTRICT OF THE WEST RIDING,'

York, then, stands on the rivers Ouse and Foss, just at the point where they join. As if to mark the importance of the city, it is made a county in itself. Situated exactly at the junction of the three Ridings of this large county, it belongs to none of them. The county or ainsty of York city comprises a small tract of land around the city; but three-fourths of the population of the ainsty live within the city itself. York is one of the few English cities which yet retain their boundary walls; and one of the finest modes of viewing the noble Minster on all sides is to traverse the city wall (so far as it is open for this purpose), and turn the eye towards the venerable structure whenever a favourable opportunity occurs. If the spectator can catch the reflection of the morning sun from the east window, or of the setting sun from the glorious west front, he will indeed be repaid. The city is entered by four gates in the wall, from four different directions. The two rivers are crossed by several bridges, which connect the two portions of the city.

The history of York, as a fortified city, is not without interest; for we cannot stand on the venerable wall without speculating on the circumstances which have left this relic of past ages yet standing. York existed before the arrival of the Romans in Britain; but, like other ancient British towns, it was perhaps nothing more than a collection of huts, surrounded by a trench and the trunks of the trees which had been cut down to clear a sufficient space in the forest. It was converted into a Roman station about A.D. 80: its original British name of Eborac being retained in the Latin name Eboracum. It very soon became the principal Roman station in the north; it was the head-quarters of one of the Roman legions; it was the residence of the emperors when they visited the province; and it was the town in which two of the emperors died. That the Romans fortified York is abundantly evident. One of the angle towers and a portion of the Roman wall yet remain; and in recent excavations there have been discovered a further portion of wall, the remains of two wall-towers, and the foundation of one of the gates of the station. It is supposed that, as a Roman station, it occupied a space of about C50 yards by 550, enclosed by a wall and a rampart mound on the inner side of the wall, and a fosse on the outside; with four angletowers, a series of minor towers or turrets, and four gates or principal entrances, from which proceeded military roads to the neighbouring stations. There have also been found, on the north-west and south-west, numerous relics, which point to Eboracum as having been an important and populous station. The Roman multangular tower, yet remaining, is a remarkable specimen of the strength which the Romans threw into their structures. This interesting relic stands near the lodge of the Yorkshire Society's Museum. English coins have been found in the upper part of the ruins of this tower, and Roman coins in the lower part.

After the desolating struggles which followed the departure of the Romans, York disappears from historical view for a time; but we meet it next as the

The present fortifications of York were formed at various periods subsequent to the Conquest; but it is not well-known in whose reigns, or at what dates. In the time of Edward the Confessor, York is said to have consisted of seven wards, of which one belonged to the archbishop, and one was occupied by the castle. It is unquestioned that the present walls inclose a greater area than those of early times; but in the architecture of the walls, which have been so often repaired and in part rebuilt, there is nothing characteristic of any particular age. So far as a date can be assigned, that of the year 1280, in the reign of Edward I., has been named as about the time when the walls were probably built. The city must have presented rather a formidable appearance in the time of Henry VIII.; for Leland gives the following account of it: "The great tower at Lendal had a chain of iron to cast over the river, then another tower, and so on to Bootham Bar; from thence to Monk Bar ten towers, and to Layerthorpe Postern four towers; for some distance the deep waters of the Foss defended this part of the city without the walls; and from thence to Walmgate Bar three towers; then Fishergate Bar, walled up in the time of Henry VII., and three towers, the last a postern; from which by a bridge over the Foss, to the Castle, and the ruins of five towers, were all that remained of it. On the west side of the river was put a tower, from which the wall passed over the dungeon to the Castle or Old Bailey, with nine towers to Micklegate Bar; and between it and North-street Postern ten towers; the postern was opposite to the tower at Lendal, to draw the chain over the river between them."

The walls have never in modern times entirely sur rounded the city; there being a space, on the eastern side, of about five hundred yards in length, which till recently was a kind of morass. The extent of the walls is about two miles and a half. The greater portion of the terrace, or upper surface of the wall, is open to the public as a promenade; the wall being thick enough to give breadth to the terrace. There are four principal gates, and five postern gates. The principal gates are called Bars; they are the Micklegate Bar, Bootham Bar, Monk Bar, and Walmgate Bar. Micklegate Bar is the principal entrance into York; it is situated on the south-west side of the city; the barbican and doors were removed a few years ago; over this gate the heads of criminals executed for high treason used to be exposed. Bootham Bar is the entrance from the north-west; it has the most modern appearance of any of the bars; the barbican has been removed. Monk Bar is on the north-eastern side; it is very ancient, and the battlements are ornamented with statues of men in the act of hurling stones; the barbican,

as in the two former cases, has been removed. Walmgate Bar, on the south-east side of the city, is the only one which retains its barbican and gates; it has recently been restored, and presents a very interesting appearance of this kind of military architecture. Besides the above four bars and the five posterns, two additional entrances have been made through the walls within the last few years; one is a re-opening of an old entrance, which was closed in the time of Henry VII.; the other has been made to admit the railway to run into the station in the heart of the town.

The Castle, like some other of the castles of England, has fallen from its high estate: it is no longer a majestic defence for a great city, but a prison for malefactors. It must once have been a noble place, for the area within the walls covers a space of four acres. The castle-yard, in which the nomination of the county members takes place, will contain 40,000 persons. Until the beginning of the present century, the chief entrance to the castle was on the west side, and was approached over the then existing moat by a drawbridge, defended by towers; but the only entrance now existing is on the north. The old castle stood on the south side of the castle-yard: it was converted into a jail for the use of the county; it was finally pulled down in 1701; and the structure now called the Old Buildings, for male debtors, was erected on its site. Another building has been erected, for the reception of female debtors and criminals; but by far the largest building within the castle precincts, and the most important structure in York, next to the cathedral, is the new County Prison, which cost more than £200,000, and is one of the strongest places of the kind in England. The relics of Clifford's Tower present a far more interesting object, however, to the lovers of old times, than these new and costly prisons. This tower was built by William the Conqueror; it was placed in the hands of a member of the Clifford family, as governor; and was used as the donjon, or keep, of the fortress. Around it was a deep moat with palisades; the entrance, which was next to the castle, was over a drawbridge, whence extended a flight of steps up the slope of the mound on which the tower is built. Thus did it remain till its destruction by an accidental explosion, in the seventeenth century, since which time it has been only a fragment-a rugged venerable fragment.

YORK MINSTER: THE EXTerior. There has always been an interesting ecclesiastical history connected with our cathedral towns. Very frequently the cathedral itself was the germ of the town; and in some cases the history of the church structure connected with the town extends farther back than any of the authentic records of the place. respect to York, we are told that, in the seventh century, Edwin, king of Northumbria, was baptized at York by Paulinus; and that the same monarch erected the first Christian church at that place, in which

In

many of the kings were consecrated, enthroned, and buried. Seward the Dane, who was Earl of Northumberland in the reign of Edward the Confessor, built a church at York, dedicated to the royal Danish Saint Olaf or Olave. An interesting portion of the Saxon church erected by Paulinus has been recently brought to light, beneath the choir of the present cathedral; and fragments of crosses, or commemorative pillars, and some coffins of stone and wood, belonging to the Saxon period, have occasionally been found. The church in which Edwin had been baptized was hastily built of wood; but soon afterwards Paulinus induced the king to lay the foundation of a larger and more magnificent structure, which was finished by his successors, aided by the most eminent artists from the continent. It was destroyed by fire in 741; rebuilt in a style of great magnificence a few years afterwards; burnt down again in 1070; and again rebuilt by Archbishop Thomas. From remains of the crypt, discovered during recent excavations, and preserved beneath the floor of the present choir, there appears to have been a good deal of grandeur and beauty in the edifice here alluded to. The cathedral was again considerably injured by fire in 1137; but not so much as to require rebuilding : repairs, alterations, and additions were made. It is not exactly known at what times and by whom the various portions of the present noble structure were built; but enough is determined, to show that a period of more than three centuries witnessed these gradual additions. The various new works, after the dilapidation in 1137, were executed by Archbishop Roger. The present south transept is supposed to have been built by Archbishop Walter Grey, between 1220 and 1241. The rebuilding of the north transept is believed to have been begun by the same prelate, but not completed till several years after his death. The date assigned for the commencement of the exquisite and almost unrivalled chapter-house is 1284; but the finishing did not take place till the next century. The present nave was begun in the year 1291, in the archiepiscopate of John Le Romain; but was not finished till the time of Archbishop Thoresby, in 1360. The choir was commenced by the prelate just named; but, as in most other parts of the building, the works extended over a great length of time, and were not finished till 1472. The central tower was nearly finished about that time; and the north-west tower, probably the latest portion of the present exterior, was brought to a completion towards the close of the same century.

We thus find, that during a period of nearly nine centuries works were almost constantly in hand, for the rebuilding or enlarging of a cathedral church at York; and that the spot where those works were carried on is the same as that which is now graced by the noble and venerable structure. Three centuries and a half have witnessed a few fires and a few dilapidations; but the cathedral is essentially the same as that which reared its head in feudal times. Strange is it that two of the principal features of this structure should have been