A1-The Great North Road
Topcliffe may appear a small and insignificant place but it has an illustrious history, very much on the Great North Road.
This wood engraving appeared in 1939 in Yorkshire Tour, by Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley. There has been over half a century of tree growth since and the church is now hardly visible from the side Great North Road, just before the it turns to cross the Swale, where Hartley sat with her sketch pad.
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John Illingworth's 1938 sketch |
Earthworks, known the Maiden Bower, just south east of Topcliffe
on a low ridge surrounded by marshland on the
north bank of the Swale by its junction with the Cod Beck, are all that remains of a
castle of the Percy family, Earls of Northumberland.
Illingworth described Topcliffe Castle, as one of the best preserved mount and baileys in Yorkshire. |
But Topcliffe's history goes back further. Look at this extract from Langdale's 1822 Yorkshire Topographical Dictionary. (Thanks to Colin Hinson at Genuki)
"Topcliffe formerly denominated the Jordan of England, because in the year 620, Agustin and Paul baptized in this river Swale 10,000 men in one day, besides women and children. This took place somewhere between Topcliffe and Helperby. Leland calls Topcliffe "a pretty uplandish town." it is most remarkable for having been, in the olden time, the chief residence of the Percies, Earls of Northumberland. Their house was situated about half a mile south of the town, the ruins of which are yet visible, and called " Maiden-bower." The following events appear to have taken place in this house and at Topcliffe. In 948, the states of Northumberland assembled here and took the oath of allegiance to King Edred, the west Saxon. In 1459, Henry, the 4th Earl of Northumberland, then Lord Lieutenant of the county, was murdered in his mansion here, by the populace, whose minds were inflamed, in consequence of a heavy tax being levied by the parliament. Thomas Percy, the succeeding Earl, in 1569, took up arms against Queen Elizabeth, and was nearly taken in this house; he was afterwards executed in 1572. In 1646, the Scotch army were quartered here and in the neighbourhood. Charles I. was a prisoner in this house, and a treaty was carried on for the sale of the King, between the Scots commissioners and a committee appointed by parliament, while he was kept a prisoner. It was agreed that the parliament should give £100,000 which should be paid at Topcliffe and the King delivered up, which was performed; thus, it would seem, as if this was the only market in England for the sale of Kings. --Hutton. The Church was granted in 1206, by one of the Percy family to the See of York."
But there is a bit missing from the account about the oath of allegiance to King Edred. Here's Bulmer's account from 1890:
"In the year 946, says an old writer, "King Edred came to Tadenclif (Topcliffe), and there Wulstan, the archebyshop of Yorke, and al the Northumbrian witan plighted their troth to the King, and al the nobilitie of the northe countrie made their homage to Edred, the king of England, at this towne." As soon as Edred and his army had departed, the Northumbrians renounced their allegiance and chose Eric, the Dane, to reign over them. Whereupon Edred again marched his army into Yorkshire, burnt the minster at Ripon, ravaged the country, and so harried the people that they were fain to renew their submission, and purchase his clemency by large sums of money."
And click here for an account of the how "Henry Percy, the fourth earl of Northumberland, in 1489, fell a victim to royal arrogance and his own rashness, at the hands of an infuriated mob". His body was taken, in great pageant, first to Wressle Castle, near Selby, and then to Beverley. The first leg of this journey would have been along some version of the Great North Road.
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Swale Bridge at Topcliffe, was built in 1622, its width doubled in 1786 and further widened in 1954 to provide footpaths. |
The road curves round the old toll house as it approaches the bridge. |
The Tollbooth, once the market hall and courthouse, still survives, as does the stump of the old market cross. Until 1969 Topcliffe had a July fair that was an annual rendezvous for horse-dealers and travelling folk from all over the country but the village moves with the times. A remarkably high proportion of the lovely old cottages and houses now enjoy the benefits of UPVC window frames.
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The good people of Topcliffe keep their milepost smartly painted. |
The A167 between Topcliffe and Northallerton is a quiet road these days, with through traffic using either the A1 to the west or the A168 which leads to the A19 at Thirsk. A reminder that this was indeed once the Great North Road are the cast iron mileposts. Only four of the original dozen that measured this stretch of road remain but there are three more north of Northallerton. |
This post stands on an ancient sandstone slab. |
But not so fast. If we look at Armstrong's map from 1776 or Warburton's from 1720, we find no road where the A167 now runs between Topcliffe and Catton Moor. Instead the Great North Road took the scenic loop along the north bank of the Swale, now an unclassified road.
Lincolnshire
©Biff Vernon 2001, 2002
