it to have been built during the reign of Elizabeth, and to have been sometime the residence of Edward Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury.

Leland says, that it was formerly a manor house belonging to the Pierrepoint family; and notes, that the estates of Robert Pierrepoint, ancestor of the earls of Kingston, included all the land contiguous to this place, as well as the lands near the village of Mexburgh, and the manors of Northaneston and Southaneston.

In Evelyn's Memoirs ii. 225, in the diary of his journey to Pontefract, it is also stated to be the residence of a branch of the family of Pierrepoints: thus- 17 August, 1654.-Passed thro' Pontefract, the castle famous for many sieges, both of late and ancient times, and the death of that unhappy king murdered in it, (Richard II.) was now demolishing by the rebells; it stands on a mount and makes a goodly shew at a distance. The Queene has an house here, and there are many faire seats neere it, especialy Mr. Pierrepoint's, built at the foot of an hill out of the castle ruines.'

On entering the court, is an old gateway, over which is rudely engraven in stone, a coat of arms, having for its supporters, two Talbots; and immediately on the opposite side of this gateway, is the principal entrance, over which is also the figure of a Talbot, and the date 1591. None of the grants of Edward VI. to lord George Talbot, mention this mansion, although it is very probable to have been the residence of a branch of the Talbot family. It is stated, that the last branch of this family was a lady, who bequeathed the land here to archbishop Dawes, whose only daughter married Edwin, earl of Harewood, and thus it became the property of this noble family.

The rooms of this hall were very lofty and spacious: in the upper story one of them was ninety feet in length. The roof was covered with lead, and from the top a rich and picturesque country was perceived. It was occupied by different tenants as a farm-house, until within a short period, when the lead being taken off, its timbers were exposed to the weather, and consequently became the prey of the iron-grasp of time. Within its precincts a neat farm-house has lately been erected by Mr. John Brice.

A traveller on visiting this mansion, in the year 1806, thus describes his entrance into it: The doors being open, I made my way in, not without that portion of tremor usual on such occasions; which silence and the look of these deserted places inspire. As I proceeded from chamber to chamber, these unpleasant accompaniments rather increased, until the last I heard a noise. Here that struggle

with reason took place, which all understand, and but few can satisfactorily explain; therefore I quickly regained the open air, and that composure necessary in these cases.'

On the road near unto St. Thomas Hill, and betwixt this mansion house and or Stump Cross, is a deep ravine, cut through the solid rock, forming a part of the road, which has acquired the name of 'Nevison's Leap,' from the following singular tale :—' Nevison a noted highwayman of the last century, having committed a robbery in the neighbourhood of Pontefract, and being closely pressed by his pursuers, in order to make his escape desperately leapt across the road, where the rock is cut through at the greatest width, and thus eluded for awhile, the grasp of his pursuers.

THE MARKET CROSS.

The present market cross was erected in the year 1734, on the site of the ancient cross of St. Oswald, by the lady of Solomon Dupier,* a a gentleman who resided here a short time, as appears by the inscription on one end of the cross.

'Erected by Mrs. Elizabeth Dupier, relict of Solomon

Dupier, gentleman, in a cheerful, and generous com-
pliance with his benevolent intention, 1734.'

The cross is composed of a handsome dome, supported upon pillars of the doric order, and had on its first erection a flat roof surrounded by a stone ballustrade. It was newly beautified in the year 1671,† and on the decay of the roof, the style was altered to the present one, during the months of August and September, in the year 1763, the alteration costing the inhabitants the sum of 461. 3s. 10d.

Gough reprobates the removal of the ancient cross and says, 'as if Pontefract was to shew no evidence of its splendor, St. Oswald's cross gave place within these thirty years to an unmeaning market-house.* The old cross of St Oswald, commonly called Osgood-cross, gave the denomination to the hundred or wapontake, and was a sanctuary at which none could be arrested. It had a freed way to it, as well as an unpaved portion of ground, of about two yards in breadth surrounding it; within which boundary, as tradition hath it, the corporate body of the town could not seize any person for debt, &c.

The erection of the conduit near the cross, was commenced in the year 1571, and finished in the following year, during the reign of queen

Solomon Dupier was one of the garrison of Gibraltar at the time of the siege by sir George Rooke; after which period he came over into England with a captain Lay, who had been with sir George Rooke, and resided here in the enjoyment of a pension. + Gent's History ii. 41.

Mary.

Being in a ruinous state about the year 1810 and the supplies of water being insufficient for the public use; a clause was inserted in the act of parliament, 50, Geo. III. sess. 1810, wherein the pump, its pipes, and all other appurtenances belonging to it were vested in the power of the commissioners of the streets, who where bound to see it kept in proper repair.

THE STUMP CROSS.

About a mile to the north of Pontefract, on a hill near the Newhall, and adjoining upon the road from Ferrybridge, is the base of an ancient cross, ornamented with three arches on each side, measuring in length about two feet five inches, and in breadth one foot four inches. On its top is a square cavity about two feet in length and one foot in breadth. The shaft of this cross, which was about five feet in height, was ornamented with sculpture, and Browne, in ancient sculpture and painting, observes, that the sculptures which were on the shaft bespeak it Roman.' In the accompanying plate of this cross, three sides of the shaft are given, from Gough's edition of Camden's Britannia iii. 263, plate IV. and as it was not noticed by him from whence the representation is taken, it may be probable that they were copied from some drawings in the possession of the antiquarian society.

At what period this cross was erected or for what particular purpose is uncertain. The Romans made their prowess manifest' by their monuments and inscriptions, fastened into the walls of churches, and by many columns engraven with Roman work, &c.t' And it was also customary with them to erect on the highways, pillars of stone, whereon they inscribed distances of their cities, &c.; whence the phrase ad tertium, quartum &c. lapidum, to the third or fourth stone, signifying so many miles. They also had their Terminus, the god who presided over boundaries and land marks, and in honor of this god they held their feast, terminalia. The christians also had their crosses to mark the boundaries of townships and parishes; and, therefore, though the shaft might be Roman, and erected by that people, as a memento of some victorious achievement ;-it might, after the introduction of christianity, be chosen to form part of the cross, on account of its antiquity, and the elegance of its workmanship. The stump cross answers as a boundary mark, between the townships of Ferry-Fryston and Pontefract.

Camden's Britannia, 286. Gent's Hist. Comp. Rom. ii. appx. 29. + Speed's Great Britain, b. I. p. 377, c. 39.

Mag. Brit. Oxfordshire, ix. 212.