12. Sheriff Hutton Castle 130 13. Coxwold Village 136 14. The West Front of the Church of Byland Abbey 140 15. Stonegate, York 150 16. Bootham Bar, York 152 17. New Hall, Pontefract 166 18. Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds 174 19. Haworth Church and ‘Parsonage’ 178 20. Iron Foundries at Brightside, Sheffield 180 _Sketch Map at End of Volume._ CONCERNING THE WOLDS CHAPTER I CONCERNING THE WOLDS On wide uplands of chalk the air has a raciness, the sunlight a purity and a sparkle, not to be found in low lands. There may be no streams, perhaps not even a pond; you may find few large trees, and scarcely any parks; ruined abbeys and even castles may be conspicuously absent, and yet the landscapes have a power of attracting and fascinating. This is exactly the case with the Wolds of Yorkshire, and their characteristics are not unlike the chalk hills of Sussex, or those great expanses of windswept downs, where the weathered monoliths of Stonehenge have resisted sun and storm for ages. When we endeavour to analyse the power of attraction exerted by the Wolds, we find it to exist in the sweeping outlines of the land with scarcely a house to be seen for many miles, in the purity of the air owing to the absence of smoke, in the brilliance of the sunlight due to the whiteness of the roads and fields, and in the wonderful breezes that for ever blow across pasture, stubble, and roots. Unpleasant weather does prevail on this high ground; wet sea-mists sometimes hang there and obliterate every feature; the wind has a power of penetrating the heaviest coats, and the rain is often merciless; but all these things may be said of the Riviera, where one expects uninterrupted days of warm sunshine. Taken as a whole, there is a decided character about Wold weather conditions which appeals to all who belong to the eastern counties of England.