The Ark (Tadcaster)

The Ark is a historic building on Kirkgate in Tadcaster, a town in North Yorkshire, England. The building was constructed in the late 15th century, and was altered in the 17th century. A tradition claims that the Pilgrim Fathers met at the building, to plan their voyage to the Americas. In 1672, it was known as "Morley Hall", and was owned by Robert Morley. He registered it that year as an independent meeting hall for Congregationalists, one of the first to be legally registered. The building was later converted into a pub, the Old Falcon Inn.

In 1959, John Smiths Brewery purchased the building, and converted it into a museum covering local history, in particular the local brewing industry. They rebuilt part of the structure, using original timbers, and added a small extension on its left-hand side. In 1985, the building was upgraded to be Grade II* listed. The museum closed in 1988, and the building became the headquarters of Tadcaster Town Council. The building is two storeys high, and consists of a two-bay hall, and a single-bay crosswing. The building is timber-framed over a Magnesian Limestone and brick base, and the roof is covered in pantiles. The upper floor is slightly jettied, and it has an oriel window with wooden mullions. The gable is supported by two brackets, depicting the heads of a man and woman, reputed to be Noah and Noah's wife, which had led the building to be named after Noah's Ark. There is a replica of the building in Berlin Center, Ohio, which serves as an animal sanctuary.

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Old Vicarage, Tadcaster

The Old Vicarage is a historic building in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. The building was constructed in the late 13th century, probably as a priest's house. It was rebuilt in about 1500, and has been altered and extended in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. It served for many years as a vicarage, then as a boarding school, and later as the local headquarters of the British Legion. It was Grade II* listed in 1992, and was most recently restored in 1995. Samuel Smith's Brewery, which owns a large number of buildings in Tadcaster, purchased the building in the 1990s and undertook a multi-million pound restoration project that exceeded the requirements set by English Heritage. Upon completion of the restoration in 1995, the vicar of St Mary's Church was informed that the Old Vicarage was intended as her new residence. However, the vicar, who already had a home, declined the offer. Consequently, the building has remained uninhabited since its renovation. The two-storey building is constructed of limestone, infilled in places with brick and breeze blocks. It has a slate roof, with a single gable and a stone chimney. Many of the doors and windows have been blocked over the years, with others created, but early features include a round-headed door on the north-west front. Inside, the former hall was subdivided with stud walls, which survive on the first floor. The roof has a king post structure.

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Calcaria

Calcaria was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today, it is known as Tadcaster, located in the English county of North Yorkshire. The Romans founded the settlement and named it Calcaria from the Latin word for lime kilns, reflecting the importance of the area's Magnesian Limestone geology as a natural resource for quarrying. The nature of the settlement is uncertain. It is possible that it started as an Imperial staging post with a mansio because of its location at a river crossing on the road from Danum (Doncaster) to Eburacum (York). Just to the north-west is the Roman fort at Newton Kyme (possibly Praesidium) dating from the 4th century. Mileages on the Antonine Itinerary suggest that Calcaria may have lain well west of Tadcaster.

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Tadcaster

Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, 15 miles (24 km) north-east of Leeds and 10 miles (16 km) south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the lowest road crossing-point on the River Wharfe until the construction of the A64 Tadcaster by-pass some 660 yards (600 m) to the south, in 1978. There are two rail crossings downstream of the town before the Wharfe joins the River Ouse near Cawood. Thanks to its position on the banks of the River Wharfe parts of the town adjacent to the bridge are prone to flooding. The town was part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974, but is now part of North Yorkshire. Tadcaster is twinned with Saint-Chély-d'Apcher in France.

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Battle of Tadcaster

The Battle of Tadcaster took place during the First English Civil War on 7 December 1642, when a Royalist force attacked the Parliamentarian garrison of Tadcaster, Yorkshire, which was held by between 900 and 1,500 soldiers under the command of Ferdinando Fairfax, Lord Fairfax. The Earl of Newcastle marched out of York on 6 December, and split his force of 6,000 into two; he took 4,000 infantry down the main York–Tadcaster road to attack the town from the east, while sending a deputy, the Earl of Newport, with a further 1,500 to circle around and trap the Parliamentarians by attacking from the north-west. Newcastle's infantry engaged the town on the morning of 7 December, but after some initial minor incursions, the battle settled into an exchange of musket fire. Newport's detachment never joined the battle. Fairfax was nevertheless forced to retreat overnight, as he was running short of gunpowder, and Newcastle occupied the town the following day. He subsequently garrisoned a number of nearby towns, and cut Fairfax off from the West Riding of Yorkshire.

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