Westwick, North Yorkshire

Westwick is a civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It lies 3 miles (5 km) west of Boroughbridge, on the south bank of the River Ure. It is a small parish of only 422 acres (171 ha), and consists of a few scattered houses. In 2012 the population of the parish was estimated at 10. As the population was less than 100 at the 2011 Census details are included by ONS in the civil parish of Skelton-on-Ure.

Westwick was historically a township in the ancient parish of Ripon in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It became a separate civil parish in 1866. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the Borough of Harrogate, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council. Westwick Lock, one of two locks on the navigable section of the River Ure, is in the parish.

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Bishop Monkton Ings

Bishop Monkton Ings is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or SSSI, situated east of Bishop Monkton village in North Yorkshire, England. It consists mostly of marshy, calcareous grassland, with some broadleaved woodland, and some fen alongside the two watercourses which run through the site. This varied wetland forms a habitat for a variety of plants, including the semi-parasitic marsh lousewort (Pedicularis palustris).

Way of the Roses

The Way of the Roses is a coast-to-coast long-distance cycle route of Great Britain and is based on minor roads, disused railway lines and specially constructed cycle paths. It lies entirely within the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire, crossing the Yorkshire Dales and the Yorkshire Wolds in the North of England, passing through the historic cities of Lancaster, Ripon and York and scenic towns and villages including Settle and Pateley Bridge At 170 miles (270 km) long, the route is designed for the whole range of cyclists, from families to cycling club riders. Although a challenge with some hard climbs, the highest point being over 1,312 feet (400 m), the route is steadily increasing in popularity and is fully open and signed. The route is named after the Wars of the Roses, a 15th-century war between the English dynastic families Lancaster and York.

Equestrian statue of Charles II trampling Cromwell

An equestrian statue of Charles II trampling Cromwell stands near Newby Hall in North Yorkshire, England. It was previously sited at Gautby Hall in Lincolnshire, and was originally installed at the Stocks Market in the City of London. It is a Grade II listed building. The 17th-century statue is made of Carrara marble. It shows a man with the features of King Charles II in armour and riding a horse, which is walking over and trampling a figure lying on the ground representing Oliver Cromwell. The rider holds bronze reins in his left hand and a staff in his right hand. The sculpture stands on a tall plinth of stone ashlars, with moulded base and cornice, and rounded ends. The original sculpture was made in Italy, but the sculptor is not known. It portrayed the Polish commander John III Sobieski riding down a Turkish soldier (said by some sources to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Vienna in 1683, although it pre-dates the battle by at least a decade). A similar sculpture was made by Franciszek Pinck to a design by André-Jean Lebrun and erected in 1788 as part of the John III Sobieski Monument (Śródmieście, Warsaw) in Łazienki Park in Warsaw, which was based on Bernini's equestrian statue of Louis XIV and a sculpture of c. 1693 in Wilanów Palace, also in Warsaw, perhaps inspired by the 1686 portrait of Sobieski by Jerzy Siemiginowski-Eleuter. The sculpture may have been made for the King of Poland or the Polish ambassador in London, but it was bought in c. 1672 by the London goldsmith and banker Sir Robert Vyner, 1st Baronet, who was a strong supporter of Charles II, and who had made Charles's new coronation regalia to replace items sold or destroyed before or under the Commonwealth. Vyner had the head of the rider remodelled by Jasper Latham to resemble Charles. The figure interpreted as "Cromwell" retains a distinctly Turkish appearance, including a turban. Vyner had offered in 1668 to donate a statue of Charles for the Royal Exchange when it was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London, but this offer was rejected. Vyner served as Lord Mayor of London in 1674–75, and he presented the statue to the parish of St Stephen Walbrook and had the statue installed in 1675 in the Stocks Market. This was the location of the last fixed stocks in the City of London, near Cornhill, above the outlet of a conduit fed by a lead pipe from Tyburn. In a satirical poem, Andrew Marvell wondered whether the statue was deliberate revenge for the losses Vyner had suffered with the Stop of the Exchequer, When each one that passes finds fault with the horse. Yet all do affirme that the King is much worse In another poem Marvell imagined the horse in discussion with the horse from the equestrian statue of Charles I, re-erected later the same year at Charing Cross, the two horses together comparing their riders and berating the state of the nation. The statue was removed in 1739 to permit the construction of the Mansion House on the site of the Stocks Market, and was given back to Vyner's grandnephew, also Robert Viner. Some years later, the statue was erected at the Vyner family estate at Gautby Hall. Lady Mary Robinson, daughter of Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, married Henry Vyner, and after she had inherited Newby Hall in 1859 the statue was relocated there in 1883, where it remains. It received a Grade II listing in 1967.

Newby Hall

Newby Hall is a country house beside the River Ure in the parish of Skelton-on-Ure in North Yorkshire, England. It is 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of Ripon and 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Topcliffe Castle, by which the manor of Newby was originally held. A Grade I listed building, the hall contains a collection of furniture and paintings and is surrounded by extensive gardens. Newby Hall is open to the public.