ime
have gone, so that the present church cannot be associated with the
seventh century. No doubt the destruction was the work of the Danes, who
plundered the whole of this part of Yorkshire. The church that exists
to-day is of Transitional Norman date, and the beautiful little crypt,
which has an apse, nave and aisles, is coeval with the superstructure.

The situation of Lastingham in a deep and picturesque valley surrounded
by moors and overhung by woods is extremely rich.

Further to the west there are a series of beautiful dales, watered by
becks whose sources are among the Cleveland Hills. On our way to
Ryedale, the loveliest of these, we pass through Kirby Moorside, a
little town which has gained a place in history as the scene of the
death of the notorious George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham, on
April 17, 1687. The house in which he died is on the south side of the
King's Head, and in one of the parish registers there is the entry under
the date of April 19th, 'Gorges viluas, Lord dooke of Bookingam, etc.'
Further down the street stands an inn with a curious porch, supported by
turned wooden pillars, bearing the inscription:

'Anno: Dom 1632 October xi
William Wood'

Kirkdale, with its world-renowned cave, to which we have already
referred, lies about two miles to the west. The quaint little Saxon
church there is one of the few bearing evidences of its own date,
ascertained by the discovery in 1771 of a Saxon sundial, which had
survived under a layer of plaster, and was also protected by the porch.
A translation of the inscription reads: 'Orm, the son of Gamal, bought
St. Gregory's Minster when it was all broken and fallen, and he caused
it to be made anew from the ground, for Christ and St. Gregory, in the
days of King Edward and in the days of Earl Tosti, and Hawarth wrought
me and Brand the prior (priest or priests).' By this we are plainly told
that a church was built there in the reign of Edward the Confessor.

A pleasant road leads through Nawton to the beautiful little town of
Helmsley. A bend of the broad, swift-flowing Rye forms one boundary of
the place, and is fed by a gushing brook that finds its way from
Rievaulx Moor, and forms a pretty feature of the main street. The
cottages in many cases have preserved their thatched roofs, and have
seldom more than one story; but they invariably appear well preserved
and carefully painted, although these stone-built houses, with leaded
case