the hands of the Nevilles of Raby, and to have been forfeited to the Crown on the attainder of Charles, seventh Earl of Westmoreland, in 1569; but there seems to be no authority for such a statement, as will be shewn hereafter. Towards the close of the sixteenth century, the lands in Gainford manor seem to have been granted and distributed in a multitude of small freeholds.* In Gainford township the Cradocks acquired that major portion which is still enjoyed, with subsequent augmentations, by their descendant; and the families of Garth, Birkbeck, and others of less note, the compact estates they soon after appear as holding in Headlam, Langton, Morton, and other places around; and which now, after a succession of changes, have nearly all centered in the lord of Raby. The manorial rights remained vested in the Crown,† with some intermediate grants and resumptions, until purchased, about the year * In 1686 the freeholders within the Constablery of Gainford were, Sir Richard Sandford, bart., of Howgill in Westmoreland; Richard Cradock, Esq., of London; Thomas Cradocke, Esq., of Durham, Counsellor-at-law; Gilbert Marshall, of Sellaby, Esq.; Cuthbert Rayne, gent.; Henry Eden, of Gainford, gent.; Robert Stoddert; John Burrell; John Rayne, of Snow Hall, gent.; Francis Blakiston; and Richard Swainston. In a very curious canvassing book at Streatlam, drawn up sometime previous to the election of Mr. George Bowes, as one of the Members of the County of Durham, 1741, the following freeholders in Gainford are mentioned, with their replies to his solicitations: + The bishop's writ, grounded on the king's writ, to detain Anthony Brakenbury, his bai 1634, together with the Castle and Honor of Barnard and many lands, of certain citizens of London, to whom they were mortgaged by the Crown, by Sir Henry Vane the elder, in the possession of whose descendant and representative, Henry, Duke of Cleveland, they now remain. The appearance of Gainford is more that of a minor wateringplace, than of a retired village; and, at a little distance, especially on the Yorkshire side of the river, somewhat pleasing and picturesque. Its area is circumscribed within the parallel boundaries of the river on the south and the Darlington and Barnardcastle road on the other side-the western part being chiefly occupied by a level and pleasant green, around which the larger houses are arranged. At its north-west angle also, is a row stretching towards the Hall, with gardens on a sunny slope in front, and a pretty prospect. In more social days, ere utilitarianism and sectarian austerity had chased out of the land the last lingering relics of old English merriment and recreation, young people of the village and neighbourhood danced on this green, on their holidays and festive seasons-a circumstance which caught the attention of Sir Walter Scott. "He views sweet Winston's woodland scene, And shares the dance on Gainford-green."+ There is here none of that utter poverty and squalid wretchedness which too often meet the eye in the villages of the North; and on the whole, few places afford a more comfortable and suitable retreat, either for those who wish for retirement or who are not inclined to spend their time, or hazard their competency, in the risk of commercial pursuits. Cradock's Hall was built, probably, on the site of the Manor place, by the Vicar Cradock, about the time of James I.; but has little of the picturesque appearance of similar houses of this date. It was, however, left unfinished, and has incurred, in consequence, the fate predicted by Hesiod to such erections. Μηδέ δόμον ποιῶν ἀνεπίξεστον καταλείπειν, Μὴ τοι εφεζομενη κρώζη λακέρυζα κορώνη. At each end it has the appearance of three tall single gabled liff of Gainford, Piersbridge, Headlam and Langton, within that lordship, and to collect from Gainford.-Bishop Tunstall's Notes; Rudd's MSS. Arthurus Brackenburgh Ballivus R's Hen. VIII. de Gainford, ac collector de Gainf. Piersbrig, Hedelam, et Langton, infra d'nium de Gainford. Georgius Warcop, Ball. Ibid 38 Hen. VIII.-Mickleton's MSS. HUTCHINSON'S HIST. DUR., iii. 262. 3 March, 6 Eliz. Regina concessit Rad'o Bower offic' balivi d'nij de Gayneforde et collector' redditum manerior' de Hedlam, Percebridge, Gayneford et langton cum p'tin infra epatum Dunelm ad vitam feod. ijd p. diem.-Bowes MSS. + Rokeby, Canto iii., st. 15. Opera et Dies, B 364-5. houses, placed by the side of each other. The south front is very plain, except that there is a rich doorway, inscribed I. C., M. C., and B. C. The north side is more in character, and has above its entrance a small tablet bearing the arms of Cradock: (argent), on a chevron (azure), three garbs (or). With the name and date : IOHN CRADOCK. 1600. : The interior has never been fitted up in the style of the times. The staircase is partially erected. A lower room is wainscotted, and has a cornice of fruit and flowers: an upper one, with two fireplaces, still unplastered, and open to the roof, runs the whole length of the south front. A high stone wall, two feet thick, and here and there matted and canopied with ivy of almost coeval antiquity, surrounds the house and paddocks of these enclosures, that on the east side seems intended, by the remains of a terrace running along the north wall, for the plesaunce; and near the entrance from the house, is one of those circular turretted Dove-cotes, common in the north, which has the addition of a deep well in the centre. Altogether, with its black, moss-grown, weather-stained walls; irregular roof, half tiles, half slates; and windows, some wholly, most partially blocked up, the place has a singular air of desolation, and reminds us forcibly of the moated grange of Tennyson's poetry. Mr. Surtees deduces the genealogy of the Cradocks, which has also been exhibited in the popular publication of Burke,* from John Cradock of New-houses in Baldersdale who made his will at Gainford, June 14th, 1604, and was buried there the next day, leaving issue three sons, of whom the Vicar was the youngest. According to the pedigree in the Durham collections of the Herald Vincent, this John was grandson of John " who went into Yorkshire and lived at Doe Park," grandson of Richard Cradock, living 16th Hen. VII., 1500. A pleasantly devised genealogical fable claims for him, also, a descent from the brave Caradoc-the Caractacus of the Romans, who was defeated at a mountain near Shrewsbury, named Caer Caradoc, and whom it states to have been the Homo Præpositus of the respectable families of Cradock, settled in Leicestershire, Staffordshire, near Richmond in Yorkshire, and even in Brittany; where at a village near Rennes, bearing the name of Caradoc, the late Mr. Cradock of Gumley, some years ago, observed the common crest of the family.† But whether descended from the southern family or not, persons of the name occur as witnesses in charters of property in this neighbourhood, at a period long before their supposed appearance in • Commoners, vol. iv., p. 257. + Gent's Mag., vol. xcvii, p. 17. |