Page:History and characteristics of Bishop Auckland.djvu/43

 26 HISTOBY OF BISHOP AUCKLAND. of monarchy came that of episcopacy, John Cosin, who was the Dean of Peterborough, being presented to the See of Durham — " a man (says Raine) who had devoted much time to its history, and who, antecedently to the great rebellion, had enjoyed preferment in the diocese, having been Rector of Brancepeth, and who was well known for his learning and munificenca" Cosin, however, when he came to Auckland, declined making use of the mansion built by Haslerigg, considering it pollution of the sacred materials of the former structure to have them made into '* the habitation of fanaticism," and he accordingly demolished it, and restored them to their original use in building the present elegant chapel, so that at the present time we have not one stone standing of the structure built by Sir Arthur Haslerigg, and the green sod and the shrubs of the bowling green are now flourishing over the place where his proud mansion stood Raine has shown, however, from the very lengthy account rolls and correspondence of the Bishop, given in his " Auckland Castle," that the amount of mischief done by Haslerigg to the old chapel, and the extent of restoration made by Cosin, have both been exaggerated ; though he admits that the windows on the south side, the roofs, ceilings, clerestory, pulpit, reading desk, magnificent wooden screen that divides the outer from the inner chapel, and an entire new casing of the south front, with rusticated Italian masonry, are all the work of Cosin. With respect to the old castle, Cosin himself says that " it had been ruined and almost utterly destroyed by ravenous sacrilege," and in another place, "that it had been pulled down and ruined." Existing documents, however, prove (says Raine) that here also there is much of exaggeration, and existing remains settle the point that Haslerigg, in the construction of his mansion-house, did scarcely meddle with the castle at all, so that the older parts of the castle now standing form a portion of the original structure erected by Bishop Beck in the twelfth century. We have no record, however, how matters were going on in the town and neighbourhood about the time of which we are now writing, though their history may be said to be almost entirely comprised in that of the castle, the account rolls of which bring many of its inhabitants, with their occupations, to the surface. The first man who engages our attention at this time is John Longstaffe, a name still familiar to the town, and which was, half a century ago, one of the most numerous. In Kennett's Register, under the date August, 1662, we find the following : — At this assize (Durham) John Longstaffe, a Quaker, the demolisher of the goodly Chapel and Castle of Auckland, under Sir Arthur Hazlerig, pretending he was stirred up in the night by the Spirit, writ a letter to the Bench, wherein he took upon him to prophecy that many strange judgements do hang over this kingdom and government, and forcing the Justices to take notice of him ; and denying to obey, being convicted, had the sentence of prcemunirt pronounced against him~K)penly avowing that he will meet in their assemblies, and glorying in his sufferings. Two years after the above date, we find John Longstaffe (who was a mason), again mentioned* John Longstaffe to take downe part of Sir Arthur Hesilrigs (new) building, and remove it; to take away the old buildings before the Great Chamber or Hall to bring up the front wall of the same with rusticke ashler of the said new building ; to remove the windows from the back side of the said chamber to the fore side ; to make one new window, of the same form, on the east side ; to place four windows on the fore side for lightning the kitchen below, bringing up the two return ends with plain ashler ; to bring up the five buttresses to the battlement, in the same form as the buttresses in the south side of the new chapel are erected, with their finishings ; to lengthen and remove the two windows from the east side of the said Great Chamber, to the west side of it, making them of the same length as those now on the east aide ; to bring up the two chimneys on the back side for the kitchen, supplying the battlement that shall be wanting ; to make a chimney in the room intended for a scullerie to have any old stones ; the Bishop to provide timber — £150. Thus we find John Longstaffe, the demolisher of the chapel and castle nnder Haslerigg, and the Quaker, setting law at defiance in 1662, becoming two years afterwards employed by the Bishop to demolish the newly-built house of Haslerigg himself, in the construction of which he had, no doubt, been engaged. It would appear John was an architect as well as a builder, as there is a plan of the castle, as Cosin found it on his return, fi-om his pen. Raine says, however, that he was' not much of a draughtsman, as much of his work is incomprehensibla He describes his own Digitized by Google