The
restoration which recently took place has entirely altered the
character of the exterior, but inside everything has been preserved
with just the care that should have been expended outside as well.
There are oak-wainscoted parlours, oak dressers, and richly-carved
fireplaces in the low-ceiled rooms, each one containing furniture of
the period of the house. Upstairs there is a beautiful old bedroom
lined with oak, like those on the floor below, and its interest is
greatly enhanced by the story of Oliver Cromwell's residence in the
house, for he is believed to have used this particular bedroom.
Higher up the hill stands the church with a square central tower
surmounted by a small spike. It still bears the marks of the fire made
by the Scots during their disastrous descent upon Yorkshire after
Edward II.'s defeat at Bannockburn. The chapel north of the chancel
contains interesting monuments of the old Yorkshire family of Slingsby.
The altar-tomb in the centre bears the recumbent effigies of Francis
Slingsby, who died in 1600, and Mary his wife.
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