Some of the earliest movements in the civil war by which Charles I. was dethroned took place in this county, Charles having, early in the year 1642, left London for York, where his adherents flocked to him. The sieges of 111:11, are noticed under that town, and many of the other proceedings under YORK. In 1643 Leeds was taken for the Parliament by Sir Thomas Fairfax, who subsequently took possession of Bradford, where he was besieged by the Earl of Newcastle, who failed in his attempts to carry the place by storm, but subsequently obtained possession owing to the exhaustion of the ammunition of the garrison, Fairfax escaping with a party of horse by cutting his way through the ranks of the besieging army. In the same year Queen Henrietta 3Iaria landed at Bridlington with a supply of arms, which were safely conveyed to York, where she remained three months. The Earl of Newcastle subsequently defeated Fairfax at Beverley. In 1644 Fairfax gained a battle against the Royal forces near Selby, and afterwards, with the Scottish forces of the Earl of Leven, laid siege to York ; but receiving intelligence of the approach of Prince Rupert, they raised the siege after it had been continued from April 19th to June 30th, and went to Marston Moor with a view of meeting the Royal army, which however having taken a different route arrived at York. Contrary to the advice of the Marquis of Newcastle, Prince Rupert left York on the 2nd of July to give battle to the Parlia mentary army, by which he was completely routed in the destructive battle of Marston Moor. The Parliament soon afterwards obtained possession of York, after it had sustained in the whole siege 22 assaults; and they also took Tickhill Castle, Sheffield Castle, Knaresborough town and castle, Helmsley Castle, and the town of Pontefract. At Scarborough the Royalists made a vigorous and protracted defence, but both town and castle at length fell into the hands of the Parlia ment An insurrection was raised in the West Riding in 1663 by a body of misguided people, led by old parliamentary soldiers and others disaffected to the restored government; but it was quickly suppressed.
Among the more remarkable antiquities of Yorkshire, excepting those of the city of York itself, are the remains of the following fortresses :—Conisbrough or Conisborough Castle, about 6 miles W. from Doncaster, is one of the earliest and most interesting ruins of the kind in England ; in its immediate vicinity is a tumulus; Knares borongh Castle, which was in a great measure destroyed during the civil wars, and about a mile from which, on the summit of a hill, are the remains of an ancient camp ; Pontefract Castle, the walls of which were of enormous thickness, and which formerly covered seven acres; Skipton Castle, which, as well as that of Pontefract, was erected shortly after the Norman conquest ; and the castles of Cawood, Hare wood, Great Sandell, Sheffield, and Tickhill : these are all in the West Riding. The principal buildings of this character in the North Riding were the castles of Helmsley, Melton, Mulgrave, Pickering, Richmond, Scarborough, Sheriff-Hutton, and Skelton ; while the more important castle in the East Riding was that of Wressle, an ancient seat of the Percy& There are a few ancient mansions in the county which remain tenantable, among which are Temple Newsome, near Leeds, and Gilling Castle, near Helmsley.
The county of Yorkshire contained, according to Burton's 'Monas ticon Eboracense, or Ecclesiastical History of Yorkshire,' about 106 religious houses, of which 14 were abbeys, 44 priories, 7 alien priories, 13 cella, and 23 of priors of various orders. There were also three preceptories, and three commanderies in the county. Of the above ecclesiastical establishments many ruins yet exist, some of which are exceedingly beautiful. The principal ruins of ahbeye are those of St. Mary's, et York ; of Fountains, Kirkstall, Roche, end Selby, in the West Riding ; and of Bylined, Rievaulx, and Whitby, in the North Riding. The chief priories are Bolton and Knaresborougb, in the West Riding; Guisborough, Mouutgrace, and Wikeham, in the North Riding ; and Bridlington, Kirkham, and Walton, in the East Riding. Many of the churches present striking specimens of ecclesiastical architecture, and some of them contain cnriously sculptured ancient fonts.
Stalistics, Aligious Worship, and Education.—According to the Returns of the Census in 1851, it appears that there were then in Yorkshire 3609 places of worship, of which 1855 belonged to Method ists, as follows :—Origioal Connexion of Wesleyan Methodists, 1177; Primitive Methodists, 476 ; Reformers, 77 ; New Connexion, 73 ; Wesleyan Association, 52. The Church of England had 1143 places of worship, Independents 242, Baptists 126, Roman Catholics 65, Quakers 56, Unitarians 23, Plymouth Brethren 17, Mormons 11, Swedenborgians 6, Presbyterians 4, and Jews 4. The total number of sittings provided was 1,006,156. Of Day schools there were 4684, of which 1595 were public schools with 141,735 scholars, and 3089 were private schools with 84,897 scholars. The number of Sunday schools was 2186, of which 1031 belonged to the Established Church. The total number of Sunday scholars was 277,669. There were 258 Evening schools ,for adults, with 8019 scholars, of which 237, with 7785 scholars, were in the West Riding. The literary and scientific institutes were returned as follows :— Savings Banks.—In 1853 Yorkshire possessed in all 36 savings banks—at Barnsley, Bedale, Beverley, Birstal and Batley, Bradford, Doncaster, Goole, Guisborough, Halifax, Harewood, Howden, Hud dersfield, Keighley, Kingston-upon-Hull, Kaareaborough, Leeds, Ley burn, Melton, Middlesborough-on-Tees, Northallerton, Otley, Pickering, Pontefract, Richtnond, Rotherham, Saddleworth, Scarborough, Settle, Sheffield, Skipton, Stokesley, Think, Wakefield, Wentworth, Whitby, and York. The total amount owing to depositors on November 20th, 1853, was 2,625,0571. ls. 2d.