St Robert's Cave and the Chapel of the Holy Cross | |
---|---|
St Robert's Chapel and the Chapel of the Holy Rood | |
Location | Knaresborough, North Yorkshire |
OS grid | SE351564 |
Coordinates | 53°59′59″N1°27′03″W / 53.9996°N 1.4508°W Coordinates: 53°59′59″N1°27′03″W / 53.9996°N 1.4508°W |
Entrances | 1 |
Hazards | Caution required. |
Access | By a steps and a path |
The early 13th century St Robert's Cave and Chapel of the Holy Cross also known with variants such as St Robert's Chapel and Chapel of the Holy Rood [1] are located on Abbey Road beside the River Nidd in its gorge at Knaresborough. The cave is a rare example of a medieval hermitage, cut out of the magnesian limestone river gorge with a domestic area externally and the chapel of the Holy Cross which originally housed the saint's grave. [2] [3]
The trustees of the site are the monks of Ampleforth Abbey and in 1989 the Harrogate Museums Service carried out excavations after clearing the site. [4]
Robert of Knaresborough was born Robert Flower or Floure in York to a wealthy family. From childhood he was intent on pursuing a religious vocation and after a short time in a formal abbey setting he became a hermit and lived for much of his life in a cave beside the River Nidd in Knaresborough. [1] Never officially canonized, in 1252 Robert was implicitly recognised as a saint by the Catholic church. [2] [5] [3] For consistency Robert Flower is referred to as 'St Robert'.
St Robert died on 24 September 1218, at first being buried in the chapel, however his body was later moved to the Trinitarian Priory in Abbey Road. [6] [3]
Around 500 hermitages are recorded however the locations of very few are known. St Robert's Cave is a very rare surviving example of a medieval hermitage, that includes a living area. The assemblage of St Robert's Cave and the Chapel of the Holy Cross is unique. [3]
William de Stuteville, the Constable of Knaresborough Castle granted St Robert the piece of land on which the cave and chapel were built. [2] [5] King John is said to have visited St Robert at the cave and in 1216 granted him 40 acres of land. The first Royal Maundy ceremony is claimed to have taken place here. [4] [3] The chapel, dedicated to the Holy Cross, is a Grade II Listed Building [1] that is reached via a narrow path and steps from Abbey Road.
In 1907 the OS records the Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag [7] erroneously as 'St Roberts Chapel'. The aforementioned chapel has been much confused with the Holy Cross Chapel and cave of St Robert of Knaresborough. [5]
As a result of the fame of St Robert and reported miracles the cave and chapel were a very popular site of pilgrimage prior to the Reformation. [3] Saint Giles' Chapel or priory is a name also associated with the cave. [5]
A rock-cut bench and a set of steps in the domestic area have the cave entrance located between with further steps giving access to the rock cut floor of the cave. The bench outside is cut back into the rock face and is sheltered by the cliff above. [1] The cave has effectively two sections, a domestic one and one for religious use. An alcove and bench have been cut into the back of the second chamber. The caves basic `L' shaped chamber is nearly 4m long east-west by 3m north-south at its widest, the second forming St Robert's living area. [3] The cave's walls and ceiling (2.2m high) carry many carved niches and initials. [1] One possibly 12th century incised cross with bored terminals exists. [4] Clear tooling marks are present showing that the cave is not entirely natural in origin and it is recorded that the saint himself worked at enlarging the cave. [5]
The associated chapel and in particular the cave have long been prone to flooding from the River Nidd despite the presence of an ancient drain that cuts across the site. [5]
The use of the cave following the Reformation is not recorded however the various hollows in the cliff wall suggest that lean to structures were present at one time as the nearby Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag site.
The brother of St Robert was Walter Flower, Mayor of York. [1] To improve the facilities for his famous brother he paid for stonemasons to be employed to build a shelter where St Robert could meet with the poor and pilgrims as well as a chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross or Holy Rood. [1]
No features survive that provide clear datable evidence. The foundations of the rectangular chapel of the Holy Cross building has a prominent grave recess cut out of it in front of the chapel's former altar. The grave, 2m long by between 0.35m-0.53m wide, was recessed at its sides to allow for a covering slab to be laid flush with the floor level as was the fashion with important burials at that time. [4]
A few courses of worked stone remain on the south and east sides, however nothing survives above ground to the west. [4] The Trinitarian Order who acquired the chapel and cave, reburied St Robert at their nearby establishment, [4] the Priory of the Holy Trinity and St Robert, which had been founded prior to 1252. The Scots sacked the priory in 1318 and it was dissolved in 1538. [8]
The cave was previously a pilgrimage site. It became a popular tourist attraction after Eugene Aram was hanged in 1759 for the murder of Daniel Clark whose remains were found in the cave. [1] It remains open to the public.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Robert's Cave . |
Knaresborough is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Harrogate.
The Camaldolese monks and nuns are two different, but related, monastic communities that trace their lineage to the monastic movement begun by Saint Romuald.
Einsiedeln Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, the title being derived from the circumstances of its foundation, for the first inhabitant of the region was Saint Meinrad, a hermit. It is a territorial abbey and, therefore, not part of a diocese, subject to a bishop. It has been a major resting point on the Way of St. James for centuries.
Saint Helier was a 6th-century ascetic hermit. He is the patron saint of Jersey in the Channel Islands, and in particular of the town and parish of Saint Helier, the island's capital. He is also invoked as a healing saint for diseases of the skin and eyes.
A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church. Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion of Jesus.
Saint Fillan, Filan, Phillan, Fáelán or Faolán is the name of probably two Scottish saints, of Irish origin. The career of an historic individual lies behind at least one of these saints, but much of the tradition surrounding Fillan seems to be of a purely legendary character.
Great Malvern Priory in Malvern, Worcestershire, England, was a Benedictine monastery and is now an Anglican parish church. In 1949 it was designated a Grade I listed building. It is a dominant building in the Great Malvern Conservation area. It has the largest display of 15th-century stained glass in England, as well as carved miserichords from the 15th and 16th century and the largest collection of medieval floor and wall tiles. In 1860 major restoration work was carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott. It is also the venue for concerts and civic services.
Montmajour Abbey, formally the Abbey of St. Peter in Montmajour, was a fortified Benedictine monastery built between the 10th and 18th centuries on what was originally an island five kilometers north of Arles, in what is now the Bouches-du-Rhône Department, in the region of Provence in the south of France.
Kadisha Valley, also romanized as the Qadisha Valley and also known as the Kadisha Gorge or Wadi Kadisha, is a gorge that lies within the Bsharri and Zgharta Districts of the North Governorate of Lebanon. The valley was carved by the Kadisha River, also known as the Nahr Abu Ali when it reaches Tripoli. Kadisha means "Holy" in Assyrian, and the valley is sometimes called the Holy Valley. It has sheltered Christian monastic communities for many centuries. The valley is located at the foot of Mount al-Makmal in northern Lebanon.
Nidderdale, historically also known as Netherdale, is one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is the upper valley of the River Nidd, which flows south underground and then along the dale, forming several reservoirs including the Gouthwaite Reservoir, before turning east and eventually joining the River Ouse.
Saint Meinrad was a hermit and is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint. He is known as the "Martyr of Hospitality". His feast day is 21 January.
The Roman Catholic hermitage of Our Lady of the Enclosed Garden is situated in the former reformed church of Warfhuizen, a village in the extreme north of the Netherlands. It is the only Dutch hermitage currently inhabited by a hermit. The name draws upon the traditional epithet for the Virgin Mary of hortus conclusus or enclosed garden, a reference to the Song of Songs that indicates the Virgin's "perpetual virginity and at the same time her fruitful maternity".
William Grainge (1818–1895) was an English antiquarian and poet, and a historian of Yorkshire. He was born into a farming family in Dishforth and grew up on Castiles Farm near Kirkby Malzeard in the North Riding of Yorkshire, where he studied the archaeological site beneath the farm buildings, now known as Cast Hills settlement. Although he left school at age 12, he educated himself well enough to become a clerk to a solicitors' firm in Boroughbridge. He later established a bookshop in Harrogate and published numerous books on local history and topography, besides publshing a number of anonymous poems and discourses about local natural history.
Robert of Knaresborough was a British hermit who lived in a cave by the River Nidd, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. His feast day is 24 September.
Eremo di San Colombano is a hermitage in Trambileno, Italy, notable for its location in the side of a mountain.
Saint Verena is an early Christian saint and hermit associated with the Theban Legion.
St Robert's Church, Pannal, North Yorkshire, England, also known as St Robert of Knaresborough Parish Church, is a Grade II* listed building. A 13th-century wooden church dedicated to St Michael was rebuilt in sandstone in the 14th century by monks of the Trinitarian Order from Knaresborough Priory. It was perhaps then that it was rededicated to Robert of Knaresborough. Its nave was rebuilt in the 18th century, restored in the 19th and remodelled in the 20th. Extensions were added in the 20th century. It is a parish church, and the vicar also serves the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Beckwithshaw.
The Nidderdale Greenway is a 4-mile (6.4 km) path that runs between Harrogate and Ripley in North Yorkshire, England. It uses a former railway line that ran between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge as its course. The route connects to other cycle paths including the Way of the Roses.
Knaresborough Viaduct is a viaduct in the North Yorkshire town of Knaresborough, England. The viaduct carries the Harrogate line over the River Nidd in the town. The viaduct was supposed to have opened in 1848, but the first construction collapsed into the river very near to completion, which necessitated a new viaduct and delayed the opening of the line through Knaresborough by three years.
The early-fifteenth century Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag is located in an old quarry on Abbey Road beside the Nidd Gorge at Knaresborough and is an early 15th century chapel cut out of the sandstone of the river gorge cliff face. It is a Marian shrine on the old pilgrim's route to the now demolished Knaresborough Priory and close to the ancient stone quarry that was used for building works at Knaresborough Castle, the parish church and elsewhere. It was also once known as Quarry Chapel or Our Lady of the Quarry.