Coxwold, Yorkshire
THE HOME OF STERNE
=How to get there.=–Great Northern Railway, King’s Cross Station.
=Nearest Station.=–Easingwold via York and Alne; from thence runs
a branch line to Easingwold.
=Distance from London.=–199 miles.
=Average Time.=–About 5 hours.
=Fares.=–No through fares in operation.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=–The village inn–"The Fauconberg
Arms.”
The pretty little village of Coxwold, where the Rev. Laurence Sterne
wrote A Sentimental Journey, lies about 18 miles north of York. The
hamlet stands on slightly rising ground. At the bottom of the hill is
the village smithy, the well, a farm, and facing a big elm tree is the
inn, bearing a great hatchment-like signboard showing the Fauconberg
arms and motto. The cottages of the villagers are on the slope of the
hill, and at the top is the church to which Sterne was appointed vicar
in 1760. Close at hand is the quaint seventeenth-century house he
occupied. It is a singularly picturesque little building, with its mossy
stone-covered roof, its wide gables, and massive chimney-stacks. Sterne,
in his humorous way, called it “Shandy Hall.” The stone tablet over the
doorway states that Sterne wrote Tristram Shandy and A Sentimental
Journey at Shandy Hall; but this is not quite accurate, for he entered
upon the incumbency of Coxwold in 1760, whereas two volumes of Tristram
Shandy had already been published in 1759. Of his life at Coxwold one
gathers that the vicar was more devoted to his books than to his parish.
In the intervals of writing and his clerical duties he amused himself
with painting, fiddling, dining out and telling stories, at the same
time suffering from ill-health and other discomforts. His gift of
humour, however, helped him to bear his troubles better than might
otherwise have been the case. He was firmly persuaded that “every time a
man smiles, but much more so when he laughs, he adds something to the
fragment of life.” Sterne’s study may still be seen. It is a tiny room
with a low ceiling, although it undoubtedly possesses the charm of
cosiness. On one occasion Sterne writes: “I have a hundred hens and
chickens about my yard, and not a parishioner catches a hare or a rabbit
or a trout but he brings it as an offering to me.” Sterne died in London
in 1768 at the age of 55 years.
[Illustration: “SHANDY HALL” AT COXWOLD.
Where the Rev. Laurence Sterne lived while he was Vicar of Coxwold. Part
of Tristram Shandy was written here.]
Continue...
Preface •
Ham House and Petersham •
Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle) •
Harrow •
Holwood House, Keston •
Chigwell, Essex •
Waltham Abbey and Cross •
Downe •
Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts •
Epping Forest •
Hampton Court •
Rye House, Broxbourne •
Hatfield House, Herts •
Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta •
The Oldest Brass in England •
St. Albans •
Stoke Poges Church, Bucks •
Windsor •
Jordans and William Penn •
Knole House and Sevenoaks •
Greenstead Church •
Chalfont St. Giles •
Westerham •
Guildford, Surrey •
Gad’s Hill •
Ightham Mote, Kent •
Penshurst •
St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion •
Rochester Cathedral •
Tunbridge Wells •
The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey •
Eversley •
Farnham, Surrey •
Hindhead, Surrey •
Shottermill •
Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex •
Chawton the Home of Jane Austen •
Selborne •
Elstow •
Lewes, Sussex •
Bodiam Castle, Sussex •
Colchester, Essex •
Layer Marney •
Battle Abbey •
Cambridge •
Arundel Castle •
Olney, Bucks •
Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great •
Canterbury and Its Cathedral •
Reculvers •
Oxford •
Midhurst •
Pevensey Castle •
Savernake Forest •
Ely Cathedral •
St. Ives, Huntingdonshire •
Winchelsea and Rye •
Blenheim Palace •
Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland •
Peterborough •
Southampton •
Helmingham Hall •
Stonehenge, Wiltshire •
Netley Abbey •
Salisbury and Its Cathedral •
Sandwich, Kent •
New Forest, Hampshire •
Osborne House •
Carisbrooke Castle •
Lutterworth •
Compton Wynyates •
Kenilworth Castle •
Belvoir Castle •
Bath •
Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers •
Warwick •
Gloucester and Its Cathedral •
Norfolk Broads •
Norwich Cathedral •
Lichfield •
Sherborne and Its Abbey Church •
Newark •
Wells and Its Cathedral •
Stratford-On-Avon •
Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk •
Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire •
Corfe Castle •
Lincoln and Its Cathedral •
Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson •
Glastonbury Abbey •
Walsingham, Norfolk •
Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset •
Newstead Abbey •
The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances •
Tintern Abbey •
Chesterfield, Derbyshire •
Dukeries •
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire •
The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor •
Raglan Castle •
Dovedale •
Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire •
Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop •
Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire •
Ludlow and Its Castle •
Shrewsbury •
Buxton and the Peak District •
Tewkesbury •
Exeter and Its Cathedral •
Market Drayton, Salop •
Chester •
Exmoor •
Knutsford •
Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset •
Cleeve Abbey, Somerset •
Hawarden •
York Minster •
Coxwold, Yorkshire •
Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey •
Knaresborough, Dripping Well •
Fountains Abbey •
Ripon Cathedral •
Dartmoor •
Haworth •
Rievaulx Abbey •
Brixham, Devon •
Conway Castle •
The Doone Valley, Exmoor •
Llandovery, South Wales •
Dartmouth, Devon •
Richmond, Yorkshire •
Tintagel •
Whitby •
Carnarvon Castle •
Plymouth •
Durham and Its Cathedral •
Raby Castle, Durham •
Snowdon •
Harlech Castle •
Grasmere and Rydal Mount •
The Lake District •
St. Davids Cathedral •
Furness Abbey, Lancashire •
Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow •
The Isle of Man •
Brantwood •
Fowey •
Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall •
The Lake District •
Keswick •
Alnwick Castle •
Lanercost Priory, Cumberland •
Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.] •
St. Ives, Cornwall •
Bamborough Castle, Northumberland
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