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Conisbrough, Yorkshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1835.

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CONISBROUGH:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1835.

"CONISBROUGH, a parish in the southern division of the wapentake of STRAFFORTH-and-TICICHILL, West riding of the county of YORK, 65 miles E.N.E. from Rotherham, containing 1142 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of York, rated ir>. the Icing's books at £8.12.8., and in the patronage of the Archbishop of York. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is of Norman character, combined with the early, the decorated, and later style, of English architecture: it had a chantry, founded in the 14th of Edward II.: there are several monuments, together with a curious stone, adorned with many hieroglyphics. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. A schoolroom was erected upon waste land by subscription in 1812; the income, amounting to £7. 10. per annum, arises from the rent of the old school premises, and an. endowment of £2 a year. This is a place of high antiquity, having been connected with all the different dynasties by which Britain has been governed. The Britons called it Caer Conan; the Saxons Cyning, or Conan Burgh, both signifying a royal town. A Roman road is discoverable not far hence. Conisbrough is stated to have been the seat of a civil jurisdiction, which comprised twentyeight towns. The castle, standing upon an eminence above the river Don, is of uncertain foundation; some consider it to have been built by Queen Cartismandua, others by the Romans, and others again by the Saxons. It is first mentioned as a fortress belonging to Hengist, the Saxon leader, who was defeated here, in 487, by Aurelius Ambrosius, and again in 489, at which period, according to Geoffry of Monmouth, he was made prisoner, and subsequently beheaded at the northern gate of the citadel; a tumulus near the place is stated to cover his relics. This account, however, has not been xiniversally credited: there can be little doubt that a fortress existed here previously to the Conquest; but the structure, the ruins of which now constitute so interesting an object, was probably erected by Earl Warrenne, to whom the Conqueror gave the manor. In this castle Richard, Earl of Cambridge, second son of the Duke of York, and grandson of Edward III., was born; he was beheaded for conspiring against Henry V. The round tower, or keep, is almost perfect; the rest forms a picturesque ruin. Several human skeletons have been discovered."

[Transcribed by Mel Lockie © from
Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1835]