A knight , Six hundred and fifty years ago in Ilkley.

 I am cuddled up in bed still with my feet on a warm Monza dog again today. I have been listening to the rain hammering like maracas on the windows for about an hour and it has turned to sleet and hale getting loader and the wind blowing harder at each bash. So no I did not get up and go out to take photos of the dawn. If you want photos of the dawn go out and take them yourself as I am staying here and writing all about a Knight I went to visit yesterday in Ilkley church.
We went to Ilkley pretty much with going to the church in mind and first calling in at Boyes haberdashery and the charity shops before heading over to the old Manor house and church to see if the white cat was out and about.
 The white cat was not about. If I was a white cat I would have been curled up by a warm open fire in one of the old cottages just by the church as the day is characterful nippy. So the White cat I expect was doing just that.
We entered the church with a crash on the old door...it always creaks and the old metal ring makes a crash....and realised as we stood silent in the entrance that we had crashed a kiddys party. We were the first to arrive amongst the little tables laid out with Christmas themes and labels stating.....shepherds and donkeys etc on the pews. A nativity practice perhaps? any way the organiser said we could look around as the "event" was not until the afternoon and they were just preparing at the moment.....so we got straight to the small chapel at the side and did not hang around .

 The effigy of Sir Peter de Myddleton. That is who I came to see this day. This will possibly be my last visit before Christmas so I came to wish a favorite a Merry Christmas. He is over six hundred and fifty years old and lived at the Myddleton Lodge up on the hill over looking Ilkley and Stockheld Park by Wetherby back in his days, which was a very long time ago now. real ancient history.
Sir Peter was born in 1290 and I think was murdered in 1335. So here is the story that I can make out from all those years ago.
I discovered Sir Peter one day when I came into the church to visit my fave of all time Saxon crosses inside this church. It would have been about ten years ago now. We come over to Ilkley most weeks and so I visit the Saxon crosses and Sir Peter a lot. He is in a quiet little chapel off the main church tucked away under an arch. It took me some time to find out who he was and some of the history I am now about to impart.

Sir Peter was the son of William de Middleton and Agnes daughter of Nigel le Boteler of North Deighton. There is not a lot in records about his early life, however his later life certainly makes up for this......
He was married c 1319 to Eustachia, daughter of Robert de Plumpton (a Knight also) who gave them lands in Nesfield and Plumpton as a wedding settlement. Peter and Eustachia had several children and their eldest son Thomas born c1321 became his heir.
Sir Peter's uncle Adam de Middleton was Lord of Middleton and joint Lord of Draughton and Askwith. Also becoming Lord of Stockheld near Wetherby. ( yes!!! Stockheld Park is open to the public. It now has various seasonal theme parks as well. And yes I am going next week to the Christmas shop....) Adam was a justice for the King and Rector of Arncliffe and held plenty of other public offices including Keeper of the town of Kingston upon Hull, custodian of the Abbey of Furness, warden of the hospital of St Leonard in York......AND keeper of the seal of the Bishop of Durham.
Sir Adam died in 24 February 1317 and Sir Peter became his heir. Sir Peter followed his Uncle into the legal proffession and records show him in
1327--- being asked to investigate an assult at Ellerker near Hull . same year appointed as Justice for the county of Northampton.
1332--- appointed with others as the keeper of the castle of York.
1334 appointed the justice of Eyre of the forest of the county of Nottinghamshire and later that year County of Yorkshire as well
1335 his last position was Sheriff of York.

Sir Peter's effigy depicts him as" a man of arms" which to day would be somewhat at odds with his public positions and the following stories are just a few that I have found about him.

In May 1316 commissioners were sent to investigate a complaint by John de Goldesburgh that Adam de Middleton, Peter de Middleton and a few others that were in their employ had asulted him at Stockheld. Three of his horses were killed these valued at £100. goods stolen and his men and servants asulted. Later that year a commission was sent to investigate his death which was said" caused by Sir Peter (and others) as well as several who were involved in the original offence. Sir Peter was later acquitted. 1318 now there is a payment recorded  of 100 marks to the widow of John de Goldesburgh from the will of Adam de Middleton. Very likely related to this murder do you not think? yes I do too.
1317- another complaint made against Sir Peter by John de Stockheld. That Sir Peter along with others burned houses, hedges and hays at Stockheld and three horses to the value of £10 and felled and carried away trees from his land.

1329- John de Moubray made a complaint that Sir Peter and the inevitable "others" had " driven away" 40 horses, 300 sheep of his at Ingleton and trespassed on his hunting grounds at Kirby Malzeard, Burton in Lonsdale, Hovingham and Thirsk.

In arms for the government he was active whilst Robert The Bruce led the Scottish raids into Yorkshire in 1319. Ilkley and surrounds were badly burned and so he did as ordered and raised an army against the Scots.
1330 He was appointed by Henry de Percy of Spofforth to "array all men-at-arms and men on foot and bring them to him equipped to go into service to the King" Sir peter was also given the power to punish rebels and really anyone that stood in his way or told him"NO!"

1333 (may) King Edward111 ordered Sir Peter de Middleton and William Mohaut to raise twenty light horsemen and two hundred foot soldiers and bowmen to fight the Scots.

And so.....Edward1 of Scotland granted Sir Peter several manors in Scotland probably as a result of his role at Battle of Haildon Hill near Berwick. Where in July of 1333 David 11 of Scotland was defeated by Edward111 in suport of Edward 1 of Scotland. ( he got lands in Scotland as well!!!!)
 1335- Whilst caring out his duties as Sheriff of York more trouble ensued. Sir Peter was on his way to the West Riding to hold his tourns (twice yearly meetings of county courts) on the Saturday of the vigil of Palm Sunday 1335. Robert de Stopham, John le Vavasour of Weston the younger, Alan le Vavasour of Storthes and a son of Peter del Chirche of Oxon all under the orders of John Vavasour lay in wait for Sir Peter to kill him at Otley so that he could not carry out his job of Justice.
The blood feud between the Middletons and Vavasours had resulted in the son of Richard de Middleton being murdered near Dacre Grange in Nidderdale in 1333.  The instigator being Thomas son of Mauger le Vavasour. His son Richard avenged his father in 1345 when he stabbed Thomas Vavasour 16 times in the heart in an orchard in Denton.

!335 the year of Sir Peter's death he first went to Scotland to pay his household expenses and wages and then in September he recorded as being at Wark on Tweed where Michael de Preston yeoman and keeper of the castle gate gave him a receipt for £100.00 in silver which he was signed to deliver to Sir William Montague.

By 24th October 1335 he was dead,  So what happened? well in my humble opinion he was murdered. And by all of the people who needed to avenge themselves and reading between the lines here I would think there was a lot of suspects.

We stayed in the private prayer chapel which houses Sir Peters effigy for a while then came to the conclusion that we had better head off into the cold winter outside as the kids for the party event would be arriving very soon and as big people I do not think we should crash the party.

 We walked back to the car past Barker's dog shop . I knew Lee would never let me buy anything but I wanted to look at some of the treats a posh dog could look forward to. I found doggy cupcakes, chocolate covered bones and the best yet "pick n' mix" dog biscuits like the human pick n' mix sweets back in my childhood........and the window display was delightful too

 Then Betty's tea room enchanted forest Christmas display..... Marzipan hedgehogs.....

 Be enchanted? yes thank you I am.

We went back to the Fonz car where Monza dozed in the back and went to Otley after this so that I could go to the 20p shop as I had spotted some patterns for dolls dresses,

I leave you with a picture I took of Myddleton Lodge on a different visit .....

It is high over Ilkley in the woods

Myddleton Lodge. High above Ilkley stands this beautiful impressive building which locals called "the Monastery" It has a long history and parts of this and Myddleton Grange are part of the pastoral centre of the Diocese of Leeds with an unbroken association with the Catholic religion. This hunting lodge was used by the Middleton family and had a resident priest. the Middleton family were "lords of the manor" here and the lodge started to be built in 1490 and was then called Stubham Lodge. The Middletons main home was Stockheld Park near Wetherby.

 So this cold wintery day I leave you with a picture of my favourite Saxon crosses in the church at Ilkley

 The fabulous print of art work by a local artist.....

 And the beautiful and quiet chapel where Sir Peter now rests.

 a Silent Knight.

I do wonder if this may be just a little too quiet for a knight who had such a full and very profitable life and then a dramatic and now mysterious death.