Details
SE 35 NE KNARESBOROUGH ABBEY ROAD
(east side) 3/35 Saint Robert's Cave, also
called Saint Robert's
5.2.52 Chapel, approximately 120
metres south west of Grimbald
Bridge (formerly listed as
St Robert's Cave or Chapel) - II* Cave and foundations of adjoining chapel or outbuildings. Associated with
Saint Robert the hermit, 1160-1218, but no datable features. Foundations of
rectangular building containing grave recess, rock-cut bench and steps.
Entrance to cave between bench (left) and steps (right). The cave is
entered down two steps and contains an outer and inner chamber. The walls
and roof are covered by niches and inscriptions. At time of resurvey the
cave contained 30 centimetres of water and the building foundations were
overgrown. The cave is associated with the legendary hermit, Robert Flower,
but it was known previously as Saint Giles' Chapel. Robert's brother,
Walter, was Mayor of York and he sent craftsmen to build a chapel of hewn
stone in honour of the Holy Cross, with a house where Robert might receive
pilgrims and the poor. This site is thought to be of that period (Jennings, p 103)
The cave became a popular tourist attraction after the discovery in 1746
of the body of Daniel Clark, for whose murder Eugene Aram was hanged in
1759. The event was used by Lord Lytton for a novel published in 3 volumes,
1832. Abbot Cummins, "Knaresborough Cave Chapels", Yorks Arch J,XXVIII,
(1926) pp 80-88.
B Jennings (Ed), Harrogate and Knaresborough, 1970, pp 98 and 381.
H Speight, Nidderdale, 1906, pp 249-51.
Listing NGR: SE3610056087
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
330698
Legacy System:
LBS
Sources
Books and journals Jennings, B, A History of Harrogate and Knaresborough, (1970), 98, 381 Speight, H, Nidderdale, (1906), 249-51 'Yorkshire Archaeological Journal' in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, , Vol. 28, (1926), 80-8
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
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