Pickering

Pickering, a market town in the Whitby parliamentary division of the North Riding of Yorkshire, England, 32 m. N.E. by N. from York by the North Eastern railway, the junction of several branch lines. Pop. of urban district (1901), 349 1. The church of St Peter is Norman and transitional Norman, with later additions including a Decorated spire. It contains a remarkable series of mural paintings of the 15th century. The castle, on a hill to the north, is a picturesque ruin, the fragmentary keep and several towers remaining. The work is in part Norman, but the principal portions are of the 14th century. One of the towers is connected in name and story with Fair Rosamond. The castle was held by Earl Morcar shortly before the Conquest; it then came into the hands of the Crown, and subsequently passed to the duchy of Lancaster. It was the prison of Richard II. before his confinement at Pontefract. During the civil wars of the 17th century the castle was held by the Royalists, and suffered greatly in siege. The district surrounding Pickering is agricultural, and the town is a centre of the trade. Agricultural implements are manufactured, and limestone and freestone are quarried in the vicinity.