EGGLESTONE ABBEY.

     This fine ruin, beautiful situated on the banks of the Tees, about a mile and a half from Barnard Castle, Yorkshire, was originally known as Athelstan Abbey, Egglestone being a supposed corruption of Athelstan. It is presumed to have been founded by Conon, Earl of Richmond, in the latter half of the twelfth century. Its name is associated with Saxon times, probably from its having been one of the places given by King Athelstan to the Church, to make atonement for the murder of his brother, about A.D. 924. The Abbey, dedicated to St. Mary and John the Baptist, was held by canons of the Premonstratension order, a brotherhood living according to the rules of St. Austin, as reformed by St. Norbert, afterwards Archbishop of Magdeburg, who set up the regulations about 1120 A.D., at Premonstratum in the diocese of Laon, in Picardy. The members of the society were also called White Canons, from their dress, which was a white cassock with a rochet over it, a long white coat, and a white cap. They were brought into England shortly after 1140 A.D., and settled first at Newhouse, in Lincolnshire. At the time of dissolution of the monasteries, they had in England about thirty-five houses.

     The abbey stands on rising ground near the junction of the Torsgill with the Tees, and enough of it remains to testify to its original size and importance; yet it could never have had much in the way of architectural decoration: the east window, for example, as shown in the engraving, looks singularly bare of ornament.  In the wall of the choir two piscinae may still be seen; and on what was once the flooring, but is now only green turf, are several monumental stones; one of them that of an abbot of the monastery, and the other that of an ancestor of the Rokeby family; and, by the way, Sir Walter Scott lays the closing scene of his “Rokeby” in this abbey, and describes the ancient structure. Portion of the monastic buildings have been converted into cottages; a group of them appear in the engraving, to the right of the eastern window, where a woman is seen feeding poultry.

      The engraving is from one of the numerous drawing of Yorkshire scenery made by Turner in the earlier part of his career, when he put greater restraint on his imagination than he allowed himself to do in after-years. The picture appears to be a veritable transcript of the scene as it then was presented to him: and though the absence of the half-built houses, and the cottages near to the river, would have added greatly to the picturesque-ness and poetry of this beautiful locality, they are retained. Still the feeling of Turner’s riper years is here manifested - his wonderful management of light and shade -his delicious atmospheric effects, and the judicious balance of the whole composition.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

Antique prints, etchings, engravings, and lithographs are printing processes which use steel, copper, stone or wood blocks or plates to produce a picture on paper.

Most antique prints and engravings, which are seen on the internet today, are bookplates.  Because they are pages from a book, there are multiple copies in existence.  This does not, however, mean that they are "reproductions" that have been printed recently.  Because they were, at some point, part of books, some have been preserved in excellent condition, while others show signs of age, as yellow spots or darkness on the edge of the page from being handled.

Engravings, lithographs, ect. are high quality pieces of art, as it took a highly trained artist many hours of work to produce one.  Although there may be multiple copies still in existence, the date of the item should be stated in the auction, thus giving the buyer an idea of it's age.

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