The simple Norman arcade on the north side of the nave has plain round columns and semicircular arches, but the south side belongs to later Norman times, and has ornate columns and capitals.  At least one member of the great Bruce family, who had a house at Pickering called Bruce’s Hall, and whose ascendency at Guisborough has already been mentioned, was buried here, for the figure of a knight in chain-mail by the lectern probably represents Sir William Bruce.  In the chapel there is a sumptuous monument bearing the effigies of Sir David and Dame Margery Roucliffe.  The knight wears the collar of S.S., and his arms are on his surcoat.

When John Leland, the ‘Royal Antiquary’ employed by Henry VIII., came to Pickering, he described the castle, which was in a more perfect state than it is to-day.  He says:  ’In the first Court of it be a 4 Toures, of the which one is Caullid Rosamunde’s Toure.’  Also of the inner court he writes of ‘4 Toures, wherof the Kepe is one.’  This keep and Rosamund’s Tower, as well as the ruins of some of the others, are still to be seen on the outer walls, so that from some points of view the ruins are dignified and picturesque.  The area enclosed was large, and in early times the castle must have been almost impregnable.  But during the Civil War it was much damaged by the soldiers quartered there, and Sir Hugh Cholmley took lead, wood, and iron from it for the defence of Scarborough.  The wide view from the castle walls shows better than any description the importance of the position it occupied, and we feel, as we gaze over the vale or northwards to the moors, that this was the dominant power over the whole countryside.

Although Lastingham is not on the road to Helmsley, the few additional miles will scarcely be counted when we are on our way to a church which, besides being architecturally one of the most interesting in the county, is perhaps unique in having at one time had a curate whose wife kept a public house adjoining the church.  Although this will scarcely be believed, we have a detailed account of the matter in a little book published in 1806.

The clergyman, whose name was Carter, had to subsist on the slender salary of L20 a year and a few surplice fees.  This would not have allowed any margin for luxuries in the case of a bachelor; but this poor man was married, and he had thirteen children.  He was a keen fisherman, and his angling in the moorland streams produced a plentiful supply of fish—­in fact, more than his family could consume.  But this, even though he often exchanged part of his catches with neighbours, was not sufficient to keep the wolf from the door, and drastic measures had to be taken.  The parish was large, and, as many of the people were obliged to come ‘from ten to fifteen miles’ to church, it seemed possible that some profit might be made by serving refreshments to the parishioners.  Mrs. Carter superintended this department, and it seems that the meals between the services soon became popular.