were built at this time, and the lower part of the tower is also
of Norman date. The north arcade is earlier than that on the south side,
having perfectly plain semi-circular arches and massive columns with
fluted capitals. On the south the piers are much more ornate, the contrast
being very plainly seen in the photograph reproduced here.

To have necessitated such a spacious church at this time, Pickering must
have been a populous town; possibly it grew on account of the safety
afforded by the castle, and it seems to indicate the importance of the
place in the time of the Norman kings.

One of the most complete little Norman churches in Yorkshire is to be seen
at Salton, a village about six miles south-west of Pickering. It appears
to have been built at the beginning of the twelfth century, and afterwards
to have suffered from fire, parts of the walls by their redness showing
traces of having been burnt. A very thorough restoration has given the
building a rather new aspect, but this does not detract from the interest
of the church. The chancel arch is richly ornamented with two patterns of
zig-zag work, the south door of the nave has a peculiar decoration of
double beak-heads, and though some of the early windows have been replaced
by lancets, a few of the Norman slits remain.

[Illustration: The South Doorway of the Norman Church of Salton. It is
ornamented with very curious double beak-heads. In the upper corners are
given two of the curious corbels on the south side of the nave.]

[Illustration: Curious Ornament in the Norman Chancel Arch at Ellerburne.
The crude carving suggests Saxon work, and it was possibly the production
of Saxon masons under Norman supervision.]

Middleton church has already been mentioned as containing what appears to
be a Saxon doorway in the tower. This may have been saved from an earlier
building together with the lower part of the tower, but if it did not come
into existence before the conquest the tower and nave were built in early
Norman times. The south arcade probably belongs to the latest phase of
Transitional Norman architecture, if not the commencement of the early
English period. Running along the west and north walls of the north aisle
is a stone bench, an unusual feature even in Norman churches.

Ellerburne church has some very interesting Norman work in the chancel
arch. The ornament is so crude that it would seem as though very primitive
Saxon workmen had been working un