contained the altar of St. Bede, one of the most eminent fathers of the English Church, whose talents and virtues have procured him the name of the Venerable Bede. The name of the chapel is derived from Galilee, the most remote part of the Holy Land, and it is placed at the porch the most distant from the sanctuary. The Castle, which overhangs the Wear, near the bridge, was chiefly built by Bishop Hatfield, in the reign of Edward III.; parts however remain of the time of Henry VI. by Bishop Neville. The Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII., gallantly attended, was entertained for three days in Durham Castle, by Bishop Fox, when a splendid feast was given in the Great Hall of the Castle, on the 23d of July, 1502. The princess was then on her way to Scotland, and the next year was married to James IV. at Edinburgh. Bishop Fox made great improvements in the Hall of the Castle; his badge, a pelican in her piety, still remains there. The Keep of the Castle, said to be the work of Hatfield, and the most ancient part, was originally four stories in height, but only the shell remains, which stands on a mount. During a vacancy in the bishopric, the keys of the Castle were formerly placed on St. Cuthbert's Shrine, in the Cathedral. |