THE NORTH YORK MOORS - A Northern Coast to Coast Walk: From St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay - page 116

EGTON BRIDGE
Egton Bridge is one of Yorkshire's most beautiful villages, occupying a superb site on
the River Esk, and flanked by great stands of trees and verdant loveliness. Its name
comes from 'Egetune', meaning 'town of oaks', and with its neighbour, Egton, on the
hillside a short distance away, was given by William the Conqueror to his blacksmith in
1070. The village is renowned for its adherence to the Roman Catholic faith, so strong
that it caused it to become known as 'the village missed by the Reformation', and was
the birthplace in 1596 of Nicholas Postgate.
Postgate, later called 'Blessed Nicholas Postgate, Martyr of the Moors', at the age of
25 went to be trained as a priest in France, something that was illegal in England. After
his ordainment he was sent to England as a missionary, and spent the early part of his
priesthood as chaplain to a number of wealthy families, his true role being concealed by
his work as a gardener. Understandably, he always travelled in disguise and in secret
to say mass, give communion and visit the sick. His love of gardening prompted him
to plant flowers on his travels, and he is credited with bringing the wild daffodil to the
moors, calling it the Lenten lily. Yet, in spite of the many efforts to keep his work con-
cealed, he was finally betrayed at Whitby by an exciseman called John Reeves, who
set a trap for Postgate and had him arrested while conducting a baptism at Red Barns
Farm, near Ugglebarnby. Reeves received the princely sum of £20 for his work, and
Postgate was charged with high treason, for which he was hung, drawn and quartered
on 7 August 1679, at the age of 82.
Sadly, Postgate's last resting place is unknown, though relics of his work, and of the
Postgate Society founded in his memory, can be seen at St Hedda's Catholic Church in
Egton Bridge. The true significance of Nicholas Postgate's dedication to his faith can be
weighed by the fact that during the first-ever visit to England by a reigning pope, in
1982, the late Pope John Paul II stood on Postgate's place of execution (now part of the
Racecourse at York) and prayed a litany of northern saints, including Nicholas Postgate
among them.
As a footnote, and having much in common with a similar story of betrayal found in
the Bible, John Reeves, horrified by the outcome of his treachery, committed suicide by
drowning himself in a deep pool at Littlebeck, ever since known as Devil's Dump.
On reaching Egton Bridge, at a T-junction near the Horseshoe Inn, keep
ahead to cross the road bridge over the Esk. Soon, turn right to a junction
between the church and Egton Bridge (i.e. the bridge), leaving the village
by an enclosed way (signposted 'Egton Estates - private road'). Formerly
this way was a toll road, and finally meets the valley road near a loop in
the Esk, not far from Priory Farm. Turn right over a bridge and follow the
road into Grosmont.
GROSMONT