[1] The yeare 1074. thrée moonks of the prouince of Mercia, purposing to restore religion after their ma|ner within the prouince of Northumberland, came into Yorke, and required of Hugh Fitz Baldricke (then shirife of the shire) to haue safe conduct vnto Monkaster,Mount ca|ster now Newcastell. which afterwards hight Newcastell, and so is called to this day. These moonks, whose names were Aldwin, Alswin, and Remfred, comming vn|to the foresaid place, found no token or remanent of any religious persons, which sometime had habitati|on there (for all was defaced and gone:) wherevpon, after they had remained there a while, they remooued to Iarrowe, where finding the ruines of old decaied buildings and churches, perteining in times past to the moonks that there inhabited, they had such assis|tance at the hands of Walkher bishop of Durham, that at length, by the diligent trauell and sute of these moonks, three monasteries were newlie founded and erected in the north parts, one at Durham, an other at Yorke, and the third at Whitby. For you must consider, that by the inuasion of the Danes, the churches and monasteries throughout Northumber|land were so wasted and ruinated, that a man could scarselie find a church standing in all that countrie, as for those that remained, they were couered with broome or thatch: but as for any abbey or monaste|rie, not one was left in all the countrie, neither did any man (for the space of two hundred yeares) take care for the repairing or building vp of any thing in decaie, so that the people of that countrie wist not what a moonke ment, and if they saw any, they woon|dered at the strangenesse of the sight.