Lanercost Priory is situated in a singularly beautiful sylvan valley watered by the river Irthing.  Only the shell of the chancel remains, but the nave has been restored, and is now used as the church of the parish.  The walls of the roofless transepts as well as the central tower are still standing.  The pillars on the south side support a much decayed clerestory, but on the opposite side both the triforium and clerestory are in a fairly good state of preservation.

A side chapel in the choir contains some very finely carved but battered altar-tombs belonging to the Dacre family—­one of them is believed to be that of Lord William Howard.  Under what was the refectory of the conventual buildings, one may find the crypt in a very good state of preservation.  In it are preserved some Roman altars and carvings discovered at various times in the locality.  A number of Roman inscriptions having been discovered on the walls of the Priory Church; it is generally supposed that much of the building material was obtained from the Roman wall.  The Rev. J. Maughan has argued for the existence of a Roman station at this point, and its name is believed to have been Petriana.

The monastery adjoining the Priory Church belonged to the order of St. Augustine, and its endowments consisted of all the land lying between the Picts’ wall and the river Irthing, upon which the buildings stood, and between Burgh and Poltross.

After the dissolution the monastic buildings were put into a proper state of repair, and were converted into a private residence by Lord Thomas Dacre, who built the castellated portion towards the south, which of course did not belong to the original structure.  Half a mile distant from the priory is Naworth Castle, the historic seat of the Earl of Carlisle, and Brampton is famous for its mote, which was possibly a Danish fort.

[Illustration:  Valentine & Sons, Ltd.

LANERCOST PRIORY AND STEPPING-STONES.]

CHILLINGHAM CASTLE, NORTHUMBERLAND

=How to get there.=—­Train from King’s Cross.  Great Northern Rly. =Nearest Station.=—­Belford (6 miles from Chillingham). =Distance from London.=—­323 miles. =Average Time.=—­About 9 hours.

                     1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—­Single 44s. 11d. ... 26s. 11d. 
          Return 89s. 10d. ... 53s. 10d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=—­ =Alternative Route.=—­Train from St. Pancras via Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
  Midland Railway.

The castle at Chillingham, the seat of the Earl of Tankerville, is a remarkably picturesque building, erected in the reign of Elizabeth, on the site of an older fortress.  The castle, which is now in the occupation of Sir Andrew Noble, to whom it has been let by Lord Tankerville, contains many valuable portraits.

An ancestor of the Earl of Tankerville, Charles Lord Ossulston, came into the property in 1695 by marriage with the daughter and heiress of Lord Grey, Earl of Tankerville, a descendant of the Greys of Chillingham and Wark, who had much property in Glendale.