The banks of the Wear alone, if followed from the source to the mouth, may be compared to some miniature Rhine in picturesqueness. The mountainous scenery of Weardale, and the frequent woods and plantations that ornament the banks of its lower reaches, the castles of Stanhope, Witton, Auckland, Brancepeth, Durham, Lumley, Lambton, and Hilton, rising in a stately succession, to say nothing of the glorious old cathedral, the monastic ruins of Finchale, and the grey old tower of Wearmouth, make a panorama unrivalled in its way. It may, however, be remarked in all fairness that almost every English stream can tell a similar story, and for a vision, in homely and familiar buildings, of a glorious past our England stands unrivalled. The first-named of the above mansions, Stanhope Castle, stands upon the site of a fortified house existing in the time of Bishop Anthony Bek. The present building is, however, a Georgian structure erected about a century ago by Cuthbert Rippon, M.P. for Gateshead. The old home of [Illustration: WITTON CASTLE IN 1779.] the Fetherstonhaughs, so long associated with this district, Stanhope Hall, is an Elizabethan mansion with several panelled rooms, and is now divided amongst a number of tenants. Witton Castle, erected by the great baronial house of Eure, stands on the south side of the river, not very far from Witton-le-Wear. It was erected somewhere about 1410, for in that year Bishop Langley granted a pardon to Sir Ralph Eure for having commenced to embattle his manor-house at Witton. It originally consisted of a square bailey, surrounded by an outer wall, with a projecting keep on the north side. The keep has been considerably altered at various periods. It is oblong in shape, with corner turrets rising above the roof. The basement consists of one barrel-vaulted apartment, with adjoining chambers in the north-west, south-west, and south-east turrets; the entrances to two of these were originally fastened on the outer side. The first floor is the great hall, and has doorways leading into chambers in the turrets. Another door in the north-east corner leads to a newel staircase ascending to the battlements. The room immediately over the east end of the great hall has a doorway opening into a small mural chamber, originally a latrine, in the north-east turret. This floor has a passage in the thickness of the west wall. The parapets are reached by the staircase already referred to. The turrets at the north-east and south-east corners project like angle buttresses, and the latter has two figures in armour, similar to those at Hilton Castle, standing on the parapet. The north-west turret is larger, and its sides are parallel with the walls of the keep. The south-west turret is still larger, and it projects beyond the south front, having its west wall continued in line with that of the main building. All the turrets have crenellated parapets. The eastern turrets have their alternate sides machicolated on double corbels.