The village of Irthington is a little to the south of the Barrier. Here formerly stood one of the strongholds of the powerful Norman family of De Vallibus; the building is now entirely removed, its site being occupied by the Nook, the residence of Robert Bell, esq. The foundations of some of its walls have recently been exposed. The keep probably occupied a lofty earthen mound which is now crowned with thriving trees. The parish church has recently been renewed with much skill and taste. The old fabric was entirely built of Roman wall-stones. In the course of its restoration, a striking proof of the disturbed state of the border district in the middle ages was disclosed; a number of skeletons, confusedly thrown together, being found buried within its area. The church, originally a Transition-Norman building, had evidently at some period after its erection, been contracted in its dimensions by the rejection of the side aisles. The outer walls consisted of the original columns of the aisles, filled up very roughly with common rubble. The columns bore decided marks of fire. The neighbouring parish church of Kirklinton, which has also been recently rebuilt, exhibited similar appearances. On taking down the old tower, which was a fortified stronghold, the bony remnants of upwards of sixty bodies were found in a space of not more than five yards square; others were found in confused masses in other parts. [Sidenote: BORDER STRIFE.] The probable explanation of these circumstances is this:—After the battle of Bannockburn, the Scottish forces, flushed with success, entered England, and the inhabitants, unable to withstand them, fled to the churches for protection. But neither the strength of the buildings nor their supposed sanctity could yield them effectual succour; the miserable people were slain, and their bodies left among the smouldering ruins. Those of their countrymen who escaped, buried them in a hasty manner upon the spot. When the desolated district had recovered energy enough to repair the churches, its utmost efforts were barely sufficient to enclose those parts which had, by their solidity, withstood the fire; and the reduced population required nothing more. The coins of Edw.I. and II. are comparatively abundant in this district, the armies of that monarch and his immediate successors, frequently taking the western route, in their marches to and from Scotland.