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. The herds of cattle at Chillingham are believed to be survivors of _Bos primigenius_, the wild ox of Europe, which is the supposed progenitor of our domestic cattle. This fact is of great scientific interest and is analogous to the preservation of the few remaining buffaloes in America, only in this case these wild cattle have been preserved through much changed conditions for a vastly longer period. The King, when Prince of Wales, shot one of these animals, but in doing so had a rather narrow escape. The chief external appearances distinguishing the cattle from all others are as follows--"their colour is invariably white; muzzles black, the whole of the inside of the ear and about one-third of the outside, from the lips downwards, red; horns white with black tips, very fine and bent upwards; some of the bulls have a thin upright mane about an inch and a half or two inches long." It should be pointed out that there is some danger in encountering any of the herd in the absence of the park-keepers. The calves have been noticed to have the wild characteristic of dropping when suddenly surprised.