COMMITTEE'S ADDRESS. 179 
in 1764, which is in good preservation. Ascending this, the ruins 
are seen to advantage, Taking the cloisters as a central feature, 
the decayed walls of the church, out of which gnarled trunks of 
trees are growing, may be traced on the north; the refectory and 
the kitchen to the east; the chapter house to the west; to the 
south are the remains of the various offices, and of a large build- 
ing which may have beenachapel. The dormitories are supposed 
to have been placed over the arcades of the cloisters. The 
ruins basked in the sun, in a landscape a-glow with green, over 
which the crest of firs on Brislee Mount fluttered pensively. 
_ Several members made the ascent of Brislee Tower, whence a 
delightful prospect of the Cheviot country, the valley of the 
Alne, with the meanderings of the silvery stream, the deer parks, 
the castles of Alnwick, Dunstanborough, and Bamborough, and 
the glittering island-dotted ocean, was obtained. 
At the Forest Gate the party lingered before another attrac- 
tion of a different character—an ancient cist, which the Duke 
had allowed to remain untouched, for the inspection of the Clubs; 
an urn which was found in it, and is now preserved in the Castle 
Museum, proves it to have belonged to the latter part of the Celtic 
a period. As they returned, Mr. Wilson pointed out the quarry 
from whence 60,000 tons of stone have been hewn, for the new 
works at the castle. 
The other section led by Mr. Holme, and Mr. Tate, took the 
route to Ratcheugh, and had the benefit of the geological know- 
ledge of the latter gentleman. He pointed out the two distinct 
beds of whin still, between which, limestones and shales are 
‘intercalated. The great Basaltic Crag, on which the tower stands, 
‘is 70 or 80 feet in thickness, and slopes to the south-east, but 
towards the south of the section it dwindles down to a thick- 
ness of a few feet, showing that it is not a continuous stratum, 
but a wedge shaped mass, intruded among the mountain lime- 
stone beds; in confirmation of which, we find the underlying 
shales converted by the heat of the intruded mass, into porcelain 
jaspers, and the overlying limestone, into crystalline marble. 
VOL. V. PT. Il. Vv 
