REPORTS OF MEETINGS FOR 1910 153 



stones more nearly square tliau oblong, as is also the case 

 in the neighbouring tower. No certain date 

 Belsay can be assigned this Border fortress, though it 



Castle. probably belonged to the early part of the 15th 



century. Rectangular in plan, its walls which 

 rise to a height exceeding 55 feet are crowned at the angles 

 with turrets, the South-Western of which is attached to a 

 rectangular exploratory tower, and carried up considerably above 

 the others. These turrets, though over-sailing the walls in 

 five courses on each side, do not project beyond the angles, 

 a peculiarity which the Castle shares in Northumberland with 

 Chipchase. Between them, and placed on corbels formed of 

 three over-sailing stones, are tall machicolated battlements, 

 while the turrets themselves are similarly finished.* It is 

 believed that none of the existing battlements were original 

 parapets of the Castle. The customary arrangement of a vaulted 

 chamber in the basement has been followed, the entrance door 

 being situated in a recessed portion of the Western wall. Tliis 

 chamber, which is furnished with a large fire-place on the 

 North wall, was probably used as a kitchen and store-room. 

 In the sandstone rock below the floor a well, 17 feet deep, 

 has been sunk, but is now dry, owing perhaps to the working 

 of a quarry at a short distance away. In modern times a 

 doorway has been opened in the North wall revealing its 

 immense strength, the uniform thickness being 10 feet, and 

 the facing of ashlar work on both sides being consolidated 

 in a bed of concrete. Above is the great hall, running the 

 whole length of the building, and measuring 42 feet 9 inches 

 by 21 feet 6 inches, and 17 feet in height. It is lighted by 

 two windows, divided into two lights by a heavy moulded 

 muUion and transom, their pointed tops being filled with 

 cinquefoil cusping. These are deeply recessed into the walls, 

 with a stone bench on either side, and checked for the use of 

 shutters. A spacious fire-place occupies the middle of the 

 East wall. The interior of the walls is believed to have 

 been entirely coated with plastei' and ornamented with colour- 

 stencilled drawings, fragments of which are still traceable in 



* Ber. Nat. Clab, Vol. xvi., Plate I. 



