38 BEPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1903 



picturesquely from the midst of detached columns of basalt, 

 which eeem as if deposited to protect its base. It is 

 believed to be the work of Sir John Lilburn, Constable of 

 Dunstanburgh about 1325, and it occupies the highest point 

 within the area of the Castle. In consequence of its exposed 

 position it has suffered greatly from wind and thunderstorms, 

 by reason of which its internal arrangements can only be 

 conjectured. The walls are six feet thick, and the space 

 enclosed measures nearly thirteen feet six inches square. At 

 each angle of the roof a solid turret rose about eighteen feet 

 to the height of sixty feet or thereby above the base of the 

 tower. " Nothing," says Mr Freeman, "can well be conceived 

 more striking than Lilburn Tower, a Norman keep in spirit, 

 though of a far later date, rising on the top of the wild hill, 

 with the tall basaltic columns standing in order in front of 

 it, like sentinels of stone." Immediately beneath the tower 

 a small postern, with a round arch of the decorated period, 

 opens on to a footpath which leads down the steep escarpment 

 in the direction of Embleton. The curtain-wall is continued 

 Northward for a few yards, and then, adapting itself to the 

 configuration of the slope on which it is built, is brought to 

 an abrupt termination at the Gull Crag, a precipice which 

 rises upwards of one hundred feet above the level of the sea, 

 and forms the Northern boundary of the Castle. 



At a headland in it, called Castle Point, occurs a perpendicular 

 chasm, hollowed out by the disintegration of 

 Rumble a column of basalt, and terminating in a narrow 



Churn. aperture on the ridge above, which has been 



named by some " The Rumble Churn," in contra- 

 distinction to the creek nearer the Castle, which bears the 

 name of Queen Margaret's Cove. The reason for the trans- 

 ference of the title lies in the fact that on account of the 

 tremendous force ofttimes generated by a North-Easterly gale 

 at half-tide, a huge column of surging water is thrown up 

 into the air at this point, suggestive of the commotion caused 

 by the use of this valuable dairy utensil. It cannot be said, 

 however, that this explanation suffices to throw discredit 

 altogether on the older theory that the larger and more rugged 

 bay, associated with Queen Margaret's fortunes, is entitled to 

 the traditional nomenclature. Ample time was allowed for a 



