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beside the Great Gate. The sheriffs account for their repairs in the 31st Edward III. is now before us, from which it appears that these pits were formed by the masonry of the respective towers, each of which had a wooden loft or chamber on the top, through trap-doors in which the prisoners were let down; according to this arrangement, the level of the dungeons was nearly the same as that of the external ground. In 1357 the loft of the "great pit," the timbers of which were entirely decayed, fell in, nearly killing the prisoners beneath, and it was on this occasion that the repairs were ordered which have supplied us with these details. The trapdoors and their bolts and locks are specially mentioned; and it may be noted that the latter were made of "Spanish iron." There were no windows in the masonry of the towers, as the workmen had candles on account of the darkness thereof. It was at this time also that new gallows were erected within the castle, and that William de Whitburn made "3 pair of manicles and 3 great bolts" for the castle stocks.

With these remarks, we take leave of Mr. Bruce, recommending his pamphlet to the support of northern archaeologists, and trusting that we may soon have to notice a second and amended edition.

The Antiquities found at Hoylake, in Cheshire; described by A. Hume, LL.D., F.S.A., &c. &c. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans. 1847.

We have already noticed the extensive collection of objects of every period, found in the alluvial soil at Hoylake, now in the possession of Dr. Hume^[1]; and it may be in the recollection of our readers that they were exhibited at the meeting of the Institute at York. In the present brochure, published at his own expense, Dr. Hume has given a detailed account of these interesting relics, one hundred and seventy-eight in number. The work is illustrated by a plan shewing the locality of their discovery, and by numerous faithful drawings on stone, by Mr. H. C. Pidgeon, of Liverpool.

The History of the Monastery founded at Tynemouth, in the Diocese of Durham, to the Honour of God, under the Invocation OF the Blessed Virgin Mary and S. Oswin, King and Martyr. By William Sidney Gibson, Esq., Barrister-at-Law, F.S.A., &c. Volume the Second. London: William Pickering. 1847. 4to.

We have much pleasure in recording the completion of this splendid and elaborate publication, the first part of which was reviewed at some length in our pages^[2]. In the present volume Mr. Gibson has given biographical

1. Archæological Journal, vol. iii. p. 354.
2. Ibid., vol. iii. p. 366.