Mount Grace Priory North YorkshireFounded in 1398, Mount Grace was the last monastery to be established
in Yorkshire before the Protestant Reformation. Today, over 600 years after
its inception (and 450 after its abandonment) the priory stands as the best
preserved of ten Carthusian charterhouses built in England.
Location and mapMount Grace is situated 10km East North East of Northallerton and 2km North West of Osmotherly. It is on the most Western border of the North York Moors National Park. Please see our map to Mount Grace Priory for more detail.
Isolated monks confined
Nestled at the feet of the Cleveland Hills and positioned miles away from
the nearest town, Mount Grace's isolation was purposeful. Contra to other
communal denominations, such as the Cistercians, Augustinians and
Benedictines, the Carthusian Order demanded then, as it does today, a strict
hermitic lifestyle.
Each of the 23 monks at Mount Grace was to spend the
majority of his hours confined in his own cell. Each cell consisted of two
floors and a small garden. The rooms were even fitted with an angled hatch,
purposefully designed to prevent the monks from seeing who brought them
their meals. Lay brothers carried out all manual labour on the site and
visitors were discouraged.
The monks only came together for three of the
daily offices and abided by a vow of silence at all times. Such a rigorous
routine proved too much for some, but desertion wasn't tolerated and any
escapees intercepted were incarcerated in the prison block.
Dissolution ment change to Mount GraceAfter 1539 and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the site went untended
for over a hundred years. In 1654, Thomas Lascelles converted the adjacent
Guest Hall into a grand manor house, but nothing was done for the priory.
Today, the signs of neglect are clear to see, but the site's entire
foundational layout is still clearly defined.
One cell was left for us
In addition, one cell, along
with its herb garden, has been completely reconstructed. This allowed visitors
to appreciate just how confined the monks' lives were. Also revamped are the
original springhouses, which were used to convey the priory's water supply
from the nearby hillside. However, the site's best-surviving structure is
its diminutive church, which has managed to retain its archetypal structure
throughout centuries of disuse. |
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Today it is a haven and tourist attraction
The Guest Hall now serves as the entrance, shop and exhibition centre. Its
gardens received some remodelling in the early 20th century and are now a
haven for wildlife, including families of geese, ducks and stoats. The
entire area, despite being just a few hundred yards from the A19, is one of
peace and tranquillity. The local scenery is breathtaking, with beds of
daffodils and rows of blossoming trees decorating the environment at ground
level. Some postulate that the atmosphere here has scarcely altered in 600
years.
Local exhibitions and artifacts to see
As well as the permanent artefacts, the Great Hall also plays host to
numerous and diverse exhibitions of local art. The priory is open Monday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday all year round - from 10am-6pm (April
to September), and 10am-4pm (October to March).
More info on Mount Grace Priory
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