Mount Grace Priory, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Mount Grace Priory was built in 1398 for the Carthusian monks (a silent order). The Priory was dissolved by Henry VIII and a manor house was built around its ruins. In the 20th century it became an Arts and Crafts style county house. Today the house, priory ruins and gardens are open to visitors.

Address

Cleveland Way, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

See all sites in North Yorkshire

Details

Founded: Middle Ages
Category: Religious sites in United Kingdom

More Information

www.english-heritage.org.uk
en.wikipedia.org
www.worldwidewriter.co.uk

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Merchant Adventurers' Hall (49,3 km)
City of Troy Maze, Dalby (31,9 km)

User Reviews

Matti Walker (18 months ago)
My little boy loved finding butterflies with the bug catching tools they provided! The priory is s really interesting place with a lot of history!

B Hepworth (18 months ago)
Wonderful place to spend a peaceful day out. Staff are very friendly and helpful. Nice new tea room and a beautiful setting for the house and priory. The gardens and pond were stunning. Very enjoyable visit! We'll be returning again.

annf williams (18 months ago)
Lovely old house, first impression was that it would make a beautiful watercolour ( I'm quite arty

Sean J Connolly (18 months ago)
Lovely hidden gem, English Heritage do an amazing job of looking after this place. We are actually National Trust members but you can get in at no cost for being an NT member. You get to see what life was like for these monks and when they say they spent their days living in solitude in a thing called a cell, its not anywhere near as bad as you think. Pay a visit and check it out. One thing to remember is parking is £1 and that goes both for English Heritage and NT members alike.

Leigh Edmondson (18 months ago)
We love Mount Grace Priory! It's perfect for curious kids who want to explore all the nooks and crannies. Lovely gardens, activities for the kids and a good coffee shop.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Makser

Historic Site of the week

Derbent Fortress

Derbent is the southernmost city in Russia, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains connecting the Eurasian steppes to the north and the Iranian Plateau to the south. Derbent claims to be the oldest city in Russia with historical documentation dating to the 8th century BCE. Due to its strategic location, over the course of history, the city changed ownership many times, particularly among the Persian, Arab, Mongol, Timurid, Shirvan and Iranian kingdoms.

Derbent has archaeological structures over 5,000 years old. As a result of this geographic peculiarity, the city developed between two walls, stretching from the mountains to the sea. These fortifications were continuously employed for a millennium and a half, longer than any other extant fortress in the world.

A traditionally and historically Iranian city, the first intensive settlement in the Derbent area dates from the 8th century BC. The site was intermittently controlled by the Persian monarchs, starting from the 6th century BC. Until the 4th century AD, it was part of Caucasian Albania which was a satrap of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. In the 5th century Derbent functioned as a border fortress and the seat of Sassanid Persians. Because of its strategic position on the northern branch of the Silk Route, the fortress was contested by the Khazars in the course of the Khazar-Arab Wars. In 654, Derbent was captured by the Arabs.

The Sassanid fortress does not exist any more, as the famous Derbent fortress as it stands today was built from the 12th century onward. Derbent became a strong military outpost and harbour of the Sassanid empire. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Derbent also became an important center for spreading the Christian faith in the Caucasus.

The site continued to be of great strategic importance until the 19th century. Today the fortifications consist of two parallel defence walls and Naryn-Kala Citadel. The walls are 3.6km long, stretching from the sea up to the mountains. They were built from stone and had 73 defence towers. 9 out of the 14 original gates remain.

In Naryn-Kala Citadel most of the old buildings, including a palace and a church, are now in ruins. It also holds baths and one of the oldest mosques in the former USSR.

In 2003, UNESCO included the old part of Derbent with traditional buildings in the World Heritage List.

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Mount Grace Priory