Yorkshire Heritage

Yorkshire Wildlife 

Mount Grace Priory is absolutely teeming with wildlife, from the famous Priory stoats and roe deer to rabbits and weasels, plus plenty of frogs and toads in the ponds around the site.

One of the reasons why Mount Grace is so popular with wildlife, especially the stoats, is the extensive network of underground channels and watercourses that traverse the whole site. When occupied by the Carthusian monks, each monk would have had a latrine with flowing water in his own cell, resulting in a complex system to distribute fresh water and flush away waste being installed.

Stoats use this network to move around the site undetected, and can easily move from the monastic ruins at the rear of the property into the gardens at the front without ever surfacing. The resident rabbits provide a readily available food source for the stoats and their young all year round, making this a perfect habitat for these small mammals.

The site's orchard provides a sheltered and quiet habitat for many birds, and roe deer have been known to leave their young fawns hidden in the dappled shade whilst they graze on the mown grass within the site.

Mount Grace also has several colonies of bees, including honey bees which inhabit the three chimneys of the manor house.  Local beekeepers are keeping an especially close eye on these bees this summer, as they seem to have recovered from the assorted viruses that have affected bees all over the country, and are now once again healthy and happy.

The site is also very much alive each evening, with several colonies of bats living in the roof of the manor house.  These roosts are maternity roosts, so most commonly inhabited by the female bats whilst the males sleep inside the hollow walls and chimneys of the ruined church and priory lodgings. For details of bat walks and tours, please call the site on 01609 883494.

Top stoat spotting techniques

Stoats are generally quite shy creatures, but can be spotted at Mount Grace all year round.  To spot them, sit in the ruins at the rear of the property on a quiet day, and wait patiently - chances are, they are already watching you from their hiding places, and need to be sure it is safe to emerge! 

You can also try mimicking the sound of a rabbit in distress, which can be made by rubbing a piece of polystyrene on the side of a drinking glass.  The squeak can sometimes fool the stoats into thinking that they can get an easy meal from a rabbit already in trouble!