Guidebook: Mount Grace Priory

Mount Grace Priory is the best preserved of the ten Carthusian monasteries in England. Founded in 1398 by Thomas de Holand, Duke of Surrey and nephew of Richard II, and refounded in 1415 by Thomas Beaufort, Earl of Dorset and later Duke of Exeter, it was the last monastery established in Yorkshire before the Reformation, an expression of the fashion for piety and strict living that followed the Black Death. Unlike other monks who lived communally, the Carthusians lived as hermits. They worked, meditated and said daily offices in solitude in their own cells, encountering each other in church only for daily Matins and Vespers, and, less frequently, at the convent mass. The priory was closed in 1539 at the Suppression of monasteries, its monks pensioned, and most of its building dismantled. In the 17th century the north guest house was converted into a comfortable residence. At the end of the 19th century the industrialist Sir Lowthian Bell extended the house in the Arts and Crafts style and began repair of the priory ruins. Today visitors can see the layout of the whole priory, including a reconstructed and furnished cell, the typically small Carthusian church, its service buildings, and the house that occupies the shell of the priory’s original guest house. Key Features: 40 pages Paperback Published in 2014