Ellerton Priory was a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

nuns in

Swaledale Swaledale is a valley in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of the Yorkshire Dales, which are part of the Pennines, and within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is named after the River Swale, which runs through it. Swaledale is the mo ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. Its ruins lie in the civil parish of

Ellerton Abbey Ellerton Abbey is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the River Swale in lower Swaledale, south-west of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond. The population of the parish was e ...

History

There is uncertainty over the establishment of the priory. It was probably founded in the late 12th century, either by the Egglescliffe family, or by Warnerus, chief steward to the

Earl of Richmond The now-extinct title of Earl of Richmond was created many times in the Peerage of Peerage of England, England. The earldom of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond was initially held by various Breton people, Breton nobles; sometimes the holde ...

, or by Wymerus of the Aske family. In 1342 it suffered badly at the hands of marauding Scots, who are described as having razed and despoiled the Priory. In 1536

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

's commissioners arrived to inspect the convent as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The prioress Joan Harkey had to admit that one of her nuns, Cecily Swale, was asking to leave the convent. She wanted to leave after being released from her vows, but she had already given birth to a child. Not every monastery was to be closed in this phase, but the priory was formally surrendered to the Crown in August that year and dissolved in the following year. The site is a scheduled Ancient Monument and parts of the priory are

grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

listed. The Priory ruins stand close to the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Reeth Reeth is a village west of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond in North Yorkshire, England, in the civil parish of Reeth, Fremington and Healaugh. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is the p ...

road, just a mile downstream from the former

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Priory of

Marrick Marrick is a village and List of civil parishes in North Yorkshire, civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England, situated in lower Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the village is approximately west of Richmond, North ...

. The ruins include the remains of the priory church built in the 15th century. The church tower appears to have been rebuilt as a romantic ruin in the 19th century. There is no public access to the ruins.

Ellerton Abbey House

References

{{Coord, 54, 22, 18.8, N, 1, 52, 45.1, W, type:landmark, display=title Monasteries in North Yorkshire 12th-century establishments in England 1535 disestablishments in England Swaledale Scheduled monuments in North Yorkshire

History

Ellerton Abbey House

See also

References