Ravenstonedale Priory

Ravenstonedale Priory stands in the quiet dale of Ravenstonedale in Cumbria, northern England. It was a small Gilbertine priory founded in the 12th century when Torphin, grandson of Copsus, gave the manor to Watton Priory in Yorkshire. The house was meant to hold a master and three canons, but little else is recorded about daily life there. Disputes over land with Bishop Robert Chause of Carlisle show the priory remained under Watton’s control into the late 13th century. In 1336 the priory took over Ravenstonedale church, confirming its hold on the area. By 1405 an enquiry found the canons no longer lived on site, leaving the buildings empty for long periods.

After Watton Priory was dissolved in 1539, Ravenstonedale passed to the archbishop of York and then to the Wharton family. When the Wharton estate was seized in 1729, the Lowther family bought the land. Early visitors like George Fothergill in 1677 and Machell in 1681 described the priory’s cloister court, though by 1703 Bishop Nicholson found only a vault left, once used as a prison. Excavations in 1928–29 by E P Frankland showed the priory was larger than expected for its small community. A later dig in 1988–89 by Cumbria County Council uncovered the east range of the cloister, rebuilt in the late 13th or 14th century.

Today the visible ruins show part of the priory’s east range, with foundations to the north now buried again. An interpretation plaque explains what once stood there. The site sits in a peaceful dale, far from busy roads, offering a quiet place to imagine the small Gilbertine community that once lived and worshipped there. The remains are small but give a sense of the priory’s layout and history. Visitors can walk among the stones and read the plaque to understand how the site changed over the centuries. The ruins stand as a modest reminder of a once-active monastic house in the north of England.