Ripon 2025 - Day 4

It was Yorkshire Day on Friday (1st of August) - not celebrated by everyone; for instance, my sister-in-law (A), Yorkshire born and bred, has never observed it in her life. But many activities, special meal offers in pubs and other things throughout the county mark the day for many.

We had planned a day out with A and her daughter (B) and her dog, visiting Mount Grace priory and Gardens for the first time. It is a 45 minute drive from Ripon, and we were to meet B there, who lives in York.

It worked out exactly as planned, but then the adventure began…

A and I went in to get tickets while my sister, B and Ruby (the dog) waited outside. The ticket counter was unmanned, so we went into the shop, where a young, friendly but rather hapless man struggled with the till. I am not kidding when I say it took us about 20 minutes to get those tickets!

We were all wanting a drink after that and went to the café for teas, coffees or lemonade as well as a snack. The café there is rather new and purpose-built, but quite impractical in its layout: When you queue at the counter, you have a side door opening right into your back; the fridge for sandwiches and cold drinks can not be stocked up by staff without them getting into the queue, and the front door swings open towards the inside - not ideal when you are carrying a tray with full mugs and things.

Also, the two friendly ladies behind the counter were nearly as clueless as the young man in the house; it took us ages to get our sandwiches and drinks. We finally sat outside at a table, now battling wasps as well as a chilly breeze, but although we did register all this, we didn‘t mind - we were together and had a good catch-up.

Next, we walked the garden, which was beautiful, especially with the house and ruins as a backdrop.

We then split in pairs so that two of us could explore the house (where dogs weren‘t allowed) and two plus Ruby the ruins. 

Inside the house, two rooms are furnished and decorated in the Arts & Crafts style, with original William Morris wallpaper and other items. 

The rest of the rooms open to the public are filled with information boards about the history of the priory, the house and the garden.

The ruins are interesting to explore; as a Carthusian priory, they are rather different from other places such as Fountains Abbey or Byland. The monks did not share dormitories, a refectory or sleep in small individual cells. Instead, their ‚cells‘ were individual cottages with small gardens arranged around a cloister, offering much more room to one single person than what most peasant families had all together.

The reconstructed ‚cell‘ struck us as rather luxurious, but the solitary and silent life regulated by strict times of prayer and study must still not have been easy. The day-to-day work was done by lay brothers, who lived in shared accomodation but otherwise observed pretty much the same rules. Wikipedia has more about this order here.

B drove back to York and A drove us back to Ripon, where we arrived just after 3:30 pm. We did a spot of food shopping at Sainsbury‘s and went for a walk along the river Skell before calling it a day.