Egglestone Abbey

Standing on the borders of Yorkshire and County Durham are several disjointed and ruinous sections of a late 12th century Premonstratensian abbey. In common with many of the early monasteries, the original church at Egglestone Abbey was enlarged, and partly rebuilt, about one hundred years later, and it is this later church that survives today. The most prominent feature of the site is the east end of the church, with its elegant, double-lancet windows, and its curious mullioned east window.

The centre of the church - the crossing - has virtually disappeared, save for one wall of the south transept which dates from c1275 and still retains much of the window tracery and some of the delightful detail of the buttress. From the first church, only the north and west walls of the nave, and the foundations of one wall of the north transept have survived. Despite this central 'gap', the remaining walls of the church all stand to a good height and, with some imagination, it is possible to visualise what a magnificent building this must have been.

Egglestone Abbey was another 'border' abbey to suffer the financial blows of various wars and disputes throughout the middle ages and, consequently, much repair and reconstruction has taken place over the years. Egglestone Abbey was dissolved in 1540 and, it is believed, shortly afterwards the church tower was demolished because it spoiled the view from the old monastic buildings which had, by now, been converted into residential dwellings.

Where the east claustral range once stood now lie the remains of what appears to be an Elizabethan manor house, but with some evidence still existing of its monastic beginnings. The site has passed through many different hands during the last 450 years, and the buildings have suffered as a result of so many conversions. Even into the beginning of the 20th century, some of the stones were quarried away for use as local building materials.

On the two occasions we have visited Egglestone Abbey, the exposed and bleak position, sitting high in the valley of the River Tees, has been accentuated by the adverse weather conditions we encountered. It certainly brought home to us the severity of life that the monks must have endured all those centuries ago.