Ravenstonedale Priory

At the dissolution of Watton priory in 1539, Ravenstonedale priory passed to the archbishop of York, and then to the Wharton family. Following the sequestration of the Wharton estate in 1729, the lands were bought by the Lowther family. The ruins were first written about in 1677 by George Fothergill, and shortly afterwards by Machell in 1681, who described the cloister court. The ruins were then not substantial and by the time that Bishop Nicholson wrote about them in 1703, they had largely disappeared. Nicholson noted that a vault was visible which had been used as a prison for those on capital offences at the manorial court.

The priory ruins were excavated by E P Frankland in 1928–29, who recognised it as being the Gilbertine cell. The size of the layout appeared large in comparison to the conjectured size of the Gilbertine community in its later years. This excavation uncovered both the present visible ruins, and a range of foundations to the north of these, which are now re-covered.

In 1988-89 an extensive excavation was undertaken by Cumbria County Council on behalf of Ravenstonedale Parochial Church Council, using funds raised locally and a grant from English Heritage. Following this, consolidation work was undertaken, and the present visible ruins are the east range of the cloister probably dating from a re-modelling of existing buildings in the late 13th to 14th centuries.

There is an interpretation plaque on the site.

• Monastic remains at Ravenstonedale. P Turnbull and D Walsh. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society. Vol XCII doi:10.5284/1061550
• The Buildings of England - Cumbria. Matthew Hyde and Nikolaus Pevsner, 2010.
• The Gilbertines and Ravenstonedale C R and M Irwin, Kirkby Stephen, 2002.

54°25′59″N 2°25′46″W / 54.43312°N 2.429481°W / 54.43312; -2.429481 (Ravenstonedale Priory)