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· Guisborough Priory

NZ6116 : Guisborough Priory NZ6116 : Guisborough Priory et al.

Gisborough Priory

Gisborough Priory was founded in around 1119 by the Brus family who owned Skelton Castle. It was the earliest Augustinian Priory in Yorkshire and became one of the most important. When it was dissolved in 1539 it was the fourth richest in the County. Before the Priory Guisborough was a small village mentioned in the Domesday Book. The building transformed the village into a bustling market town of craftsmen and labourers needed to service the Priory.

After the Dissolution the buildings and land was sold to Thomas Chaloner who was a tutor to King Edward VI. In the 17th century the stone was salvaged to to build the Chaloners a new hall which affronted what is now Bow Street. The eastern gable of the Priory was kept as a centrepiece to the hall's vista.

The Priory and grounds are still owned by the Chaloner family, the present Lord Gisborough, although the site was placed into the care of the Ministry of Works in 1932.

The Old Hall was demolished in the mid 19th century and replaced by the current Hall to the East see here.