Many happy Sunday afternoons have been spent exploring Mount Grace Priory with the children in tow. These beautifully haunting ruins of a former Carthusian Monastery can be found just off the A19 near Northallerton. We’re often the only visitors and there’s lots of open space for little legs to roam. We love to play hide and seek, and there’s also a fantastic tree for den making plus a recreated monk’s cell and herb garden, so they can imagine life here six hundred years ago.

Entry to the grounds of the crumbling ruins is through a handsome Manor House built in the Arts and Crafts style. I am a huge fan of this period and several of the rooms have recently been restored to include their original beautiful William Morris wallpaper and a rare bespoke carpet designed by Morris himself for the family who used to live here, as well as lots of stunning examples of Arts & Craft furniture.

The small shop sells bottles of delicious Chartreuse, for which the Carthusian monks are famous, as well as wonderfully cosy recycled woollen blankets. We usually picnic amongst the ruins, play Poohsticks and paddle in the little stream next to the car park and keep an eye out for the colony of stoats, which Mount Grace is well known for. We are yet to spot one of these elusive little creatures, but there’s always next time.

Photo courtesy of Ambersky235 on Flickr