Gisborough Priory
 Abbeys |
Guisborough is an attractive market town set in rural surroundings just outside the Tees Valley area on the northern edge of the Cleveland Hills, south of Middlesborough. An ancient town it was once the capital of the region of Yorkshire referred to as Cleveland, and is certainly one of the most historic towns in its new county of Cleveland. Similar to many other towns in the area Guisborough is centred upon a busy market street, here called Westgate, in which there is a curious 18 th century market cross decorated with sundial and weather vane. However, the town's most notable feature is the beautiful ruined abbey called Gisborough Priory. The name has a habit of confusing tourists because it drops the ‘u' in its spelling, but in fact town and priory are one and the same.
Standing in full glory, and to its original height, the splendid east end gable of Gisborough Priory church is predominantly all that survives of the early 14 th century Augustinian monastery. The priory was founded by an influential local baron, Robert de Brus of Skelton, and generously endowed by his family who were important landowners on both sides of the River Tees. Robert's brother William became the first Prior, and many family descendents were later buried in the church, including the grandfather of King Robert Bruce. Robert de Brus (or Bruce) was an ancestor of the famous Scottish king Robert the Bruce (1290-1329).
Despite there being nothing left above foundation level of the first stone church, evidence suggests a building of large proportions. A second church was under construction by the late 12 th century on a scale even grander than the first. Severely damaged by fire in 1289, this church was replaced by a third structure that spanned about a century, and the existing east end is a splendid example of northern Gothic architecture from this period.
Originally over 350 ft in length, the presbytery alone comprised nine bays and each arcade was supported by a clustered column on a moulded base, and topped with a foliated capital. Although scant remains are visible today, the remarkable survival of the east end gable indicates clearly the scale and grandeur of the 14 th century priory. A massive central window with slender shafts culminating in turrets sits beneath a gable containing an ornately traceried window. Flanking the main window are two symmetrical, gabled and turreted buttresses each with a low-level, broad lancet window. The extent and richness of the carving on the dark ashlar stonework of this gable end is so beautiful that it warrants a viewing simply on its own merit.
Gisborough Priory originally fell within the bounds of Yorkshire, and in the late 15 th century was the fourth richest house in that very large county. On Christmas Eve 1539, Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries caught up with Gisborough when the Prior and 23-canons surrendered their monastery to the Crown. The abandoned site was eventually sold to the Chaloner family in the late 16 th century, who converted the west range of the claustral buildings to living accommodation.
Landscaping on a grand scale was fashionable in the early 18 th century and so at Gisborough all the domestic buildings and the church nave were destroyed and replaced by formal gardens. Undoubtedly, the east wall was returned to its full height as a ‘romantic' feature within the landscaped whole. Admiral Chaloner began serious excavations of the priory church in the 1860's, attempting to uncover the tombs of the Gisborough patrons. Thanks to his extensive operations large quantities of architectural detail have been recovered.