Mount Grace Priory
Mount Grace Priory has the typical ground plan of a late medieval
Charterhouse, based on two enclosures: the Cloister and the Inner Court. Between
the two enclosures were the church and the Prior's cell. the Prior was the
one member of the religious community who was allowed access to the outside
world, for he was responsible for the management of all the house's affairs
both religious and social.
The buildings you see today are principally of the later 15th
century, for the Priory was continually being extended and improved, but excavation
has shown that the house was conceived at the scale apparent today, for the
two great terraces it occupies were created soon after the foundation. The
most remarkable feature of the site was the drainage and provision of clean
piped water to each cell - provided at a time when such attention to sanitation
was unusual, even in the monastic world.
(Text copied from the sign shown in the first image below)
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mtgrace_01.jpg
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10Jan04. Signs like this can be found at most National Heritage
properties. It indicates the years each section was built. It shows
wall locations when they were standing. I have overlaid the image
numbers of where I took the pictures. Unfortunately the restored
Monk's cell was closed today, so I was unable to take pictures of
it.
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mtgrace_02.jpg
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View of the main chapel.
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mtgrace_03.jpg
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Another view of the chapel, from a different angle. Next to and
behind me are some interesting cedars, which I neglected to take
photos of.
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mtgrace_04a.jpg
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Panoramic view of the priory from near the cedars. The building
along the wall in the distance is the restored monk's cell.
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mtgrace_05.jpg
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Chapel tower, with madonna statue. Photomerged image, unfortunately
not perfect.
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mtgrace_06.jpg
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Detail of arch design in chapel tower.
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.mtgrace_07.jpg
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Madonna statue in what used to be the choir.
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mtgrace_08.jpg
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Panoramic view of the Great Cloister. That's John on the left, to
give some idea of size. The restored cell is in the back left wall,
the spring is not visible along the back right wall.
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mtgrace_09.jpg
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View of the chapel tower, and ruins, from the monks cell directly
in front of the springhouse.
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