Bearpark Priors House

Bearpark Priors House is a ruined manor house dating to the mid 14th century and built for the Prior of Durham , probably incorporating buildings from the mid 13th century that were much extended for Bertram de Middleton before being destroyed by the Scots. The Priors had entertained Kings Edward I, II and III when those kings led campaigns north against the Scots, and it is probably for this reason that the 1300 acre park and the buildings were ransacked in October 1346, the day before the Battle of Neville’s Cross.

Prior Fossour repaired the manor, and extended them greatly in his time (he died in 1371) to form an E-plan mansion of five ranges with a courtyard to the east surrounded by additional rooms. The most significant remains are mainly from the ruined chapel with the adjacent hall, but there are also some footings of other buildings, although the manor was quite extensive, being built to serve as a retirement home for monks from Durham as well as a country retreat in use until the Reformation. The last Prior, Hugh de Whitehead, was also responsible for considerable works before his death in 1551. Subsequently, it was the Deans who used the place – until the Covenanting Scots forces attacked it in 1640 and 1645. The buildings were then left to decay.