Kirkham Priory, North Yorkshire 1996 & 2024 History, Context, Visiting Tips including role in D Day

In 1996 I visited Kirkham Priory in Kirkham, North Yorkshire and have come back to see what has changed
I will try and highlight some interesting history - it played a part in the World War II preparation for the Normandy landings, has some fascinating features, including carved stones on the entrance and a great drain and also provide a bit of history, as well as visiting tips
Please stay to the end for all the detail
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Kirkham Priory is located here in North Yorkshire, roughly 12 miles from York
It is the remains of an Augustinian Monastery constructed in the 1120s sitting on the River Derwent and is a grade 1 listed building and also a scheduled ancient monument
Kirkham was founded in the 1120s by the nearby Lord of Helmsley and this was during the reign of King Henry I who was only the third Norman King.
The Priory was then in pretty much continuous use until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539.
The buildings would then have been slowly taken down to provide building materials but very significantly they were made use of again centuries later in 1944 during the reign of King George VI who visited the site in secret along with the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
Sources:
English Heritage guidebook

[@rontanser9369]

Very interesting, thank you. I didn’t know the place existed and I lived at one time in Yorkshire.

[@eclecticexperience1]

Thanks, its a great setting with a fascinating history