English country house in North Yorkshire, England
Newburgh Priory
is a Grade 1 listed Tudor building near
Coxwold
,
North Yorkshire
, England.
Originally a house of
Augustinian canons
, it was founded in 1145 and became a family home following the dissolution of the priory in 1538. The present house was built in the late 16th century, substantially remodelled by 4th Viscount Fauconberg 1725-45 and further restored in the 1960s.
[1]
The 40 acres of grounds contain a water garden, walled garden, topiary yews and woodland walks. It is one of the rumoured burial sites of
Oliver Cromwell
.
The house was once the home of the Bellasis family and the seat of the
Earls of Fauconberg
until the death of Lady Charlotte Bellayse in 1825, when the property passed to the
Wombwell family
via the eldest son of her sister, Sir George Wombwell, 3rd Baronet.
History
[
edit
]
Roger de Mowbray
founded the house of
Augustinian canons
in 1142?3 for canons of
Bridlington
first in a temporary settlement at
Hook
before the community could move in 1145 to Newburgh on lands originally granted by
William the Conqueror
to
Robert de Mowbray
.
[2]
[3]
The
Mowbrays
continued to support the priory, as Roger's grandson,
William de Mowbray
, was also a benefactor and was buried there in about 1222.
[4]
Little more is known of the priory from its founding until the
Dissolution of the Monasteries
in 1538 by
Henry VIII
, except that
Margaret Tudor
stayed a night there on 17 July 1503 as a guest of the prior during her progress to meet her husband
James IV of Scotland
.
[5]
Anthony de Bellasis
, a royal chaplain, purchased the priory in 1539 from Henry VIII for £1,062. Anthony, with his brother Richard, had been responsible for the dissolution of not only Newburgh, but also eight other monasteries in the north of England. His nephew Sir William Bellasis (1524?1604) converted Newburgh into a private residence in 1546. He was appointed
High Sheriff of Yorkshire
for 1574?75.
His eldest surviving son
Henry
was several times MP for
Thirsk
, once for
Aldborough
and High Sheriff for 1603?04. In 1611, he became one of the first baronets. His son
Thomas Belasyse, 1st Viscount Fauconberg
, also MP for Thirsk, succeeded him and took the title of Fauconberg when created a
baron
in 1627 (and
viscount
in 1643). The viscount's grandson
Thomas
married
Oliver Cromwell
's daughter,
Mary
, and was created Earl Fauconberg in 1689.
The property then descended through several generations to Henry Belasyse, 2nd Earl Fauconberg. On his death in 1802 the earldom became extinct and Newburgh was left to Lady Charlotte, his eldest daughter, who had married Thomas Wynn. He took the surname Belasyse and was High Sheriff in 1810?11.
On Lady Charlotte's death in 1825 without male heir, the estate passed to George Wombwell, 3rd Baronet, the son of her sister Lady Anne, who had married
Sir George Wombwell, 2nd Baronet
in 1791. The 3rd Baronet's son,
Sir George Orby Wombwell, 4th Baronet
, was a survivor of the
Charge of the Light Brigade
and High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1861. The house remains in the Wombwell family today.
Coal mining was prevalent in the area (as it was in other locations on the North York Moors) and collieries were in existence at Gilling East and Newburgh Priory. These workings finished in the 20th century.
[6]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Newburgh Priory"
.
British Listed Buildings
.
- ^
Knowles, David; Hadcock, R. Neville (1971).
Medieval Religious Houses England and Wales
(2nd ed.). London: Longman. pp. 142, 167.
ISBN
0-582-112303
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Newburgh Priory (56813)"
.
Research records (formerly PastScape)
. Retrieved
18 September
2016
.
- ^
Tait, James (1894).
"Mowbray, William de"
. In
Lee, Sidney
(ed.).
Dictionary of National Biography
. Vol. 39. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 238.
- ^
Leland, John,
Collectanea
, Hearne, Thomas, ed., vol. iv, (1770), 275.
- ^
Gaudian, Gudrun; Williams, Christoper.
"Yearsley Moor Archaeological Project 2009?2013 Over 4000 years of history"
(PDF)
.
North York Moors.org.uk
. Yearsley Moor Archaeological Project. p. 47
. Retrieved
18 September
2016
.