Mt. Grace Priory

This lovely place was another day excursion out of York. It's about an hour north and a little west of York. It used to be the home of Carthusian Monks and of course, thanks to King Henry VIII is now a ruin. The picture below is an example of what is left of the private cells. The Carthusian Monks did not meet each other in communal activities, but they were each given a private cell in which they had a garden, a bedroom, a study, and a workroom including a fireplace and a latrine. They then would spend their entire lives in solitude. Their meals were delivered to them through a "cat flap" like structure in the stone walls. Very interesting.The picture below is the front of the priory ruins. They have a lovely garden and then some nice displays inside the building. I believe the building you are looking at was built by some Lord or other once he purchased the land. He was the one who saw to it that the priory ruins were protected and preserved, so I guess we owe him some gratitude!
This picture is the source of water for the priory. They had plumbing of sorts that went all throughout the priory. In fact, we learned that if you wanted to live with the most modern conveniences, becoming a monk was a good way of doing that. Most people did not have indoor plumbing at this time, but the monks did.

Here I am standing in one of the cells.
Here I am again, but this time I'm standing in what would have been the chapel. There is an interesting statue of the Virgin Mary behind me. I've never seen one that is so dramatic and more abstract in its style before.
Here is a picture of what is left of the chapel tower. Heidi and Tasha are on the edges of the group and a fellow student named Christy (from CA) is in the middle of them.