Coverham Abbey, North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 was a Premonstratensian

Premonstratensian

The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines, or in Britain and Ireland as the White Canons , are a Catholic religious order of canons regular founded at Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Saint Norbert, who later became Archbishop of Magdeburg...

 monastery originally founded at Swainby

Swainby

Swainby is a village in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is 8 miles north east of Northallerton on the A172. The small market town of Stokesley is only 5 miles away....

 in 1190 by Helewisia, daughter of the Lord Chief Justice Ranulf de Glanville. It was refounded at Coverham

Coverham

Coverham is a village in Coverdale on the border of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It lies only a mile west of the town, Middleham....

 in about 1212 by her son Ranulf fitzRalph, who had the body of his late mother reinterred in the chapter house

Chapter house

A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. They can also be found in medieval monasteries....

 at Coverham.

There is some evidence that the during the first half of the 14th century the abbey and its holdings were attacked by the Scots, with the abbey itself being virtually destroyed. Later in the that century there is a record of there being fifteen canons plus the abbot in residence.

Dissolution and beyond

The abbey was closed in 1536 - Thomas Wraye, father of Sir Christopher Wray

Christopher Wray

Sir Christopher Wray was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.-Early life and career:Wray, the third son of Thomas Wray, seneschal in 1535 of Coverham Abbey, Yorkshire, by Joan, daughter of Robert Jackson of Gatenby, Bedale, in the same county, was born at Bedale in 1524...

 (Chief Justice of the King's Bench 1574-1592) was the last Seneschal of the Abbey. It was sold to Humphrey Orme

Humphrey Orme

Humphrey Orme was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654 and from 1660 to 1671.Orme was the son of Humphrey Orme of Peterborough and his wife Mary Orme, daughter of Humphrey Orme of Compton Dundon, Somerset...

and quickly became a ruin.

The principal surviving remains include the ruins of the church, and the guesthouse which was incorporated into a house built on the site in 1674. This was replaced in the late 18th century by the current building known as Coverham Abbey House but still retains the surviving monastic features. The original gatehouse partially survives and there are many sculptural remains preserved including several tomb covers some with effigies of knights, from the 14th century.

The site is usually inaccessible to the public but can be glimpsed from the churchyard of Coverham's redundant medieval parish church.