Brinkburn Priory lies in a secluded and enchanting setting, tucked away in woodland within  loop of the River Coquet. It was founded in the 1130s as a community of Augustinian canons, although the earliest surviving buildings date from the end of the twelfth century. Never a wealthy house, and frequently troubled by Scottish raids, it was one of the first monasteries to be closed at the Dissolution in 1536.

After the Dissolution the priory church was used for a while as the parish church, while parts of the monastic buildings were adapted to form a manor house. The condition of the church rapidly deteriorated, but after years of neglect it was carefully reroofed and restored in the mid-nineteenth century, and stands today as one of the finest examples of early Gothic architecture in Northumberland.*

*From English Heritage Brinkburn Priory handbook