The abbey of St Mary and St John the Baptist was founded at Egglestone between 1195 and 1198 for Premonstratensian canons. St Norbert had founded the Premonstratensian Order at Prémontré in France in 1121, adopting the rule of St Augustine and borrowing from the stricter Cistercians’ rule. The founders of Egglestone were the de Moulton family, whose title passed to the Dacres by marriage in 1314.

The endowment of Egglestone was so small that early in the 13th century the Abbot of Prémontré deputed three of his English abbots to hold an inquiry to decide if the status of the abbey should be reduced to that of a priory.

It remained an abbey, but poverty beset the canons throughout their history. They suffered particularly when the Scots ravaged Yorkshire in 1315 and at other times of war, receiving frequent remissions of taxes to maintain them.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the site was granted to Robert Strelley in 1548. He converted the east and north ranges into a mansion and installed a kitchen in the west range.

In 1770 Sir Thomas Robinson sold the abbey to John Morritt of Rokeby Hall. Morritt’s descendant placed the ruins in the guardianship of the state in 1925 and later returned a notable collection of architectural stonework, including the tomb of Sir Ralph Bowes of Streatlam (died 1482), which was re-erected in the church crossing.

Barnard Castle in Teesdale is a historic market town which takes its name from the castle around which it grew. The castle, an English Heritage property, was named after its 12th Century founder, Bernard de Balliol, and was later developed by Richard III whose boar emblem is carved above a window in the inner ward. The church of St Mary’s benefited from the patronage of the king with much work carried out including the founding of a chantry. The chancel arch bears corbels with the portraits of Richard and Edward IV and there is a carved boar beside the east window of the south transept.

The castle looks down to the tumultuous River Tees below, popular with canoeists, anglers and for riverside walks along the Teesdale Way, Deepdale and Flatts Wood.

The good news was the bread for the continental breakfast was not stale. The bad new was that there was no bread at all. Leaving breakfast slightly underwhelmed, we put our luggage in the car and checked out of the hotel.

Our first stop was Barnard’s Castle to visit the ruined castle which we had found impressive as we drove past on a previous visit to Newcastle. Once inside we found the castle footprint impressive, the ruins and history less so. We enjoyed the town of Barnard Castle as we walked to and from the car park. I have added it to my list of potential places to stay when we next travel up north.

The guidebook for the castle listed a couple of nearby sites, including Egglestone Abbey which shared a family connection (Bowes) with the castle. We decided to visit, although we got a little lost on the way taking an unplanned detour through wonderful countryside. We found the abbey more captivating than the castle.

Continuing on our homeward journey, we stopped for lunch at the ice cream parlor in Brough. Everything is home made and served by the owners of the farm where it is situated. I chose a delicious blueberry scone and the lovely weather allowed us to enjoy our lunch sitting outside with views of  the ruined Brough Castle. After lunch I couldn’t resist walking up to the castle to experience the wonderful view over the countryside.

Our next stop was Wheelock Farm for afternoon refreshments then, as we neared home, we called in at a supermarket to buy some ingredients  for our evening meal. This brings us full circle to day one of our holiday and my book purchase ‘Simply Raymond’ from which we chose the simple and delightful dish ‘cod cassoulet’. A perfect way to end our holiday.

We arrived at breakfast to find that most items were in short supply, causing us to hurry through breakfast rather than tarry a while.

We walked to Durham Town square to see various features including the History time line that is featured on the pathway across the square. We ventured into the market to see its architectural features before visiting the Town Hall where I knew there was a hidden gem behind the unimposing frontage, the Medieval Guild Hall built in 1665.

Sadly the church of St Nicholas was shut. This seemed to be an emerging theme with churches in Durham so we decided not to venture further to St Oswalds’ church which was also on our morning ‘to visit’ list.

Instead we drove to Shildon to visit the National Railway Museum. We arrived to find it shut on Mondays and Tuesdays…

Plan B came into operation, a visit to the Bowes Museum. We arrived just in time for lunch so we joined the queue for the tearoom. When we were seated we realised why there was a long queue, the system they operate is not very organised. The food, when it arrived, was delicious. The French chateau styled building and the collections within are a delight. I enjoyed the galleries of paintings, in particular those showing biblical scenes and figures.

Despite the earlier chaos in the tearoom, we decided that afternoon tea and cake was in order before heading back to the hotel. The queue was shorter and the tearoom less full but the service was just as chaotic as it had been at lunch. We shared a delicious slice of chocolate and orange cake.

Later we dined in Restaurant 17 followed by our now customary night cap in the Swan before retiring to our hotel.