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.

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.