(More photos below)
The photos on this page were taken in 1958 and show several boys from Richmond Grammar School. They can be seen renovating Marrick Priory before it started life as an Outdoor Education Centre in 1970s. The photos were taken by Mike Wood, he has kindly donated them to the Priory for use on the website. Mike himself can be seen in one of the photos renovating the hearse - he was 18 years old at the time.
When the boys arrived on site they took a photo of the Priory with the gravestones. One of these had an inscription with the name Cowper, dated in the 1700s. This was probably a descendant of our last Prioress - Christabel Cowper from the 1500s!
A large tree had fallen next to the Hearse House. When the boys removed it they found the hearse in pieces. Mike painstakingly put it together again with the help of historians in London. Some time later the Hearse was collected by the Beamish Museum. More recently, the Beamish Museum have constructed a replica Hearse House off-site where the hearse is now on display to the public.
Inside the chapel they found lots of debris and droppings. The wood was severely infected by insects and they were advised to burn it. Mike also told us that when he arrived on site he found lots of coloured glass on the ground which has since been dated to medieval period and a specialist glazier in the Dales put them together and they are now in the east window in the chapel.
