Beaurepaire, Prior's Manor House, Bearpark, Co.Durham.
Posted by: 
greysman
N 54° 47.364 W 001° 37.416
30U E 588504 N 6072225
Beau Repaire is French for beautiful retreat and the manor house here was used as a retreat for the priors and monks of Durham Cathedral. It was built in the mid 13th century (1244-58) and was considerable extended over the next fifty years or so.
Waymark Code: WM8A8R
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/27/2010
Views: 15
The ruins of Beaurepaire stand north of the village of Bearpark about three miles to the north-west of Durham, within a rapid sweep of the River Browney, on a dry elevated plot, whose sides, shagged with copsewood, fall abruptly to the river. To the north-west lies the church and village of Witton Gilbert.
The Prior of Durham had his country seat here at Beaurepaire whilst the Bishop had his at Bishop Auckland, both houses were the centres of large hunting parks, that at Beaurepaire of 1300 acres..
These are the remains of the Prior's House and chapel of Beaurepaire built by Prior Bertram (1244-58) and considerably extended over the next fifty years or so.
It suffered badly during Scottish attacks culminating in the nearby Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346 'Only the shattered and roofless shell of the chapel is now standing, with dilapidated remains of some adjacent buildings'. The building was restored and extended again by Prior Fossour (1341-1374) to develop into a rest home for the monks of Durham, although the Prior continued to use it (along with his manor house at Pittington) as a favoured country residence until the Dissolution. Prior Hugh de Whitehead, the last Prior, is known to have carried out considerable alterations. The buildings continued in use as an occasional residence of the early deans of Durham, until during the Civil War the Scots inflicted further damage in the 1640s, after which most of them lay in ruin.
Major excavations in the 1980s and consolidation work exposed many lower walls. Inevitably the freely-accessible site is now beginning to suffer from the attentions of vandals.
Further information may be found on the Witton Gilbert web site, pages 10 & 11. (
visit link)