North Yorkshire County Record Office & Newburgh Priory

The private residence of Newburgh Priory is a Grade I listed building, which dates back to the 16^th century. With origins as an Augustinian Priory founded in 1145, following the dissolution under King Henry VIII, it was acquired by Anthony Bellasis and remained within the family, who became Earls of Fauconberg, until it passed to the Wombwells through the female line in 1825.

Newburgh Priory lies 8 miles to the south-east of Thirsk, just outside the village of Coxwold at the western edge of the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire. The garden, pleasure grounds and park around the Priory are designated at Grade II on the Historic England Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. They were laid out c.1730/40 for the 4^th Viscount Fauconberg and subsequently modified in the later 18^th- and 19^th-centuries. Much of the area of formal gardens no longer survives, but there is still plenty to see: topiary, lakes, historic trees, a water garden and walled garden. 

A fine series of historic estate plans survive in the Fauconberg (Belasyse) of Newburgh Priory archive held at the North Yorkshire County Record Office (NYCRO) in Northallerton. This collection includes plans dated 1605, 1722 and 1744, which show aspects of the historic designed landscape and its development.

View of south front of Newburgh Priory by G. Falkingham

For an illustrated report please see Yorkshire Gardens Trust Newsletter 53, Autumn 2023, p14

https://www.yorkshiregardenstrust.org.uk/sites/yorkshiregardenstrust.or…