Durham County Council Review of Historic Parks, Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Local Interest (assessed as Finchale )

Finchale Priory assessed as Finchale Abbey

Grid Reference NZ 295471 Date February 2017 Author Fiona Green

Planning Status Identified in City of Local Plan Not within Conservation Area

Site Designations Finchale Priory Grade I List Entry Number 1159246 Finchale Priory Benedictine cell: hermitage, monastic precinct and site of priory watermill Scheduled Ancient Monument List Entry Number 1007561 Finchale Abbey Farmhouse Grade II* List Entry Number

History The site of a hermitage established by St Godric c.1110 who was said to have grown food and kept livestock there (Tudor). In 1180 the son of bishop Le Puiset founded a house for Augustinian canons at Finchale. In 1196 the site was made over to Priory (Benedictine) as a priory for 8 monks who developed a group of monastic buildings dating from 1237 until the late 13th-century. During the 14th century and until the dissolution in 1538 Finchale was reduced to providing merely a rest house for monks of . After the dissolution Finchale became part of the prebendial estate of the Seventh Stall at Durham Cathedral. Joseph Spence (1699-1768), distinguished poet, associate of Alexander Pope, and landscape designer, was made canon of the Seventh Stall in 1754. As well as having a garden at The College in Durham he made ambitious improvements at Finchale which included a kitchen garden, nursery and plantations. Spence provided advice for several landscapes and gardens in the region including Ceddesfield Hall, Sedgefield, Raby Park and Park. Alfred William Hunt (1830-1896) Finchale Priory watercolour 1862 (Wilcox, Newall 1992)

Description During the twelve years Spence was at Durham he frequently spent time at Finchale, calling it his 'wild Abbey-Grounds'. (Wright) He stayed in ' a good room in the farm-house near the abbey, with a bow window overhanging the murmuring streams of the Were, and overlooking the murmuring streams of the Were and looking upon the sweet sequestered walks of Cocke, but turning its back on the venerable ruins (Wright) He planned to plant '50 or 60 Scotch Fir, 10 middling Larches and 10 Spruce Firs' for Finchale, and other trees for his gardens at The College and the Great Bellasis (a field adjacent to Durham School). Durham County Council Review of Historic Parks, Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Local Interest Finchale Priory (assessed as Finchale Abbey)

Traveller William Howitt walked to Finchale Priory with the Durham historian James Raine (1791-1858) from Crook Hall in 1842. Raine had also taken Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott and Surtees to show them. 'At length we arrived at a gate shaded with a clump of trees entering on the fields in which Finchall stands" These trees [he said}, were planted by Spence, the author of Polymetis, for Finchall was on his prebendial land". The 1869 OS shows the ruins of the priory on the edge of a loop in the river. The woodland plantations follow the course of the river and may have extended to Bishop's Grange which is marked north west of the Priory. Confusingly the 1820 Greenwood map of marks the river bank east of the priory as Finchale Banks. Whether this means the land belonged to the priory at that point and became part of the Cocken estate later is not clear. There is also the possibility that the banks were highlighted as a picturesque viewpoint to the priory.

Recommendation Add to list of Parks, Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Local Interest

Durham County Council Review of Historic Parks, Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Local Interest Finchale Priory (assessed as Finchale Abbey)

Significance Factor Commentary Interest Local Regional National International Age Post Medieval 1541 - 1900 Buildings from c.1110. Appreciated for Y Picturesque qualities during the 18th century.

Aesthetic Value High due to topographical features and ruined buildings Y

Landscape or Horticultural The site has not been surveyed to identify whether any of Spence's Y Interest plantings have survived. The Picturesque topography is inherent to the design of Spence's garden.

Designer Joseph Spence Y

Group Value Finchale Priory Grade I Y Finchale Priory Benedictine cell: hermitage, monastic precinct and site of priory watermill Scheduled Ancient Monument List Entry Number 1007561 Finchale Abbey Farmhouse Grade II*

Rarity Picturesque landscape defined by Joseph Spence Y

Historic Interest Considerable Y

Historical Association Durham Priory, Joseph Spence, William Wordsworth Ceddesfield Hall Y HE RPG Grade II List Entry Number 1001698, Raby Castle HE RPG Grade II* List Entry Number 1000732, Auckland Castle Grade II* List Entry Number 1000727. Landscape garden with Picturesque landscape

Social and Communal Value Parts of the site are open to the public. Y Durham County Council Review of Historic Parks, Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Local Interest Finchale Priory (assessed as Finchale Abbey)

Evidential Value Writings of Joseph Spence Y

Overall significance Finchale Priory is of considerable historic interest due to the nationally Y important landscape designer Joseph Spence establishing his private garden there. Spence recorded his planting scheme for the garden in the 1750s but little seems to survive. However, the Picturesque landscape features remain and the tranquillity of Spence's retreat can be appreciated in conjunction with Finchale Priory. It is suggested that this site is proposed as an addition to the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Durham County Council Review of Historic Parks, Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Local Interest Finchale Priory (assessed as Finchale Abbey)

Background Information

Location, Area, Boundaries, Landform, Setting

Entrances and approaches No formal approach, entrance from a lane.

Principal Buildings Finchale Priory and farm

Gardens & Pleasure Grounds It is challenging to interpret any sense of Spence's design. There may be remaining specimen trees

Kitchen Garden Orchard trees are shown in one of the priory compartments

References Archives and Special Collections - Durham University Finchale documents Durham Cathedral Muniments Finchalia Durham County Record Office Printed sources Fay, J(2013), 'William Wordsworth’s Visit to James Raine and Finchale Priory, July 1838' Notes and Queries, vol 60, no. 2, pp. 248-51. Howitt, W. (1842) Visits to Remarkable Places ... Tudor, V. Dictionary of National Biography Wilcox, Newall, (1992) Victorian Landscape Watercolours Wright, A (1950) Joseph Spence a Critical Biography

Historic Landscape Not identified Characterisation

Further Research Boundary of prebendary estate & Tithe maps