Lanercost Priory Video 3

The 3rd clip in our mini series of videos on Lanercost Priory.

Interesting connection:
Lanercost Priory has had strong ties to Naworth Castle for many centuries. Naworth Castle itself was occupied for over 200 years by the powerful Dacre family with Thomas Dacre playing an important role at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. The current owners of Naworth Castle have recently refurbished some of the buildings they own adjacent to the Lanercost Priory site, turning them into luxury holiday cottages - ideal for anyone interested in spending time in the Lanercost area, studying its medieval history and of course Hadrian's Wall which is close by. One of the 6 Lanercost cottages is very aptly called ... Dacre Cottage.

You can read more about the Dacre legacy in Cumbria by visiting our Dacre Castle page which is one of many haunted castles in England.

Lanercost Priory Video 2 & Lanercost Cottages

Video clip 2 of the Lanercost Priory ruins in Cumbria. It was within the priory grounds that the notorious medieval English King Edward I stayed for 5 months during the winter of 1306-1307. Read more about medieval kings and queens on our website.

Next door to Lanercost Priory is a super tearoom with excellent homemade fare - we know, we've tasted it! So once you've made your tour around the medieval ruins it's a great place to stop off and contemplate all that you've just seen. If you wish to stay in the area longer you can always book one of the Lanercost cottages on the site. All luxury cottages, they carry names relating to Lanercost's history. The De Vaux cottage is one example - it was Robert De Vaux who founded Lanercost Priory around 1170.

A Castle Wedding With An Owl But No Pussycat!

Medieval castles are often used as wedding venues for couples to get married in - they offer history and romance like no other venue can. It's a subject we've covered before with features on the likes of Eastnor Castle, one of the most romantic wedding venues in England. Although not medieval by age, its architecture is 'mock medieval' having been designed by the great architect Robert Smirke.

Well, how's this for a touch of real castle romance ... a video of a couple who got married at Eastnor Castle on New Year's Eve 2009. Watch out for the trained owl who flies down the church aisle to give them their wedding rings. How romantic is that?!

Read about their romantic wedding and enjoy the video.

Lanercost Priory Video 1

If you have never visited Lanercost Priory then here is your chance to share in a few video clips we made especially for our castle blog readers.

Video 1 - filmed from within the grounds of the ruins

Planning to visit Lanercost? There are some fabulous self catering, luxury cottages to let ... just next door! Here is one of them - it's called Greystoke holiday cottage and is one of 6 Lanercost holiday cottages that opened in 2009.

A Local Timeline Over 2 Millenia

On a visit to Lanercost Priory, a wonderful medieval church in a tiny Cumbrian village, I was intrigued to see a modern, sand blasted toughened glass panel on one of the inside walls. Called Lanercost 2000 it is a timeline of significant events related to local history from the birth of Christ right up to the present day.

The key period for many significant events appeared to be the Middle Ages and featured some of medieval Britains' key figures. It makes for fascinating reading!

1066 AD - Norman Conquest of Britain begins. This in turn led to the arrival in Cumbria of the de Vaux family who founded Lanercost Priory

1169 AD - Foundation of Lanercost Priory

1214 AD - Consecration of the Lanercost Cross (pictured)

1296 AD - William Wallace ransacked Lanercost

1306 AD - King Edward I arrived at Lanercost and stayed the winter, leaving in 1307

1311 AD - Robert The Bruce ransacked Lanercost

1346 AD - King David II of Scotland visited Lanercost

Read more about medieval churches in England.

Have you ever seen orbs in churches? Take a look at this photo taken at St Etheldreda's Church in London. Here is another of orbs in St Paul's Cathedral.

A series of short video clips of Lanercost Priory will follow in our next blog posts.