Marrick Priory

A short way east of Reeth, where the Coast to Coast follows the River Swale, the squat tower of Marrick Priory rises from a meadow above the water. This was a house of Benedictine nuns, founded in the 1150s, early in the reign of Henry II, by the local lord Roger de Aske, who granted the sisters the church of St Andrew at Marrick together with land. Endowed by gifts across the surrounding villages and helped by income from Swaledale's lead, it grew into one of the wealthier nunneries in Yorkshire. Its life ended with the Dissolution of the Monasteries: the last prioress, Christabel Cowper, and her sixteen nuns were finally cleared out by Henry VIII's commissioners, the surviving records placing the surrender in 1539 and the eviction of the community in 1540. The church carried on as the parish church for centuries; today the much-altered buildings, with their west tower (largely rebuilt in 1811), serve as a residential outdoor-education centre and are not open as a paid attraction. Most walkers' lasting memory is what comes next: the climb out through Steps Wood on the Nuns' Causey, some 375 worn stone steps said to have been laid for the sisters, a stiff but atmospheric pull up to Marrick village.

Highlights

The west tower (largely rebuilt in 1811) of the priory church, the most prominent surviving feature, rising above the Swale meadow
The Nuns' Causey through Steps Wood: roughly 375 worn flagstone steps, a sunken path climbing about 70 m, said to have been laid and used by the nuns
Earthworks of the monastic precinct around the church (fishponds, mill mound, the site of medieval ironworking), now a Scheduled Monument
The riverside setting on the River Swale, with views back down lower Swaledale and across to the ruins of Ellerton Priory
One of the best-preserved nunnery sites in England, valued for both standing remains and buried archaeology

At a glance

Period	Medieval (c. 1150)
Stage	10 — Reeth to Richmond

Take care

Marrick Priory is a working residential outdoor-education centre and is NOT open as a visitor attraction; view it from the public footpath and do not enter the grounds.
The Nuns' Steps (Nuns' Causey) are a steep flight of about 375 uneven stone steps with no handrail and can be slippery when wet.
Lower Swaledale field and riverside paths can be very muddy after rain; mobile signal is patchy.
Coordinates in the existing record (54.388, -1.86) are wrong by roughly 3 km; the priory is at approximately 54.3757, -1.8989 (OS grid SE 0670 9778).

History

Marrick Priory was founded in the 1150s, in the early reign of Henry II, by Roger de Aske, lord of nearby Aske, for nuns of the Benedictine order; the foundation charter is generally dated between about 1154 and 1158. It granted the church of St Andrew at Marrick with a carucate of land, and the new convent attracted donations across the adjoining villages, as well as the hospital known as the Spital on Stainmore, given by Ralph son of Ralph, lord of Moulton. The priory's modest economy was supported in part by Swaledale's medieval lead industry. At the Dissolution its clear annual value was recorded as £48 18s 2d (Valor Ecclesiasticus), making it one of the better-endowed Yorkshire nunneries. It survived the first phase of suppression and was wound up at the close of the 1530s: Prioress Christabel (Christabella) Cowper and her sixteen nuns surrendered to the royal commissioners John Uvedale and Leonard Bekwith in 1539, with the community finally evicted in 1540; the prioress received a pension of one hundred shillings, the nuns lesser sums down to twenty shillings. Sir John Uvedale leased and then, in 1545, purchased the site for £364. The priory church continued in use as the parish church of St Andrew. The story of the priory's last days inspired Hilda Prescott's novel 'The Man on a Donkey'.

Myth & legend

Legend gives the Nuns' Steps their number: the sisters of Marrick are said to have laid a flagstone through Steps Wood for every day of the year — 365 in all — as a penance. The worn causeway, the 'Nuns' Causey', carried the Benedictines towards Marske and Richmond for nearly four centuries.

Geology

Swaledale is cut through the Yoredale series of the Carboniferous: alternating beds of limestone, sandstone and shale that give the dale its terraced 'step' profile. Mineral veins in these rocks carried the lead (galena) ore that helped fund the priory and shaped the dale's later industrial landscape. The priory's worked stone and the flagstones of the Nuns' Causey are local sandstone from these beds.

Wildlife & nature

Steps Wood is a mixed broadleaf hillside woodland, lovely in spring with bluebells and birdsong, and rich in leaf colour in autumn. The River Swale below supports dippers, grey wagtails and the occasional heron, while the surrounding meadows and dale slopes are typical Yorkshire Dales pasture. The wider area lies within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, where curlew, lapwing and oystercatcher are characteristic spring-summer birds of the valley fields.

The view

The priory sits on a green shelf beside the River Swale, framed by the wooded valley sides of lower Swaledale, a gentler, pastoral landscape after the open lead-mining moors of the previous day. The classic view is the stocky church tower against the meadow and river; from the top of the Nuns' Steps, where the path breaks out of Steps Wood, you get an open look back down the dale. Across the Swale the scant ruins of Ellerton Priory lie almost opposite.

Photography

Best light is morning, when the east-facing tower and meadow catch the sun off the river; the framed shot of the tower with the Swale in the foreground is the signature image. Inside Steps Wood the sunken, mossy flagstones of the Nuns' Causey make an evocative woodland subject, especially in soft light or after rain when the stones glisten; spring (bluebells and fresh leaf) and autumn colour are the most rewarding seasons. Remember the priory itself is a working centre, so photograph from the public path rather than entering the grounds.

When to visit

Walkable spring to autumn; the priory and Steps Wood are at their best in late spring (bluebells, fresh green) and in autumn colour. After prolonged rain the riverside and field paths are muddy and the stone steps slick. As a low-level stretch it is not snow- or bog-affected like the high moors, but mind the short winter daylight if walking out of season.

Getting there

There is no public transport to the priory; reach it on foot along the Coast to Coast from Reeth (roughly 2 miles) or from Richmond. Reeth and Richmond are linked to the wider area by Dales & District bus services, and Richmond connects by bus to Darlington for mainline rail. There is no dedicated walkers' car park at the priory itself; drivers typically use Reeth or Richmond and walk in. In poor weather the lower Swaledale field paths are an easy day with no high ground to escape, and Richmond is the natural bail-out with full services.

Where to stay

There is no accommodation at the priory itself. The stage end at Richmond (several miles further on) has the widest choice on this part of the route: hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses and a campsite, plus shops, banks and restaurants. Reeth, a couple of miles back at the start of the stage, also offers inns, B&Bs and a bunkhouse. Book well ahead in the peak May-September season, when Coast to Coast demand is high, and ask whether your B&B works with one of the route's baggage-transfer services.

Food & water

Carry water for the section, though this is one of the better-supplied days: the River Swale runs alongside much of the route (treat any water taken from it), Reeth at the start has pubs, cafes and a shop, and Richmond at the stage end has plenty of cafes, pubs and shops to refill. There is no public tap or refreshment at the priory itself.

Safety

This is a low-level, low-risk section with no exposure or high ground, but the field and riverside paths can be muddy and slippery after rain, and the Nuns' Steps are steep and uneven, so take care on the descent or climb, especially when wet or carrying a full pack. Mobile signal in lower Swaledale is patchy. In an emergency call 999 (or 112) and ask for Police, then Mountain Rescue if needed; for non-urgent health advice call NHS 111. Do not enter the priory grounds, which are a working education centre.

Accessibility

This is not a step-free or wheelchair-accessible visit. The Coast to Coast approach is over field and riverside paths that can be muddy, and the Nuns' Steps are a steep, uneven flight of around 375 stone steps through woodland with no handrail. The priory grounds belong to an active residential outdoor-education centre and are not generally open to casual visitors; walkers view the buildings from the public footpath.

Visitor tips

Treat Marrick Priory as a pause-and-photograph point rather than a visit: the buildings are a working outdoor-education centre, not open to the public, so admire the tower and setting from the path. Save energy for the Nuns' Steps immediately afterwards, the day's one real effort. Look across the Swale for Ellerton Priory, and time your day so you reach Richmond with daylight to spare to enjoy its castle, cobbled square and shops.

Listen: the audio guide

Marrick Priory: The Nuns' Steps Through the Wood · 4 min 12 s · play the audio

The full narration of this stop's audio guide, in text.

You climb into a hushed and shadowed wood, and beneath your boots the ground turns to stone — worn, uneven steps, hundreds of them, curving up through the trees. These are the Nuns' Steps, and they were laid, and worn smooth, by the feet of Benedictine sisters walking to prayer more than eight hundred years ago. Below you, by the river, stands the old priory itself. Marrick Priory was a Benedictine nunnery, founded around the year 1150 by a local lord named Roger de Aske. For nearly four centuries a small community of nuns lived and worshipped here, in this quiet fold of lower Swaledale beside the River Swale — farming, praying, keeping the rhythm of the religious day. To reach their fields and the world beyond, and to move between the priory and the village of Marrick on the hill above, they climbed a paved causeway through the trees: the flight now known as the Nuns' Causeway, or simply the Nuns' Steps — some three hundred and seventy-five stone steps threading up through Steps Wood. Then, in 1540, King Henry the Eighth's Dissolution of the Monasteries swept the nunnery away, as it swept away religious houses across all of England. The nuns were pensioned off and dispersed. The buildings passed into other hands, were altered and rebuilt over the centuries, and today the much-changed site serves as an outdoor-education centre — still ringing, in its way, with young voices where once the sisters chanted their offices. The prayers changed; the purpose of gathering the young in this quiet dale did not. Look, first, at the steps themselves as you climb — count them if you like, but notice how each one is dished and hollowed in the centre, worn down by countless feet across the centuries. Second, feel the wood around you: Steps Wood, cool and green and dim, the trees arching overhead, the path a stony ribbon winding up between them. Third, look back and down through the branches to the priory beside the river — the tower, the long buildings, set in their green meadow by the Swale. Fourth, notice how the causeway was built, deliberately paved and stepped, a proper engineered path and not a mere sheep-track — a hint of the effort a small community poured into its daily life. And fifth, when you emerge at the top, take in the wide view over lower Swaledale, the dale opening out and softening now, the wild moors behind you and gentler country ahead. Imagine the sisters on these steps. Twice a day and more, in every season, in rain and frost and summer heat, black-habited nuns climbed and descended this same flight — to tend their fields, to reach the village, to carry the small business of the priory up and down the hill. For four hundred years their feet fell on these stones, and it is their feet, more than any mason's chisel, that shaped the hollows you are treading now. When Henry's men closed the house and the community was scattered, the prayers stopped — but the steps remained, and every Coast to Coast walker who climbs them follows, quite literally and worn stone by worn stone, in the footsteps of the nuns of Marrick. The steps can be uneven and slippery under wet leaves, so take them steadily and watch your footing. From here the Coast to Coast leaves the deep dales behind and follows the Swale eastward towards Richmond, with its great Norman castle rising above the river — the largest town on the whole walk, and the gateway to the gentler country beyond. Take one last look back down the Nuns' Steps into the green shade of the wood, and climb on out into the light. Walk safe.

Common questions

How old is Marrick Priory?

Marrick Priory dates from the Medieval (c. 1150) period.

How do I get to Marrick Priory?

Is Marrick Priory accessible?

When is the best time to visit Marrick Priory?

Is there food and water at Marrick Priory?

Where can I stay near Marrick Priory?

What should I know before visiting Marrick Priory?

Is Marrick Priory safe to visit?

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