The Ruins of Bolton Priory

A view of the ruins of Bolton Priory and the River Wharfe

Walking clockwise from the north elevation of the Church of St. Mary and St. Oswald, the C13 north transept of the former Bolton Priory essentially comprises walls built out of large blocks of gritstone ashlar, with angle buttresses, but nothing remains of the tracery to the large windows on the west and north elevations. 

The north transept

On the east elevation, however, two smaller windows on the upper part have 3-light cusped reticulated tracery intact, as well as the mullions that support it. These are set above a 2-bay arcade, which has quite an unusual arrangement of flat stones above the arches, where these are set approximately at right angles to the curve of the arch. 

The arcade in the north transept

Moving on to the 5-bay chancel, which was started in the C12 but was extended in the C15 and C14, the interlaced arcades are the most decorative feature, although the compound piers to the crossing contrast with the plain surrounding masonry. 

An interlaced arcade in the chancel

The tall windows are in the Decorated Gothic style and the extremely large east window is similar, but again none of these windows contain any tracery, although a large ornate pinnacle still remains on top of the buttress that supports the south-east corner. 

The east end of Bolton Priory

On the south elevation of the chancel, the westernmost window retains its tracery but the east wall of the south transept has been removed and there is very little architectural detail to be seen on this side of the priory. 

A general view of the south elevation of Bolton Priory

The footings to the various associated monastic buildings are clearly visible while walking around thew southern part of the site, but the extent of these are best appreciated when viewed from the air, as on Google Earth. 

The remains of the walls of various monastic buildings

As with Roche Abbey, where very little of the original structure remains, the appeal of Bolton Priory ruins is its setting on high ground above the River Wharfe, where the very attractive surrounding landscape deserves exploration in its own right.

A general view of the River Wharfe