Beauvale Priory

Beauvale Priory was a Carthusian monastery in Beauvale, Nottinghamshire. It is a scheduled ancient monument.HistoryThe priory was founded in 1343 by Nicholas de Cantelupe, in honour of the Blessed Trinity. The priory was originally built to be home to a prior and twelve monks. It was the third of nine houses of the Carthusian order established in England. The two earlier houses were established in Witham Friary and Hinton in Somerset. The others were London Charterhouse, St. Anne's near Coventry, Kingston upon Hull and Mount Grace in Yorkshire, Epworth and Shene. The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1534 lists the priory as having an annual income of £227 8s., of which £196 6s. was left after expenses. At this time the priory was in control of the advowsons of the churches of Greasley and Selston in Nottinghamshire; Bonby in Lincolnshire; and Farnham in Yorkshire.Role in late-medieval English mysticismAlthough concrete evidence remains scant, several claims have been made for Beauvale's role in shaping late medieval English spirituality: John P.H. Clark suggests that the author of the seminal mystical text The Cloud of Unknowing was likely a Carthusian of Beauvale Priory. and Jonathan Hughes posits that Beauvale may have been an important centre for the study of English mystic Richard Rolle.