When a priory was founded here in about 1135, the monks, with typical skill, identified one place in this otherwise steep and thickly wooded ravine where there was enough level ground for their buildings. These stood in a loop of the River Coquet, which provided, among other things, water to drive a mill.

The present mill lies at the end of a long lawn, looking back towards the pretty Gothick manor house that stands beside the soaring priory church. This mill was built in about 1800 near the site of its medieval predecessor, but was later dressed up to improve the view from the house. The wheel and grinding stones are still here, although long unused.

At the upper end of the mill, and previously separate from it, are two grander rooms. These may have been an office or perhaps a fishing lodge. One is now the sitting-room, with tall windows facing east to catch the morning sun.

Of Brinkburn’s setting one historian wrote: ‘This is the most deep solitude, chosen for a religious edifice, I ever yet visited’. The same can be said of the mill, reached by its own drive through the woods (once the main approach to the priory) with only the sound of the river for company. An early morning walk among the priory buildings, which are open to the public for part of the year, is recommended.

Sleeps: 4