Mount Grace Priory, House and Gardens

Mount Grace is the nearest of the big days out to Thirsk and the one most locals have driven past for years without stopping. Founded in 1398 as the House of Mount Grace of Ingleby, it is the best-preserved Carthusian charterhouse in England. The Carthusians were hermits who happened to live in a group. Each monk had his own cell and his own walled garden and spent most of his life inside them. One cell has been reconstructed over two storeys with its garden, and walking into it explains the whole order in about thirty seconds, which no amount of reading quite manages. In front of the ruins sits a 13th-century manor house that the industrialist Sir Lowthian Bell refurbished from 1900 in full Arts and Crafts style, so you get two entirely different periods on one ticket. Then there are the stoats, a family of which appeared in a David Attenborough documentary in 2005 and which the National Trust now calls, in its own words, probably the most famous pack of stoats in Britain.

From Tea Time Cafe at 87 Market Place, head north on the A168 and join the A19 towards Teesside. Twenty to twenty-five minutes, and it is the shortest drive of any of the bigger days out from Thirsk. The catch is the turning: it is signposted from the southbound carriageway only, with no access from the northbound side, so you have to go past and come back. Work that out before you set off rather than at 60 miles an hour. Parking on site is free.

There is no realistic way here by public transport. The nearest station is Northallerton, six miles away, and no bus runs to the priory. If the car is not an option that day, Ripon on the 70/X70 or York by train are the two trips that work from Thirsk.

You enter through the manor house, where the restored Arts and Crafts rooms and an exhibition set up the visit. From there go straight to the reconstructed monk's cell, which is the single best thing on the site, then walk the charterhouse ruins and the outlines of the other cells around the cloister. Outside, there are terraced gardens, a wildflower meadow and the Monks' Pond to walk round, all of it quiet and much bigger than the car park suggests. The Orchard Cafe is at the end, with a new playground in the old orchard beside it for children who have had enough of monks.

The monk's cell does the heavy lifting. Two storeys, a garden and that hatch, and suddenly you understand a whole way of life. The ruins are unusually legible because the individual cells are still traceable, so the layout makes sense from ground level rather than needing a plan. The Arts and Crafts house is a second attraction in its own right rather than a way in. The gardens and meadow are good for an hour on their own, the stoats are worth watching for, and the dog can come round the grounds with you.

Remember the southbound-only access from the A19 and route yourself accordingly. Book online in advance for the cheapest rate. If you are a National Trust member, bring the card, since the site is owned by the Trust and members go free except on event days, though you may be asked for parking. Dogs are fine on a short lead in the grounds but not in the house, the cell or inside the cafe. The guidebook is better than most and staff are consistently praised for being helpful, so ask about the stoats at the desk. Being only twenty minutes away, it works well as a half day paired with something in Thirsk itself, and you can be back on the Market Place for tea.