Beauvale Priory

Thin Place of the Month, July 2024

4 min readJul 17, 2024

“When you first begin, you find only darkness, and as it were a cloud of unknowing. You don’t know what this means except that in your will you feel a simple steadfast intention reaching out towards God. Do what you will, and this darkness and this cloud remain between you and God… Reconcile yourself to wait in this darkness as long as is necessary, but still go on longing after him whom you love.”

‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ is only a short book but it has stood the test of time. Regarded as a classic of Mediaeval Christian mysticism, in it the author uses the story of Martha and Mary as related in the Gospel of Luke to outline two paths for the Christian: that of action and that of contemplation. Focussing on the latter, he calls us to recognise that we are surrounded by a Cloud of Unknowing that is God and what we need is the courage to put our heads into that murky, mysterious void.

The philosophy of the book is almost Zen and, when I read it in 2021 whilst walking the Camino, it left a profound effect on me. So much so, that I desired to learn more about it. However, like the Cloud that it discusses, that is easier said than done. Written sometime around the latter half of the 14th century in England by an anonymous monk, we know naught more concrete of where it came from and what inspired it. However, scholars have examined the text in detail and come up with two deductions. The first is that the author was most likely a Carthusian and the second, based on the dialect that he writes in, is that he hailed from the East Midlands.

The Carthusians are a mysterious and austere lot. Founded in 1084 by Bruno of Cologne, the order focusses on contemplation — which fits with the Mary-Martha theme of the book — with an emphasis on silence and solitude. Unlike in other orders, the monks do not sleep in dormitories but in individual cells, spending their hours in study and prayer.

There weren’t many Carthusian houses in England during the Middle Ages and, interestingly, in the East Midlands, there was only one: Beauvale. Founded in 1343 by Nicholas de Cantelupe, Beauvale was built to accommodate a prior and twelve monks. It became renowned as a centre for the study of Christian mysticism, particularly the works of Richard Rolle (c. 1300–30 September 1349). Add all of that together — Carthusian, East Midlands, emphasis on contemplation and a centre for the study of mysticism — and could ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ have been written anywhere else?

Learning this, I was eager to know if anything of the foundation had survived the Reformation. Some research on the internet revealed that it had: ruins of the priory exist and, what is more, a tearoom now operates from the guesthouse. I resolved to visit one day.

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The Lord though, doth move in mysterious ways and, last year, on my birthday, I found myself working in Worksop, delivering some redundancy support to the unfortunate employees of the now-defunct Wilko logistics centre. Against expectations, I finished early that day and so found myself leaving at two-thirty. “I wonder if there is anywhere of interest to visit on the way back?” I mused. A dive into the web revealed that the priory I had been so interested in was only down the road and the tearoom was open. It could almost be described as divine intervention!

There is something special about Beauvale from the moment you approach it. The name — Beauvale, “beautiful valley” — is apt, for it is a gorgeous setting among green fields backed by lush English woodland. The tearoom is excellent and atmospheric. I gorged on delicious cake washed down with tea from a china cup where once my anonymous author had walked, before then moving to the ruins themselves.

There’s a monument to those who were martyred in the Reformation but the real power to the site lay elsewhere. As I sat and meditated in the shell of the former church, I felt a power, an energy, that is not available in most places. My eyes were drawn upwards, to the mattress of cloud that surrounded and pressed down on the world. The same cloud that had once inspired a book that is still read today. A book that can bring us closer to the Divine if we choose to let it.

I stayed there for some time before leaving and I have since returned with a friend who found it equally powerful. So, if in the area, I recommend that you visit too and engage in a mystical communion with an unknown monk from centuries past and that great Cloud of Unknowing that hovers over us all.

Until next time, stay on the path!