Guisborough

Guisborough is a small market town on the northern edge of the North Yorkshire Moors and an ideal base to explore the Northern regions and coast of North Yorkshire and the moors. Just a 20-minute drive from Middlesborough to the North and a 10-minute drive to Saltburn on the Sea to the East.

Guisborough market is held on Thursday and Saturday with a few stalls on Tuesday. Originally selling cattle and other livestock, the market developed into a general market for fruit and vegetables, clothing and flowers. It opens from early morning to late afternoon on the restored cobbles of Westgate, the main shopping street. Guisborough Museum, behind Westgate's Sunnyfield House, shows photographs of Guisborough's history and inhabitants.

Today Guisborough is very much a commuter town for nearby Middlesbrough with many of its residents working in the chemical plants around the Teesside area.

Places of interest in the town include:

Guisborough Priory is a ruined Augustinian priory. It was founded in 1119 as the Priory of St Mary by the Norman feudal magnate Robert de Brus, also an ancestor of the Scottish king, Robert the Bruce. It became one of the richest monastic foundations in England with grants from the crown and bequests from de Brus, other nobles and gentry and local people of more modest means. Much of the Romanesque Norman priory was destroyed in a fire in 1289. It was rebuilt in the Gothic style on a grander scale over the following century. At the time of its suppression by Henry VIII in 1539, Guisborough was the fourth richest religious house in Yorkshire.

Today its remains are regarded as among the finest surviving examples of early Gothic architecture in England.

The parish church of St. Nicholas standing adjacent to Guisborough Priory is a Grade II listed building dating from the 15th or 16th century, though it was extensively rebuilt or restored in the 18th century and early 20th century.

For something energetic, Guisborough Forest is situated on the on the northern edge of the National Park. It is a mosaic of thriving habitats, with woodlands, wetlands and grassland, and is home to many different plants and animals.

Onsite facilities include two play areas, a trim trail to challenge you, a sculpture trail, circular waymarked walks and bike trails, and a permanent orienteering course. A dipping platform provides access into the wetland area and there's a regular events programme.

The visitor centre, complete with solar panels and rainwater harvesting, has a café, shop and interpretive displays including a children's area.