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Cartmel

One of the prettiest villages in the Peninsula, Cartmel is a delightful cluster of houses and cottages set around a square from which lead winding streets and arches into back yards. The village is dominated by the famous Cartmel Priory, founded in 1188 by Augustinian canons. Like all monastic institutions, the priory was disbanded in 1537 and several of its members were executed for participating in the Pilgrimage of Grace. Today, substantial remains of the 12th-century Gatehouse (National Trust) survive, but the rest of the Priory was cannibalised to build many of the village's cottages and houses. After the Dissolution, only the south aisle of the Church of St Mary and St Michael was still standing, but in 1620 George Preston of Holker began restoring the entire building and the richly carved black oak screens and stall canopies date from this restoration. St Mary and St Michael's has recently been described as "the most beautiful church in the northwest". Inside, in the southwest corner of the church, is a door known as Cromwell's Door. The holes in it are said to have been made by indignant parishioners firing at Parliamentarian soldiers who had stabled their horses in the nave.

Cartmel is also famous for its attractive Racecourse, set beside the River Eea, on which meetings are held in May, July and August. Located close to the village, the course must be one of the most picturesque in the country, and it is certainly one of the smallest.