We visited the Bowes Museum again this morning. What a delightful place it is. They are excellent at engagement, with some thoughtful and inclusive ways of engaging with displays. They think museums, on average, display between 2%-4% of their exhibits at anytime time - i was shocked! 

On the way we passed Egglestpne Abbey. The Abbey was founded in the late 12th century. The founders were the Premonstratensians, from the Augustinian tradition, who wore a white habit and became known as the White Canons. They followed a code of austerity similar to that of Cistercian Monks. They chose the site for the abbey because of its isolation, close proximity to a river and the supply of local stone for its construction. The abbey was always poor and at times had difficulty maintaining the required number of canons (12) and suffered at the hands of Scottish invaders and the English army billeted there. The Abbey was dissolved in 1540 by Henry VIII.