Free Entry
Visit Kirkham Priory and explore the beautiful ruins of an Augustinian priory dating from the 1120s set in gorgeous countryside by the river Derwent. Today its greatest glory is its gatehouse, decorated with the heraldry of the lords of Helmsley Castle along with worn figures of St George and the Dragon and David and Goliath.
During the Second World War Kirkham Priory ruins became a focus of training for the D-Day invasion. Tanks bound for the Normandy beaches tested their waterproofing in a pool created between ruins and river, while soldiers tried out scrambling nets hung on the priory walls. Winston Churchill and King George VI paid a top-secret visit to Kirkham to view the exercises.
HERITAGE OPEN DAY THIS SEPTEMBER
On Sunday 21 September Kirkham House will be open for the 2025 Heritage Open Days Festival from 11am - 4pm. House stewards from Paignton Heritage Society will be on hand to give more information and run house tours.
For more information, please visit the Heritage Open Days website.
Plan a Great Day Out
- The newly uncovered medieval floor tiles
- The monastic washbasins
- The story behind Winston Churchill's secret visit
- The Gatehouse, bedecked with the heraldry of the De Roos family