St Godric's grave
The hermit lived here close to sixty years before the priory existed, and his grave is still marked in the grass.
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Before this was a priory it was one man's hut. Godric, a former sailor and pedlar turned hermit, lived on this bend of the River Wear for close to sixty years until his death in 1170, and his grave is still marked in the grass of the roofless church. A Benedictine priory rose over his cell a quarter-century later and slowly became something closer to a rest house: four monks from Durham Cathedral came out on rotation for three weeks at a time, a break from the rigours of the cathedral, until the Dissolution shut it in 1538. The name is pronounced 'Finkle', not 'Finchale', and locals will gently correct you. More survives than you would expect from a small house: church walls still standing tall, glassless windows framing the trees, the cloister ranges and the prior's lodging, rebuilt in the 1360s and the most complete part of the site. You wander freely between the rooms, read the handful of information panels, and on a normal day have the place more or less to yourself. The river wraps around three sides and woodland closes the fourth, so it is easy to forget the city is only six kilometres away. That is the point of the visit: stone ruins in a quiet green clearing, no museum, no displays. Entry is free. The site is managed by English Heritage and open daily 10:00-17:00 from April to October and 10:00-16:00 in winter. Parking is in the neighbouring caravan park, not run by English Heritage, and costs about £4. By car from central Durham it is around fifteen minutes via Framwellgate Moor, the sensible option for families. By bus you get to Newton Hall or Framwellgate Moor and walk about half an hour down to the river. Walkers can follow the riverside path from the city in roughly an hour and a half each way, one of the finest things to do in Durham on a clear summer day. The ground is uneven and turns to mud after rain, so a pushchair copes only on the main path and proper shoes matter. Conservation work occasionally closes parts of the site, and there is no cafe or toilet inside the ruins; visitors rely on the small tea room in the caravan park next door. An hour or two is plenty, and it is not worth the trip on a dark, wet winter afternoon. On a warm one, with children running between the arches and the river running beside you, it is the best possible sequel to a morning in Durham Cathedral.
The hermit lived here close to sixty years before the priory existed, and his grave is still marked in the grass.
Tall glassless windows frame the woodland, and you roam the rooms freely.
The river wraps three sides of the ruins, and the riverside path from Durham takes about ninety minutes.
Finchale Avenue, Framwellgate Moor, Durham DH1 5SH
With a single day, the cathedral and castle win without argument. Finchale earns a clear afternoon on a second day, especially with children or if you enjoy a river walk. Skip it in rain or mud: there is no roof and no cafe inside the ruins.
Yes, with effort: a bus to Newton Hall or Framwellgate Moor then about half an hour on foot downhill to the river, or ninety minutes along the Wear riverside path from the city. The route is lovely, but budget for the uphill return and for short winter daylight.