Grace Dieu Priory - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

It was the first Catholic Abbey to be founded in this country after the Reformation. This is a Cistercian Monastery of white monks founded in 1835 as a continuation of Garendon Abbey. Includes gardens, high calvary, gift shop, and Abbey Church. The abbey was the first permanent monastery to be founded in England since the Reformation and is the sole Trappist house in England. The monks brew the only Trappist beer in Britain.

This rare and beautiful house is a surviving example of a family home which was built in the 13th century and then modernised in the 17th Century, one of the oldest houses in Leicestershire. It was once owned by a relative of one of the Gunpowder plotters, and is now managed by Leicestershire County Council. All the rooms are fully furnished as they might have been at the time and the mixture of original and replica furniture and household objects can be touched and used - with one exception.

Bardon Hill is a former volcano. It is the highest point in Leicestershire and the National Forest, 912 feet above sea level. Due to its prominence, it is visible for many kilometres around. It adjoins Bardon Hill Quarry, a geological SSSI. At its summit are a trigonometrical point and a radio mast. The second highest hill in Leicestershire is the nearby Beacon Hill.

This 20 hectare local nature reserve, located in the north of the borough of Hinckley and Bosworth, consists of a variety of habitats including acid grassland, which is ecologically significant at a local level. Additionally, there are a number of rocky outcrops of Markfieldite, making the hill a regionally important geological site.

Ashby de la Zouch Castle was the purpose-built seat of one of the most powerful men in late 15th-century English politics, William, Lord Hastings. Constructed on the site of an older manor house, two large towers and various smaller buildings had been constructed by 1483, when Hastings was executed by Richard, Duke of Gloucester.

A beautiful 60ha country park created by Leicestershire County Council on a former opencast colliery site near Heather. It includes the River Sence and three major lakes, which attract a wide variety of wildfowl. Large areas of the site are planted with Corsican pine, larch and poplars, which will provide an income when they are thinned in about 20 years. It is excellent for birdwatchers. Surfaced trails provide access for walkers, cyclists, riders and disabled visitors. A varied events programm