AS the boat-loving Ratty in the Wind in the Willows the humble water vole was a firm favourite for generations of children.

But his literary success was not repeated in real life –- and over the years the creatures became endangered and rarely seen.

The dramatic decline, particularly in lowland areas, came about because of habitat loss and predation by the American mink.

But now things are looking up, and 600-year-old Mount Grace Priory, near Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, has become a refuge for the shy rodents.

Tell-tales signs of the creature’s presence were detected during a wildlife survey of the grounds of the Carthusian ruins, undertaken by English Heritage.

Visitor operations manager Becky Wright said: “We suspected that we had water voles, but this survey, which found the creature’s droppings and burrows, provides conclusive proof.”

She added: “Their general resemblance to a rat has done them no favours over the centuries, but in truth they are very loveable-looking creatures, and it’s fantastic to count them among the priory’s expanding wildlife.”

The voles are being helped as part of a range of ecofriendly initiatives backed by £40,000 from a European scheme called Converting Sacred Spaces (CSS).

A bog garden at the priory has also been replanted, a dovecot erected and a hedgehog house installed to provide a “des res”.

A podcast about the priory’s creatures has also been produced, narrated by Ms Wright, which can be downloaded from the English Heritage website at english-heritage.org.uk/yorkshireoutdoors.

English Heritage’s regional marketing manager, Nicola Bexon, said: “The CSS scheme has allowed us to do a whole range of mini-projects to promote North Yorkshire’s wonderful heritage sites in a green way.”

Elsewhere, as part of the CSS scheme, cycle stands have been installed at Byland and Rievaulx Abbeys, near Helmsley, and leaflets will soon be published on bike routes linking these and other monuments, to promote green transport.

Two vegetable beds will be created at Rievaulx to supply the abbey’s popular cafe with summer greens such as lettuce, chives and spring onions.

Tended by local staff, it will revive the spirit of self-sufficiency once practised by the monks in the Rye Valley.