MONKS living hundreds of years ago used herbs to drive away evil and protect them from the plague.

Now visitors to Mount Grace Priory, near Osmotherley, North Yorkshire, can see for themselves the array of herbs and what they would have been used for.

The herb garden at the 600-year-old monastery, which would have been used by Carthusian monks, has been given a major revamp, with many varieties being planted.

The garden was recreated 11 years ago after lying fallow for centuries.

Once it would have provided the monks with everything from a cure for flatulence to foliage for masking unpleasant smells.

Head custodian Becki Wright said: "Herbs were incredibly important in medieval times and we know that many Carthusian monks were keen gardeners.

"While we cannot be sure exactly what was cultivated at Mount Grace, we do have a fair idea, and some of the varieties we have planted would certainly have been here.

"Carthusians were compelled to do manual labour, and many chose to cultivate their gardens. Some preferred to plant flowers or vegetables, rather than herbs.

"It was a way of getting closer to nature and a distraction from their painful solitude."

Hundreds of plants have been laid out according to their uses in religious rites, medicines and cooking.

Among the herbs replanted are fennel, which was used to suppress hunger and eaten during the Lent fast; rue, which was sprinkled on holy water during mass and thought to protect people from the plague; and hyssop, which was thought to drive away evil.

Sweet woodruff and marjoram have also been planted. They were used to mask unpleasant smells in church.