Hulne Priory is a monastery founded in the 13th century by the Carmelites, or "White Friars" which was one of the Orders of Mendicants, bound by their rule to live in extreme poverty. It is said that the Northumberland site, quite close to Alnwick, was chosen for some slight resemblance to Mount Carmel where the order originated. Substantial ruins survive, watched over by the stone figures of friars carved in the 18th century. It is a sign of the unrest felt in this area so near to the border with Scotland that the priory had a surrounding wall and in the 15th century a pele tower was erected. Changes were made at the Dissolution of the Monasteries when the Percy family took control.