Moving on to our second Moorsbus excursion last weekend, and on Sunday we had a trip which started at Rievaulx Abbey, to the west of Helmsley and in the south-western part of the North York Moors National Park. It is situated in the steep sided valley of the River Rye.
Rievaulx Abbey was the first Cistercian monastery in the north of England, founded in 1132 by twelve monks from Clairvaux Abbey. Its remote location was well suited to the order's ideal of a strict life of prayer and self-sufficiency with little contact with the outside world. The building of the abbey involved diverting the course of the river to provide more space for the abbey buildings.
Rievaulx Abbey eventually became one of the greatest and wealthiest in England, with 140 monks and many more lay brothers. It received grants of land totalling 6,000 acres (24 km2) and established daughter houses in England and Scotland.
By the end of the 13th century the abbey had incurred debts on its building projects and lost revenue due to an epidemic of sheep scab (psoroptic mange). The ill fortune was compounded by raiders from Scotland in the early 14th century. The great reduction in population caused by the Black Death in the mid-14th century made it difficult to recruit new lay brothers for manual labour. As a result, the abbey was forced to lease much of its land. By 1381 there were only fourteen choir monks, three lay brothers and the abbot left at Rievaulx, and some buildings were reduced in size.
Like so many other abbeys it suffered at the hands of King Henry VII with the dissolution of the monasteries as the king siezed their wealth and lands. The confiscated monastic buildings were rendered uninhabitable and stripped of valuables such as lead.
In the later 16th and 17th centuries, Rievaulx was an important iron manufacturing site.
In the 1750s the then owner Thomas Duncombe III beautified his estate by building a terraced walk along the valley top overlooking the abbey from where the picturesque qualities of the ruins and the wider landscape could be enjoyed.
In the 20th century the abbey became a much-visited historic monument in the care of the State, and is now managed by English Heritage.
This shot shows the choir of the abbey church, which is on a slight rise on the eastern part of the site. It is intact enough to give a good impression of how impressive the church must have been. The other end of the church (the nave) has been much more thoroughly destroyed, as have many of the other buildings on the site. We spent over two hours looking round the site, taking photos and looking at relics in the site museum, before visiting the cafe and then catching another Moorsbus to our next location.
wow! That is an impressive historical building! The architecture is magnificent
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I am thinking of the 12 monks (12 apostles) that started this. Little did they know the legacy they would leave behind
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
It is really impressive that a building like this could be created at a time when the equipment available to build was so restricted. Perhaps that demonstrates the commitment of those involved in it's creation.
Thank you Paul, they do make fascinating landscape features. Aazing that some are still being discovered, like the recent find of a Roman villa in Scarborough.
Ian
August 2nd, 2022
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fav
I am thinking of the 12 monks (12 apostles) that started this. Little did they know the legacy they would leave behind
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
It is really impressive that a building like this could be created at a time when the equipment available to build was so restricted. Perhaps that demonstrates the commitment of those involved in it's creation.
Ian
Thank you Paul, they do make fascinating landscape features. Aazing that some are still being discovered, like the recent find of a Roman villa in Scarborough.
Ian