Rievaulx Abbey was a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The c ...

Rievaulx Rievaulx ( ) is a small village and civil parish in Rye Dale within the North York Moors National Park near Helmsley in North Yorkshire, England and is located in what was the inner court of Rievaulx Abbey, close to the River Rye. The popula ...

, near

Helmsley Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is located at the point where Ryedale leaves the moorland and joins the flat Vale o ...

, in the

North York Moors National Park North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north' ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

, England. It was one of the great abbeys in England until it was seized in 1538 under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The wider site was awarded

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

status in 1915 and the abbey was brought into the care of the then Ministry of Works in 1917. The striking ruins of its main buildings are today a tourist attraction, owned and maintained by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Foundation

Rievaulx Abbey was the first Cistercian monastery in the north of England, founded in 1132 by twelve

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

s from

Clairvaux Abbey Clairvaux Abbey (, ; la, Clara Vallis) was a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, from Bar-sur-Aube. The original building, founded in 1115 by St. Bernard, is now in ruins; the present structure dates from 1708. Clairvaux Abbey wa ...

. 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 abbey's patron, Walter Espec, also founded another Cistercian community, that of Wardon Abbey in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, on unprofitable wasteland on one of his inherited estates. William I, the first

abbot of Rievaulx The Abbot of Rievaulx was the head of the Cistercian monastic community of Rievaulx Abbey, founded in 1131 by Walter l'Espec in North Yorkshire, northern England. The Abbots of Rievaulx were amongst the most powerful Christian leaders in northern ...

, started construction in the 1130s. The second abbot, Saint

Aelred of Rievaulx Aelred of Rievaulx ( la, Aelredus Riaevallensis); also Ailred, Ælred, and Æthelred; (1110 – 12 January 1167) was an English Cistercian monk, abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death, and known as a writer. He is regarded by Anglicans an ...

, expanded the buildings and otherwise consolidated the existence of what in time became one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, with Fountains Abbey the second only Cistercian house to be built in Yorkshire. Under Aelred the abbey is said to have grown to some 140 monks and 500

lay brothers Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir ...

. By the end of his tenure Rievaulx had five daughter houses in England and Scotland.

Financial prosperity

The abbey lies in a wooded dale by the River Rye, sheltered by hills. The monks diverted part of the river several yards to the west in order to have enough flat land to build on. They altered the course of the river twice more during the 12th century. The old course is visible in the grounds of the abbey. This is an illustration of the technical ingenuity of the monks, who over time built up a profitable business mining lead and iron ore, rearing sheep and selling wool to buyers from all over Europe. Rievaulx Abbey became one of the greatest and wealthiest in England, with 140 monks and many more

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...

s. 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 owing to an epidemic of

sheep scab ''Psoroptes'' is a genus of mites, including the agents that cause psoroptic mange. Psoroptic mange ''Psoroptes'' mites are responsible for causing psoroptic mange in various animals, leading to economic losses among farmers of cattle, sheep ...

(psoroptic

mange Mange is a type of skin disease caused by parasitic mites. Because various species of mites also infect plants, birds and reptiles, the term "mange", or colloquially "the mange", suggesting poor condition of the skin and fur due to the infectio ...

). The ill fortune was compounded by raiders from Scotland in the early 14th century. The great reduction in population caused by the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

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 monk In the Catholic Church, a choir monk is a monk who is planned to be or already is ordained as a priest. In particular, they are distinguished from religious brothers and lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious ...

s, three lay brothers and the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

left at Rievaulx, and some buildings were reduced in size. By the 15th century the Cistercian practices of strict observance according to the

Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

had been abandoned in favour of a more comfortable lifestyle. The monks were permitted to eat meat, more private living accommodation was created for them and the abbot had a substantial private household in what had once been the infirmary.

Dissolution

The abbey was a troubling one for the authorities. Edward Cowper led the monks beginning in 1530, but the monks objected to his style. He was ejected in 1533 and initially the monks refused a replacement. At the time of its dissolution in 1538 the abbey was said to consist of 72 buildings occupied by the abbot and 21 monks, with 102 lay employees and an income of £351 a year. The abbey owned a prototype blast furnace at

Laskill Laskill is a small hamlet in Bilsdale, 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England, on the road from Helmsley to Stokesley and is located within the North York Moors National Park. Archaeological investigations h ...

, producing

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuri ...

as efficiently as a modern

blast furnace A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheri ...

. As was standard procedure, the confiscated monastic buildings were rendered uninhabitable and stripped of valuables such as lead. The site was granted to

Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 12th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG (c. 1497{{snd20 September 1543), of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire (adjacent to the small county of Rutland), was created Earl of Rutland by King Henry VIII in 1525. Ori ...

, one of Henry's advisers, until it passed to the Duncombe family.

Post monastic era

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. It features two Grecian-style temples. They are in the care of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The abbey ruins are in the care of

. In the 20th century the abbey became a much-visited historic monument in the care of the State and is now managed by the

English Heritage Trust English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. In 2015

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

commissioned an

archaeological survey In archaeology, survey or field survey is a type of field research by which archaeologists (often landscape archaeologists) search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human ...

and investigation of the abbey precinct using low-level aerial photography to make a digital surface model and an earthwork plan. This was followed by a ground-based survey in 2018. The aim of the project was to develop a better understanding of the landscape surrounding the abbey and was published in 2019. When awarded a

life peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...

in 1983, former

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

, a Yorkshireman, adopted the title Baron Wilson of Rievaulx.

Burials

Thomas de Ros, 4th Baron de Ros Thomas Ros, 4th Baron Ros of Helmsley (13 January 1335 – 8 June 1384) was the son of William Ros, 2nd Baron Ros and Margery de Badlesmere. In 1364, he accompanied the king of Cyprus to the Holy Land; and was in the French wars, from 1369 to ...

* John de Ros, 5th Baron de Ros

Gallery

RievaulxAbbey.jpg, Rievaulx Abbey File:Rievaulx Abbey from Rievaulx Terrace.jpg, Rievaulx Abbey viewed from Rievaulx Terrace (NT) File:Aerial shot of Rievaulx Abbey in winter - geograph.org.uk - 654091.jpg, Rievaulx Abbey File:RievaulxAbbey-Je11-wyrdlight.jpg, Rievaulx Abbey showing Presbytery (R), South Transept, Chapter House foundations & wall of Infirmary (L) File:Rievaulx Abbey Nave.jpg, View looking south-southeast through the nave of the abbey church File:Cotman, Ruins of Rievaulx Abbey.jpg, Ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, 1803, by

John Sell Cotman John Sell Cotman (16 May 1782 – 24 July 1842) was an English marine and landscape painter, etcher, illustrator, author and a leading member of the Norwich School of painters. Born in Norwich, the son of a silk merchant and lace dealer, C ...

File:Rievaulx Abbey MET DP107964.jpg, Ruins of Rievaulx Abbey nave, 1854, by

Roger Fenton Roger Fenton (28 March 1819 – 8 August 1869) was a British photographer, noted as one of the first war photographers. Fenton was born into a Lancashire merchant family. After graduating from London with an Arts degree, he became interested i ...

File:Rievaulx Abbey, the High Altar MET DP107965.jpg, Ruins of Rievaulx Abbey high altar, 1854, by Roger Fenton

References

Sources

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External links

Official English Heritage site
{{Authority control Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Churches in North Yorkshire Cistercian monasteries in England English Heritage sites in North Yorkshire History of North Yorkshire Monasteries in North Yorkshire Religious organizations established in the 1130s Ruins in North Yorkshire Tourist attractions in North Yorkshire 1132 establishments in England 1538 disestablishments in England Ruined abbeys and monasteries Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation