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Roaming at Rievaulx

Steve Clark@steevc (81)3d

Rievaulx (pronounced ree-voh) is a village in Yorkshire, but we were there for some other attractions.

The abbey from the terrace

Rievaulx Abbey was a home to Cistercian monks until Henry VIII closed down the monasteries after falling out with the Catholic church. After nearly 500 years the ruins are still magnificent.

One temple

We started off on Rievaulx Terrace that was created by a local lord to give views of the abbey. Inspired by touring Europe he built a classical temple at each end, but it is otherwise just an expanse of grass with great views although the trees have grown to block some of that.

Another temple

This second temple has a room where the lord and his guests could dine. Unfortunately that was closed, but there was an exhibition in the room below that served as a kitchen. The site used to run by the National Trust, but has been taken over by English Heritage. The guy at the ticket office was telling us how they are opening it more often. Luckily they still accepted our National Trust cards so we got free entry to the terrace and abbey.

The abbey

We drove down to the abbey as it would be quite a walk. They have a nice cafe. Up at the terrace there is just a small shop and some toilets. You can use the audio guide to learn more about the site. The abbey was founded in 1132 and grew to be a thriving place with hundreds of monks. Some of them worked the land and they leased other parts to locals to farm. It would have been spectacular, but it was plundered after it shut down with lots of materials sold off such as lead and even the nails from the doors. It is amazing that so much of the structure survived.

Museum

There is a small museum with items that have been excavated from the site. The builders did a great work with lots of detailed carving.

Roof

Hardly any of the roof survives apart from this part.

Refectory

The monks would have eaten, in silence, on an upper floor of this part. They spent a lot of time praying, but some of them were busy doing other work.

Dye works

One of the trades was dyeing cloth and the baths for that remain. As we were wandering around the horses in the next field took fright as a military transport plane flew very low overhead. I did not have time to get a photo of that, but we were told this is a common occurrence. It is an awe-inspiring place even if you are not religious like me.

We drove there from Thirsk and that involves a steep road up to Helmsley. The Tour of Britain cycle race was about to visit there and I wondered if they had to climb the hill. It is a pretty little town and we had a brief wander, but I did not get any photos. On @worldmappin I found this old post by @nathen007 that has some.

Happy travels.

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Comments · 11

  • @nicklewis(70)· 1d

    There was a walking series on the BBC some years back that featured various celebrities and I think there was one episode in which the abbey featured, I’d never heard of it until then. Might have been Rev. Richard Coles in that one, they all went walking with nothing but a 360 camera to record their experiences.

    High on my list of places to see. Sadly we’re not members of English Heritage any more but have stayed with the NT

  • @bozz(83)· 2d

    Wow, that is beautiful. Just about what I would expect when I think about the UK...

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  • @alonicus(72)· 3d

    Great photos !

    I'd love to find out if anyone has done a study on the economic impact of Henry VIII's closure of the monasteries. On the one side you've got the cash and resources taken from them, most of which went to the exchequer and some of Henry's select mates. But what is often glossed over is the way that the monasteries were the industrial hubs of the age. They weren't just centres of production in their own right, they also co-ordinated the activities of farmers and cottage industries in a wide area. When that stopped, what was the impact on local producers both of the monasteries going and whoever stepped in to fill their niche ? Did overall economic activity decrease for a while or was it a smooth transition ? It would be interesting to really dig into the records !

  • @molometer(72)· 3d

    Founded in 1132

    Definitely Norman French I would say.

    Religion is still used to control billions of people worldwide so it makes me wonder if humans will ever be free of their superstitious fantasies?

  • @hscr-isrc(51)· 3d

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  • @zydhwt25(44)· 3d

    There's a quiet irony hiding in this post: a lord builds two classical temples purely to frame a view of the abbey — and a few centuries later, the trees he couldn't vote out ate his view. We design landscapes for ourselves, but nature always outbids us.

    And that raises the question this abbey forces on every visitor: should ruins like this be left exactly as decay made them — or reconstructed, the way parts of old European churches have been rebuilt?

    Personally I'm torn. The decay tells the truth of what Henry VIII did. But standing inside a restored nave feels like shaking hands with the monks themselves.

    Genuine question for the history lovers here: if money were no object, would you restore Rievaulx to its 1132 glory, or keep it as an honest wound? And @steevc — did the military plane interrupt the silence, or strangely fit it? 😄

  • @albertocova(64)· 3d

    Demasiado hermoso ..🤩

  • @molometer(72)· 3d

    Sounds French doesn't it? Henry VIII was quite a character. He made millions from the abolition of the monasteries and grabbed tons of land in the process.

    So much for property rights!😂👍

  • @videoaddiction(72)· 3d

    Interesting to see so much of the abbey has survived after almost 900 years, considering how much of the site was stripped after the monasteries were closed.

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