Rievaulx Abbey

The famous and now ruined abbey founded by the Cistercians in 1132 and once one of the wealthiest and most successful monasteries in England. It benefited from royal patronage and three of it's brethren were once venerated as saints.

The monks were pensioned off and the abbey buildings stripped. The lead was taken from the roofs and melted, the stained glass was removed and most of it sold. Much of the structures of the buildings were pulled down for re-use as building materials locally. The bodies of two men killed during the demolition of the chapter house were recovered during excavations.

Above: the magnificent chancel and transepts of the abbey church, elaborately rebuilt in the 13th century to replace it's much plainer and smaller predecessor.

Below left: a column in the area of the abbot's residence.

Below: The south transept of the church

The ruins mouldered neglected for centuries until interest in them revived from the late 18th century onwards. They became the subject of numerous paintings, engravings and writings and something of a tourist attraction, which of course they remain. The site is now maintained by English Heritage.

Left: the interior of the church looking east.

Above: a holy water stoup in the south transept.

Above: A re-erected section of the cloister arcades

Left and below: five views of the eastern parts of the church, rebuilt in the Early-English style of gothic architecture. This would have led to the accusations that the Cistercians had abandoned their early ideals of simple living, still reflected in what remains of the plain, unadorned nave section which was never rebuilt.

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