Photographs of Rievaulx Abbey

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Rievaulx Abbey lies within the North Yorkshire Moors National Park near Helmsley. It was founded in 1132 by twelve monks from Clairvaux Abbey as a mission for the colonisation of the north of England and Scotland. It was the first Cistercian abbey in the north. The monks built up a very profitable business mining lead and iron, 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 brothers, receiving grants of land totalling 6,000 acres and establishing 19 daughter houses in England and Scotland.
Rievaulx's fortunes changed from the late 13th century, when the abbey suffered severe financial problems: war, famine and plague. By the time of the Dissolution in 1538 the community had shrunk to 21 monks with 100 servants. The impressive ruins include extensive remains of the church and claustral buildings; five arches from the original cloister survive.