Rievaulx Abbey

Rievaulx Abbey, over view from SE. All directions are Liturgical. Liturgical north is about NEN.

A former Cistercian abbey headed by the Abbot of Rievaulx. It is located in the village of Rievaulx, near Helmsley in North Yorkshire, England.

It was once one of the wealthiest abbeys in England and was dissolved by Henry VIII of England in 1538.

Rievaulx Abbey was founded in 1132 by twelve monks from Clairvaux Abbey as a mission centre for the colonisation of the north of England and Scotland. It was the first Cistercian abbey in the north. With time it became one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, second only to Fountains Abbey in fame.

The remote location was ideal for the Cistercians, whose desire was to follow a strict life of prayer and self-sufficiency with as little contact as possible with the outside world. The patron, Walter Espec, settled another new Cistercian community, founding Wardon Abbey, Bedfordshire, on one of his inherited estates, again on unprofitable wasteland.

Photo 496, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey (view from SE) with Refactory on the left and a bit of Novices' room on the right.

Photo 495, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey (view from SE) with Refactory on the left and remains of Novices' room on the right.

Photo 535, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, infirmary from SE

Photo 497, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, infirmary from east

Photo 499, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, end of Presbytery from outside, from the east.

Photo 503, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, The Presbytery, inside looking west

Photo 511, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey remains of Chapter House, with the remains of it's curved wall barely visible in the center. From the Presbytery looking SW.

Behind that and to the left are the the walls of the Day Room and Dormitory

Photo 512, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, The Presbytery wall on the left, wall of South Transept on the right, looking due west.

Photo 513, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey

Photo 519, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, north wall of the Refactory, from the north, across the cloister area, now just a grassy plot.

Photo 696, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey

Photo 706, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, Chapter house. Looking NE with part of the Presbytery on the left.

Photo 522, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, Refectory interior, looking south.

Photo 526, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, Refectory interior

Photo 700, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, south transept, from the SW.

Photo 527, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, warming house with flagstone floor.

Photo 531, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, Presbytery from the south.

Photo 536, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, South Transept on the left and Presbytery on the right, from the SE.

Photo 690, May 2011

Rievaulx Abbey, north wall of Presbytery on the left with some flying buttresses still partially intact, and the north transept behind them. From the east.

Photo 691, May 2011