Rievaulx Abbey

Founded in 1132 as the first Cistercian abbey in the north of England, Rievaulx grew under Abbot Aelred to hold around six hundred and fifty monks and lay brothers, one of the largest communities in the country, running enormous sheep flocks and iron workings. The valley of the Rye is so narrow that the church could not be aligned east to west in the usual way and was built on a roughly north to south axis instead, and the monks diverted the river itself to make room. The thirteenth-century presbytery stands nearly to full height, three storeys of early English Gothic. Above, on the hillside, the Rievaulx Terrace is a separate eighteenth-century creation: a curving grass walk with two temples, laid out purely so that the ruins below could be admired as a picturesque view.

What you actually see

• The standing presbytery - three storeys of thirteenth-century Gothic still up.
• The turned church - a building aligned north to south because the valley was too tight.
• The diverted river - the Rye moved by the monks to make space.
• Rievaulx Terrace - a Georgian viewing walk built to look down on the ruin.

When to go

April to October for full opening and the terrace, which closes for winter. Morning light falls into the valley from the east and suits the standing walls. The site is quieter than Fountains on most days.

Honest expectations

The abbey and the terrace are run by different bodies with separate tickets and separate entrances some distance apart by road. The ruin is roofless and exposed. The valley road in is narrow and single track in places.

Nearby

Helmsley and its castle are close; the North York Moors rise directly north.