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,

Maintained by English Heritage

16 Oct 2009

Pentax K10D 18-55mm lens
1/60 @ f13.0 ISO 100

Featured in Your Country’s Best on Tuesday 28th September 2010

Featured in “Australia versus the UK, but it’s not cricket!”..3 Oct 2010