Rieveaux Abbey

Yorkshire, England - Rievaulx Terrance & Abbey

on the morning drive to the Abbey

Rievaulx Terrace, as well as the land the old Abbey sits on, are National Trust-managed properties, once owned by the Duncombe family.

In the mid-1700s Charles Duncombe was a clever stock market investor who became 'the wealthiest commoner in England'. He apparently understood economics and became a financial advisor to two successive English Kings, keeping the Exchequer solvent & earning himself a royal title & property.

The large Duncombe property extends from the village of Helmsley to Rievaulx, with a scenic 5.5 mile walk along River Rye between them, but we drove instead.

The Docent at Reivaulx Terrace said that the Duncombes family currently living on the property continue to use this small Palladian style building on (1st photo below) as a special-occasion dining room. She said that last winter, a helicopter flew in cooks, plus food & wine and then 25 guests, for a feast on a snowy day.

The Docent also said that in the mid 1700s, ruins like Rievaulx Abbey (similar to Fountains Abbey) were often incorporated into larger private gardens because they introduced a romantic aspect - admiration for architectural works from the past.

When the sons of wealthy Brits began to go on 'The Grand Tour', or "studied abroad", in France or Italy, starting in the 1740s, they found a tradition of venerating Roman ruins, which created an off-shoot gardening trend back home. It became so popular a look, she said, that wealthy land owners in England and on the Continent sometimes constructed fake Abbey ruins on their property.

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again.

Palladian style		dining room upstairs & kitchen below		we enjoyed talking with the Docent
	Boar pattern, a reference to King Richard III		period furniture		The Duncombes at home
painted by an Italian artist						first look at Rievaulx in a light rain
			looking into River Rye watershed		mint & woodruff
		Rievaulx Terrace

Rievaulx Abbey - In the 1200s there was a community of 650 residents here, consisting of lay monks & choir monks. Similar to other monasteries, choir monks were engaged in study & devotion, while lay monks, often illiterate, performed the necessary day-to-day work that insured survival, including a lot of engagement with the local farm & craft-based community.

Choir Monks had to get up year round at 2 am for Matins, typically going to bed around 6 pm, a self-denial routine, while Lay monks were on day-shift. Let's hope they had different housing.

At Services, choir monks sat up front while lay monks at the back.

The audio-tour said there was a substantial community of craftsmen & suppliers, as well as mine workers, living in a village that stretched out along the River Rye for a half-mile upstream & downstream of the Abbey. There were a few thousand persons here, and when times were good, like in the 1200s, all levels of the economy flourished.

view from the Nave		the Presbytery, constructed in the 1140s				like Roman arches
			Cloister		tiny restored section of the Cloister
cascading cotoneaster				early founder of the Abbey, who died in 1145
	South transept		floor tiles & my shoe		Refectory & Undercroft

We walked through a nearby woods and crossed twice over the River Rye on old stone bridges. (Rievaulx is French for River Rye.

'this green and pleasant land'		walking past the visitor center		nasturtium on old rock wall		walking easement
			looking back from the foot path		where the Rievaulx craft people used to live and work
seemed like an old railroad grade		a side creek joins the Rye near the bridge		old bridge		view from the roadside hedgerow
	old house next to Abbey		there's a very thin net covering the thatch		probably for wind protection
the net, barely visible		old home

go to next part - week one, part five - Thirsk and Sutton Bank

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