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Ruins at Rievaulx Abbey
Rievaulx Abbey is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1131 by Walter Espec in a secluded valley on the edge of the North York Moors. The name Rievaulx is a Norman concoction, a misuse of Rye Vallis, or Rye Valley. The abbey was one of the first Cistercian houses to be established in England. It was meant to act as an administration centre for Cistercian missionary work in the north of England and into Scotland, a place from which monks would be sent out to establish daughter houses throughout the region.
The first structures at Rievaulx were temporary timber buildings, intended to serve only until proper permanent buildings could be erected in stone. The first stone structures were begun under the first abbot, William (1132-1145), sometime after 1135. The plan for Rievaulx was to follow the same layout as that of the mother abbey of the order at Citeaux, in France. This consisted of a large church, with a cloister range to the south.
Abbot William's church was taken down and rebuilt on a grand scale by the third abbet, Aelred (1147-1167). Aelred had come to Rievaulx from Scotland, where he had served as a steward in the household of King David.
The east end of the church was later torn down and enlarged by Abbot Roger II (1223-1239). One unusual feature at Rievaulx is the orientation of the church. Most churches in Britain, certainly established in the mediaval period, are oriented loosely on an east/west line. At Rievaulx the layout of the site neccessitated a different approach, and the abbey church is laid out on a north/south line.
The abbey was expanded in the period 1145-1165 and again in the late 12th century. Interestingly, though Rievaulx was reckoned the most important Cistercian house in England in the late 12th century, it really reached the peak of its power around 1200, and from that point on life at Rievaulx became a struggle. Part of the struggle was the monk's own fault An ambitious programme of rebuilding and extended the abbey buildings in the 13th century led to heavy debts.
But some things were beyond the abbey's control. Like most Cistercian monasteries Rievaulx relied heavily on income from sheep farming. In the 13th century a series of epidemics ravaged the abbey's flocks, leaving them with far lower income than expected. They did engage in minor rebuilding during the 14th century, but by then the abbey had truly fallen upon hard times. Parts of the abbey buildings were torn down in the 15th century. By the time the abbey was suppressed by Henry VIII in 1538 it supported 22 monks and 100 lay people. Compare that to the 1160s when, under Abbot Aelred, it had a population of 140 monks and more than 500 lay brothers.
Ruins at Rievaulx Abbey
Rievaulx Abbey is a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1131 by Walter Espec in a secluded valley on the edge of the North York Moors. The name Rievaulx is a Norman concoction, a misuse of Rye Vallis, or Rye Valley. The abbey was one of the first Cistercian houses to be established in England. It was meant to act as an administration centre for Cistercian missionary work in the north of England and into Scotland, a place from which monks would be sent out to establish daughter houses throughout the region.
The first structures at Rievaulx were temporary timber buildings, intended to serve only until proper permanent buildings could be erected in stone. The first stone structures were begun under the first abbot, William (1132-1145), sometime after 1135. The plan for Rievaulx was to follow the same layout as that of the mother abbey of the order at Citeaux, in France. This consisted of a large church, with a cloister range to the south.
Abbot William's church was taken down and rebuilt on a grand scale by the third abbet, Aelred (1147-1167). Aelred had come to Rievaulx from Scotland, where he had served as a steward in the household of King David.
The east end of the church was later torn down and enlarged by Abbot Roger II (1223-1239). One unusual feature at Rievaulx is the orientation of the church. Most churches in Britain, certainly established in the mediaval period, are oriented loosely on an east/west line. At Rievaulx the layout of the site neccessitated a different approach, and the abbey church is laid out on a north/south line.
The abbey was expanded in the period 1145-1165 and again in the late 12th century. Interestingly, though Rievaulx was reckoned the most important Cistercian house in England in the late 12th century, it really reached the peak of its power around 1200, and from that point on life at Rievaulx became a struggle. Part of the struggle was the monk's own fault An ambitious programme of rebuilding and extended the abbey buildings in the 13th century led to heavy debts.
But some things were beyond the abbey's control. Like most Cistercian monasteries Rievaulx relied heavily on income from sheep farming. In the 13th century a series of epidemics ravaged the abbey's flocks, leaving them with far lower income than expected. They did engage in minor rebuilding during the 14th century, but by then the abbey had truly fallen upon hard times. Parts of the abbey buildings were torn down in the 15th century. By the time the abbey was suppressed by Henry VIII in 1538 it supported 22 monks and 100 lay people. Compare that to the 1160s when, under Abbot Aelred, it had a population of 140 monks and more than 500 lay brothers.