Rievaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire, England by myrrhluz

Photography • Historical • posted on Sep 30, 2011

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Description

"Rievaulx was one of the first Cistercian abbeys to be founded in England. Surrounded by a massive agricultural and industrial estate, staffed by lay brothers, it was intended as the focus of a substantial family of daughter houses throughout northern Britain. Suppressed in 1538, the existing monastic ironworks was developed by new owners, the earls of Rutland. Incorporated into the parkland of Duncombe Park, the shattered abbey ruins became a popular subject for Romantic artists in the 18th and 19th centuries. Rievaulx is not one monastery but four. Each rebuilding of the abbey was designed to reflect the ideas then current about the Cistercian monastic life, and each was related to a stage in the monastery's economic and spiritual development. The abbey's post-suppression history is equally complex, reflecting changing views of the medieval past. The earliest buildings consisted of temporary timber structures, provided by the founder, Walter Espec, lord of Helmsley, in 1131-2, to the instructions of a senior monk from the mother abbey at Clairvaux, in northeastern France. These provide basic accommodation and a place of worship until enough resources had been assembled to start building in stone. These early temporary buildings have not been excavated, but one, believed to be the church, has been traced by geophysical survey on the northern side of the surviving cloister. Building in stone began under William, the first abbot (1132-1145) probably after 1135/6. . . Although almost all of Rievaulx's buildings date to the 12th and early 13th centuries, they were remodelled again from the later 14th century to suit changing patterns of religious life. Rievaulx Abbey was suppressed in January 1538, and sold to the earl of Rutland in December of that year. His steward has left remarkably detailed accounts of the stripping and demolition of the abbey throughout 1538-9. Rutland kept the abbey's mills functioning, first under their monastic tenant, and then under his own, developing a substantial iron industry that continued into the mid 17th century. Rievaulx's more recent history concerns its development as a monument in the landscape that appealed to changing artistic and cultural tastes from the mid 18th century to the First World War, after which it began to be conserved for the first time for public display." Information is quoted from Rievaulx Abbey | English Heritage Site I took out headings and some information on the expansion of the buildings. Thanks for viewing and for previous comments and favs!

Comments (35)

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blondeblurr

6:01PM | Tue, 04 October 2011

It is like a trip back into the past, hundreds of years ago - I can almost not fathom that time-span - but here it is, thanks for the wealth of information and sharing this holiday with us. But most of all this conjures up images and reminds me of 'what fairy-tales are made of' - well, in my dreams ... I love the POV and DOF Lucinda, (and can hardly pronounce the name of this Abbey) ;-) BB

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KatesFriend

9:50PM | Fri, 07 October 2011

It's a beautiful photograph Lucinda and the historical information is adds to understanding of this ancient site. So much history must have swept over what seems to be such a perfectly peaceful local now.

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