Rievaulx Abbey captured my imagination. Now picturesque ruins, this former abbey was once one of the wealthiest monasteries in England. That is until Henry VIII of England dissolved the Cistercian abbeys in 1538.
Founded in 1132, Rievaulx Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in the north. From the first moment I saw it, I was delighted. Captivated by the tall gothic archways of this medieval structure, I stayed far longer than my girls would have liked.
For me, Rievaulx is the favourite spot of our drive through the British countryside. In contrast, I believe our girls preferred Alnwick, the castle used to film Harry Potter.
Evident by the sky, the day deteriorated as it often does in England, but I continued to take photos:
Visiting Rievaulx Abbey
- Rievaulx Abbey is located in Rievaulx, England, near Helmsley in the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire.
- The name is French, as are the twelve founding monks originally from Clairvaux Abbey, a Cistercian monastery in northeastern France.
- The ruins are now owned and maintained by English Heritage Trust.
BEST TIP: If you are an overseas visitor and love castles and old ruins, be sure to get either a 9 or 16-day English Heritage Overseas Visitor Pass. It will give you unlimited access to over 100 sites across England. - Opening hours and days vary with the seasons.
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- Flights: we use Expedia for the best and cheapest flight options.
- Accommodations: we use Booking.com (hotels), VRBO (self-contained), or Hostelworld (budget).
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- Motorcycles: we have heard good things about BikesBooking.
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- Travel Insurance: while not required, we always opt for travel insurance and start at InsureMyTrip to compare coverage plans.
Check out our travel resources page for more companies that we use when you travel.
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Heather Cole
Wow, this is the stuff of fairytales, and what stunning images you have (lucky I guess to have some good weather!!). We live in the north of England and I’m ashamed to say I’ve never actually heard of this place. We’re heading to Yorkshire in June so will make an effort to visit, looks like a fab place for photography (and playing hide and seek). Love it!
Lolo
Wow! Absolutely breathtaking!!! Such a shame it was destroyed! Pinned for later!! 🙂
Rhonda Albom
Thanks. While it is a shame, the ruins are pretty amazing.
Handmade Jewelry Haven
This is absolutely stunning, The ruins are amazingly preserved! The lighting you captured between the columns in one of the photos was just mesmerizing,
Thank you for re-posting!
– Lisa
Rhonda Albom
Thanks Lisa. We stayed here for quite a while, much longer than the rest of the family would have liked. I was mesmerised. I am glad that I could capture that emotion in my photos.
It’s not a repost, most of these photos were never shared before. I just moved 40,000+ photos to Lightroom and as I go through them I am finding many decent shots that have never been seen.
Adonis Villanueva
Beautiful photos, Rhonda! Great captures of these magnificent ruins. Now I want to got there and snap a few myself 🙂
Rhonda Albom
If I went back I would bring a tripod and an ND filter.
Trekking with Becky
As a Tudor nut, I’ve heard of the dissolved abbeys/monasteries, but I’ve never seen any of them while I was in England. I’ve never heard of this one, and your shots are incredible. The second one took my breath away. You captured it so beautifully. I wonder what it looked like in its prime.
Rhonda Albom
Thanks Becky. They really are even more incredible in real life.
stephanie jefferson
Old ruins are a great subject to photograph, especially when it’s sunny!
Rhonda Albom
Sunny UK days are so hit and miss.
kid can doodle
You’ve been to some fabulous locations! cheers, kidcandoodle
Rhonda Albom
We try 🙂
Lexa Cain
It’s absolutely stunning! I love the architecture so much, and especially love the beautifully manicured grounds. Thanks so much for sharing!
Rhonda Albom
Thanks Lexa, it really was a wonderful place to walk around and enjoy, and of course photography.
indah nuria
it’s a fantastic ruins indeed, Rhonda. Would love to visit this place myself..
Rhonda Albom
I hope you get there.
Brooke
Impressive ruins! The ornate archways make me wonder what it must have looked like while it was fully functioning. Your photos are wonderful and do a fantastic job of capturing this historic site.
Rhonda Albom
It’s amazing they could build something this ornate so long ago.
JM Illinois U.S.A.
Oh how I wish I could go on a photo shoot at this abbey. We went to England several times but never did visit there. If only….! Now I can only dream. Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful photos.
Rhonda Albom
I hope you do get here. It is so beautiful and it loves the camera.
Star Traci
I had not heard of the abbey but that is gorgeous! I hope I can see it in person some day. In the mean, these are beautiful pics.
🙂
Traci
Rhonda Albom
There are many others to see too, as you drive through the countryside.
Olivia Morris
Beautiful and so sad that it was destroyed…..the ruins speak to the majesty though. Thanks Rhonda for these beautiful pictures.
Rhonda Albom
Thanks Olivia.
Anda
Wow! I can only imagine how Rievaulx Abbey must have looked in its days of glory. Seeing these grandiose ruins one can only wonder why hasn’t this abbey been reconstructed? Why did they let it disintegrate like this? Such a waste!
Rhonda Albom
It must have been spectacular in its glory.
Jim, Sydney, Australia
Brilliant shots.
Rhonda Albom
Thanks Jim
Photo(Geo)grapher
Wow! Really picturesque ruins. Great photos !
Rhonda Albom
Thanks 🙂
Dalene
Can’t wait to walk through castle ruins when I get to England … great photos!
Rhonda Albom
Go slow and really enjoy. My imagination had a great time there.
Travelera
Not only the photos are amazing, you got a really gorgeous day when you went up there, I have been near but I have not seen this Abbey, after seeing this photos, I really want to visit it, I will wait for a weekend in summer and try to get a day as fabulous as yours! 🙂
Have a great week! xxx
Rhonda Albom
The day deteriorated as we stayed, but we did get quite lucky for a while.
Deb Nance
The ruins give me a hint of the real beauty that was once this place.
Rhonda Albom
It must have been truly magnificent.
Gattina
This is a real coincidence, I just saw this Abbey recently on “Escape to the Country” it’s indeed very beautiful. Reminds me of the one we have here in Belgium in Villers la Ville, they look very similar ! (http://gattinatravels.blogspot.be/2008/09/abbey-of-villers-la-ville-belgium.html)
Rhonda Albom
That is quite the coincidence. I would love to see the one in Belgium some day.
Sanchie @ Living my Imperfect Life
Wow…beautiful architecture. I love old building especially English ones…they always look like they have stories to tell. Awesome pictures! 🙂
Rhonda Albom
Can you imagine what this masterpiece would have looked like in its glory?
Carol
Unfortunately, I’ve never been to England, but it I did go, I would definitely get the pass you mentioned. A tour of English Heritage sites would be heaven.
Rhonda Albom
That pass was so worth the money for us. We used it quite a bit.
Alissa Apel
Now that’s a sight! I’d love to see that. I can see why they’d pick this spot for a Harry Potter film.
Rhonda Albom
Sorry for the confusion. Rievaulx was our first stop. Harry Potter was partially filmed at Alnwick.
Susanne
Wow – fabulous photos. What a beautiful place!! I’ve never thought there were such ancient monuments still left in England, I thought most had been destroyed during WWII but maybe that was mainly in the cities?
Rhonda Albom
The countryside seems to be dotted with amazing treasures like this.
Jesh StG
The Gothic arches are endless!! What I immediately thought was, if it were only these twelve monks who built it?? And why were they in England, and not in France? Not that you have to look it up for me, but ruins are so mysterious – there is a whole history behind it! Thanks for sharing:)
Rhonda Albom
They were in England to bring the religion. I added the website link above just for you (and anyone else who wants all the history.)
jesh StG
Thank you Rhonda:):) Can’t remember if I ever told you that I’m Dutch, so England was closeby, But if one has friends living in another country, those are first:) But this is a nice way to get to know the UK too:) Have a great week!
Photo Cache
A dream destination!
Rhonda Albom
True, and there are other nearby similar ones.
Comedy Plus
I would enjoy visiting these ruins. I love all things old. I’m a big of a history buff.
I’m glad Melissa is doing so well too. Saw your post on Facebook.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
Rhonda Albom
Thanks. I am a big fan of things like this as well.
Stephanie (@Vaycarious)
Oh, Rhonda! These pictures are gorgeous! This reminds me of some ruins in the middle of Lisbon, but the vibrant grass makes this abbey look pretty instead of creepy. I pinned this post for my future UK trip!
Rhonda Albom
LOL – we loved Portugal as well, but skipped Lisbon.
Nick Wilford
Great photos! I’ve seen these ruins, on one of our camping holidays in Yorkshire as a kid. They are definitely majestic and it’s amazing how much still stands too.
Rhonda Albom
Did you get to camp amongst them? I know you can’t do that now, but I can imagine how incredible that would be.
Brenda
Wow, what an amazing article, I could picture myself being there.
Rhonda Albom
The grandeur of it makes is so amazing to be there
David
Love it, must have had an amazing time!
Rhonda Albom
We visited several ruins that day. This was my favourite.
Alex J. Cavanaugh
A lot of it still remains after almost nine hundred years, which is impressive. You got some great shots.
Rhonda Albom
Also impressive that they could build like this so long ago.
Tanja (the Red phone box travels)
I’ve never heard of it. stunning!
Rhonda Albom
It’s a treasure.
stevebethere
Brilliant shots Rhonda love the different angles, I was thinking that’s unusual to have a blue sky here then noticed you said it deteriorated typical heheh!
Have a tanfastic day 🙂
Rhonda Albom
LOL – the rare blue sky. We saw it in Scotland as well.
Rajesh
You have captured the ruins beautifully.
Rhonda Albom
Thanks. They are incredible.
Gemma Wiseman
Spectacular views of the abbey ruins. Love all the different perspectives of this grand old wonder.
Rhonda Albom
Thanks Gemma, I had debated whether or not is was too many photos.
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Hi Rhonda – it is an incredible place … I could have visited back in 1976, but it was the very hot year and we stayed down at Alnmouth at the sea … with some sea breeze coming in. I need to take the car and do a tour sometime … wonderful collection of photos you’ve given us. Shows the magnificence of the Abbey and the incredible ability to build such structures back in the 1100s … cheers Hilary
Rhonda Albom
Incredible is an understatement. I could have stayed there mesmerized for days.