Castle Helmsley is a medieval castle that dates back to around 1186. First is a picture of the interior of what was the Keep of the castle. Next to it is a picture from the exterior of the Keep.
Next is a picture of the Lord's residence within the Castle complex.
Here I am in the east gate of the castle.
Here's a picture of the castle seen from a nearby hill as we hiked to the abbey.
Rievaulx Abbey was a Cistercian abbey here in York that existed from 1132 to 1538.
The monks diverted the river which ran through the valley so they had enough room to build the abbey. Here's a little garden on the River Rye.
Here's a pair of pictures from the presbytery and nave of the church at the abbey.
And a picture of the refectory where the monks ate their meals.
Rievaulx became famous for its Aelred, who wrote on the topic of Christian friendship. This became one of the most famous abbeys in north England, second only to Fountains Abbey.
Rievaulx reached its height during the 1200s. However, due to huge losses from a disease affecting their sheep and the Bubonic Plague in the late 14th century, the abbey declined from 140 monks and 500 lay brothers to fourteen monks and three lay brothers.
Like so many others, the abbey was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1538. At that time, there were said to be 72 buildings occupied by only an abbot and 21 monks, attended by 102 servants, with an income of 351 pounds a year. It also had a prototype blast furnace at Laskill, producing cast iron as efficiently as a modern blast furnace; the closure of Rievaulx is believed to have delayed the Industrial Revolution for two and a half centuries.
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