Rievaulx Abbey

After clearing the washing from the weekend and spring cleaning a cupboard some gentle exercise was required. The afternoon looked promising so we decided on a circular walk passing Rievaulx Abbey and Old Byland.

I have a soft spot for Rievaulx as this was the name of my house when at secondary school. The name means valley of the Rye. At its peak it owned 14,000 sheep, and the abbey was involved in fishing,mining.agriculture and tanning. Interestingly, because of the westward slope of the site it is built on a NW-SE axis rather than the usual W-E axis.