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Tour the Moors for Priories and Abbeys

Helmsley with it's Castle is located on the west flank of the North Yorkshire Moors date back to the 12th Century, the large market square has plenty of accommodation to help you visit the Ryedale and into the moors

Photography by Mike Kipling - All Rights Reserved
Photography by Mike Kipling - All Rights Reserved

Heading west from Helmsley to Rievaulx where the Cistercian monks from France built their first abbey in Yorkshire, by the wooded river in the Rye Valley in 1131.

 It eventually housed over 600 Monks and brothers which declined in the 14th Century until there were only 22 when the monasteries were dissolved in 1539. The National Trust maintain it and the Terraces behind the abbey which were landscaped in the 28th Century to improve the view from Duncombe Park across the valley.

Helmsley Market Place, North Yorkshire © Mike Kipling
The White Horse at Kilburn, North Yorkshire Moors © Mike Kipling

Rising from the valley onto the Hambleton Hills from where a 360 degree panoramic view is to be found on a clear day, before dropping back down Sutton Bank to Kilburn stop at the White Horse car park at the top for another spectacular view to the west. Travellers from the west to Sutton Bank can see the White Horse on the hillside for miles.

Kilburn was the home of Robert (Mousey) Thompson a wood carver of fame his work can be found in hundreds of churches throughout the land, including Westminster Abbey in London. The surface of his work has a rippled finish which is produced by an adze and is confirmed by the carving of the Church Mouse on each piece he made. His workshop has remained in business since he died in 1955 and all the craftsmen still carve the mouse to identify their work and it's origin.

Bylands Abbey, North Yorkshire © Mike Kipling

Byland Abbey

Continuing through to Coxwold a 15th Century one street village where Lawrence Sterne was vicar in the 18th Century and wrote Tristram Shandy at Shandy Hall his home. Newburgh Priory a Elizabethan mansion nearby is claimed to be the resting place of Oliver Cromwell.

Heading back towards Helmsley via Wass we pass Byland Abbey which was built in 1134 and maintained by English Heritage. It has one of the largest cloisters in England and excavation has recovered thirteenth-century floor tiles.

 

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