18 September 2016 - Willow House Caravan Park, York

This morning we waited for the mist to rise and reveal a superbly clear autumn day. It was the perfect sort of day to set off for another tour across the moors, but this time on the western side as opposed to the central and eastern section we did from Whitby.

We headed up the A19 from York through Thirsk, then a further ten miles or so before turning into the Mount Grace Priory. Set against the Cleveland Hills which stretch across the whole area we were to explore today, the Priory is amongst the most unusual of English Heritage’s monastic sites, with the bonus of an Arts & Craft mansion, this latter once a lodge for visitors to the priory and the first point of contact when one arrives.

The house owes its present form to Sir Lowthian Bell, a wealthy industrialist, who owned Mount Grace from 1899 to 1930. Originally it was a seventeenth century house, but Bell extended it considerably, and refitted all the interiors in the Arts & Crafts style of the late nineteenth century. He also repaired the ruins of the priory. Ivy and trees growing up over the walls were removed, low walls were repaired and fallen walls around the cloister rebuilt. He also rebuilt one of the original monks’ cells, which have since been restored and furnished by English Heritage.

Mount Grace Priory ruins

However interest in history and archaeology had been expressed by the previous owner, William Brown, a barrister and historian, who inherited the site of Mount Grace from the Mauleverers of Arncliffe Hall. Although he personally never lived at Mount Grace, he transcribed surviving documents of the priory and established its history. He was interested in the ruins and encouraged their excavation, bringing in a leading monastic scholar of the day who worked here extensively from 1896 through to 1900. It was this Sir William St John Hope who uncovered the most complete Carthusian priory remaining in England.

But I am jumping ahead of myself; Carthusians differed from other monastic monks in that they lived a hermit-like existence only venturing into fellow human company when they came to celebrate their various prayerful and spiritual rituals in the church. They otherwise lived without any contact, even to the extent of having their meals passed through an L-shaped hatch by a lay brother. Certainly their little apartments, by the standards of the day, were well appointed with three rooms downstairs, a workroom upstairs, a small garden in a walled courtyard and a toilet complete with plumbing out in the yard but accessed under cover. There have been large families in more recent times who have not enjoyed the luxury of such a living space.

Mount Grace mansion

The order originated in Grand Chartreuse in France, and was apparently revered for its humility and intense spirituality. This particular priory was founded in 1398 by Thomas Holland, 1^st Duke of Surrey, the last monastery established in Yorkshire.

Like all religious establishments, it was closed in 1539 and the site passed into private ownership. Sir James Stangways was the first owner of Mount Grace after the departure of the monks, only wanting the property for the land and farms that went with the Priory. He acquired 139 acres of farmland, 100 acres of woods, the home farm, the priory watermill and a guest lodging. In these instances the new owners were expected to destroy the structures with religious connotations; instead he left the priory to decay. It was, after all, the burial place of his parents and grandparents. 

In the years that followed right through to the seventeenth century, the property changed hands several times. Thomas Lascelles bought the site of the old priory in 1653 and it remained in his family until 1744 when it was sold to the Mauleverers of Arncliffe. It was this Thomas who converted the ruins of the priory guest house into the core of the present house, using some of the stonework from the priory ruins. And then came Mr Brown, as above.

Our visit here had been very much a spur of the moment kind of thing, and we were so glad we had called. Apart from the wet recently mown grass clinging to our shoes, we thought the ruins and house just fabulous, and the stories and interpretative panels fascinating. 

Back on the road, we resumed our original plan, soon turning again onto the A172 toward Guisborough, then south through narrow roads to connect with the B1257 which cuts down over the moors through Bilsdale and Ryedale, after climbing up toward Urra, the highest part of the moors referred to when we travelled across further to the east.

Climbing away from the near sea-level area of Teeside, we could see Roseberry Topping, a rather strange shaped hill from which James Cook apparently gazed out to toward the coast as a young boy inspiring him to follow the career that subsequently brought fame and adventure.  We pulled into a layby, already packed with cars, hoping we could easily walk to a vantage point to take in even more extensive views, and instead found ourselves on the Cleveland Way National Trail, a 175 kilometre walking route from Helmsley to Filey Brigg. 

We were not interested in setting out along this, and old stone walls hid the views we were seeking, but we were delighted to find ourselves at the finish line of a rather extreme mountain biking stage down over the moor. We chatted with the marshal when opportunity allowed as he was busy after all, and watched as these crazy cyclists came blatting over the fern covered hill and down an extremely rough stony track, straight into the bank beneath us. Several of them yelled an unrepeatable expletive as they came down, but then having caught their breath, said it was awesome and wanted to do it all over again. It was the marshal’s job to hustle them on to the next stage, warning them they were coming straight out across a busy road.

View up Bilsdale from Newgate Bank

We walked a little further up, high enough above the scrubby wall to look north, before turning back to the car and continuing on, now descending into the wide and lovely valley of Bilsdale. We stopped for lunch in a forest picnic area, at Newgate Bank, a most un-English spot because the parking was free, although the facilities were nil apart from a rather well appointed lookout tower from which I took a few photos.

Soon we reached Rievaulx and came down to near the river, parking by the abbey ruins. The abbey, founded in 1132, was the first Cistercian abbey to be established in the north of England. It quickly became the most powerful and spiritually renowned centres of monasticism in Britain, and in its heydays of the 1160s, home to a community of 650.

In 1220 the east end of the church was rebuilt to house the relics of Aelred, the third abbot who like the founding abbot, William, lived a life so holy, was made a saint.

Views of the Rievaulx abbey ruins

The abbey was at the hub of a trade network that extended as far as Italy. Fleeces from the abbey’s flocks were highly prized and Rievaulx became very rich. The period from about 1270 to 1400 was one of change and often difficulty; in the late 13^th century, epidemics devastated the abbey’s flocks, leaving the monastery in debt. The abbey itself was badly affected by warfare between England and Scotland and was pillaged by the Scots in 1322, and then the Black Death in the middle of the 14^th century also took a heavy toll. In 1380 there were only fifteen monks and three lay brothers left at Rievaulx.

The abbey fell victim to Henry VIII’s destruction of the monasteries, just as all the rest did, this one suppressed as late as 1538. The monks were cast out but did receive pension. Rievaulx was sold to Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland, though the plate, bells and lead from the roofs were reserved for the king. Documents from the time reveal that Manners was determined to extract everything of value from the former monastery, which was stripped of its contents and rapidly reduced to ruins.

In 1687 the 2^nd Duke of Buckingham, whose father, George Villiers, had acquired the Rutland’s Yorkshire estates by marriage, sold Rye Valley and many of Rievaulx’s former estates to Sir Charles Duncombe, a London banker. Duncolme built a new house, Duncombe Park, on the west side of Helmsley, which lies two miles to the south of the abbey ruins. The park was further extended along the Rye Valley in the 1750s by Charles’s nephew, Thomas Duncombe, who created a terrace above the abbey with Classical temples at either end, in the style of that at Castle Howard.

It was this and the resulting reputation that triggered interest in the ruins, and from the late 18^th century, the abbey became an increasingly popular destination of visitors. By the mid-19^th century the interest had become more scientific or historical, rather than artistic, and the ruins came to be appreciated for the archaeological evidence they contained. 

Rievaulx Temple

By the beginning of the 20^th century, the abbey ruins were in a state of imminent collapse. Minor repairs were carried out in 1907, but the scale of repairs needed was such that only state intervention could save the site. The Office of Works took the ruins into guardianship in 1917. Immediate repairs were begun, despite the shortage of resources in these war years, and then in the 1920s, removal of much fallen debris was ordered and carried out by war veterans. 

Just this last year has brought even more changes to the site, with a new purpose-built museum and visitors centre added. We took up the offer of audio guides and enjoyed our wander through history, all the better for the bright sunshine. It is indeed a most picturesque spot, and later, on our departure, we popped into the National Trust administered Rievaulx Temple and Terraces to take in the view from high above the river. The trees have no doubt grown much since the Temple was first built, but even so, this too was a special place.

We called into Helmsley, packed with visitors even this late in the afternoon, and picked up a loaf of bread from the Co-op, before heading south on the B1363 which winds through the stunning rural countryside of the Howardian Hills, through the equally lovely villages of Sproxton, Oswaldkirk, Gilling, Brandsby and Sutton on the Forest.

It was still early enough to do a final load of washing while Chris prepared eggs, spuds, baked beans and bacon, an excellent dinner for a Sunday night.