Rievaulx Abbey

Day 1 of the Cleveland Way, 12.5 miles from Helmsley to Sutton Bank. We detoured to Rievaulx Abbey which is a beautiful ruined spot. In the 1150s it would have been a most impressive site, with over 650 monks worshipping and working . The Black Death in 1340s meant the beginning of the decline in their wool trade and the dissolution of the monasteries in 1580s signalled the death knell. The site has been taken over by English Heritage. Instead of the usual shots of the ruins I have gone for a mono.
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