Rievaulx Abbey and Caydale from Murton

8.5 miles            Warm and sunny

Clive was busy this week so Carole accompanied me on this peaceful walk to Rievaulx Abbey.  We left the B1257 Stokesley to Helmsley Road at the Laskill turn off and drove through Hawnby to park at the roadside near to Murton Grange.

Today's walk from The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills

We walked a short distance along the road and turned into Ox Pasture Lane which we followed to the top of Deep Gill Wood.   Our path ran alongside the wood for some time before reaching fields which we crossed to reach an old disused barn before descending to Barnclose Farm.

We leave the woods and cross fields to a ruined barn

Ruined barn

More fields then...

Our path ran through a gate and into the farmyard where we saw an old guard dog, fast asleep in the sunshine even though we had been talking as we approached.  Carole liked an ornamental hen we saw on a table in front of the farm, where we turned right across the front of the buildings and walked along the farm road.

Barnclose Farm

Sleeping guard dog

Unusual arrangement

Leaving Barnclose Farm

We then had a steady climb to reach Tylas Farm, which TSB tells us that the monks of Old Byland built as a grange and tile house, hence its name.  We passed the farm and continued along the road with Oxen Dale on our right until reaching a gate and way-mark on our left where we turned off the road and gradually descended to the River Rye.

Carole makes a friend at Tylas Farm

We turn off the road...

.. and descend to the River Rye

The next part of the walk was very pleasant as our path followed the river, sometimes on boardwalks, until we reached the road again and almost immediately crossed Bow Bridge.  TSB says this was originally a wooden construction, built by the monks of Rievaulx, and then rebuilt in the late 1700s following a flood which washed away the original structure.

Nice boardwalk alongside the river

Bow Bridge

Back into fields

A short walk on the road brought us to a sign pointing to our path across fields to Rievaulx Abbey.  We left the road at a wooden Inn Way sign and soon the abbey came into sight.  Our route followed the traces of the old canal that the monks had built in the 11th century to carry stone for the abbey from the nearby Penny Piece Quarry, so named because quarrymen were apparently paid a penny a day.  We soon arrived at the village and turned right to follow the road past the entrance to Rievaulx Abbey until we came to a quiet spot where we could enjoy our coffee and scones.

Remains of the old canal

First glimpse of Rievaulx Abbey from our path

Houses in Rievaulx

Cottage garden in Rievaulx

The Abbey from our coffee stop

TSB tells how Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy, who, like us, arrived here during a July afternoon, described how she "could have stayed in this solemn, quiet spot till evening without a thought of moving, but William was waiting for me."   

The Abbey sits in a natural amphitheatre which was granted to the Cistercian monks by the Lord of Helmsley and building began in 1132.  Because of the abbey's site between a hill and the River Rye the church faces North - South instead of the usual East - West.  By 1200 there were 140 monks and 500 lay brothers but like nearby Byland Abbey, it was suppressed in 1538.

We left our lunch spot in a field and continued along the road crossing stone-arched Rievaulx Bridge and following the road to Ashberry Farm.  We approached the farm and walked past another inactive guard dog, this one awake and watching us with a bored expression, and turned onto a hillside path running around Ashberry Hill.  

Rievaulx Bridge

Approaching Ashberry Farm

Indifferent to our passing

We followed the wooded path through Lambert Hagg Wood and as on previous walks here, cursed the new growth that has removed the wonderful view of the Abbey that Tom Scott Burns describes in his book, which was written in the 1980s.   Perhaps we should return to walk this path in winter when we should have a view of sorts through the bare branches.  

We left the wood on the same road that we had followed past Tylas Farm on the way out, but this time we left the road before the farm, turning left to climb onto Birk Bank on the other side of the valley.  

Walking across Birk Bank

A mile of walking along this woodland track took us to Caydale Mill below us, and just beyond we reached the road and a ford where we washed our muddy boots.  Cars on this route drive through 100 yards of water, but walkers cross by a bridge and avoid getting wet feet.  A long steep climb up this road took us back to Murton Grange and our car.  

Boot washing in the ford

Murton Grange appears in the distance

The large outbuildings at Murton Grange