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

 

Kepwick and Cowesby from Over Silton

5.5 miles          Warm and sunny

 

I woke up full of cold and with a head like a bucket so we decided to do an easy walk today.  Although it's easy we both think it is one of Tom Scott Burns's prettiest walks in the Hambleton Hills.

 

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

The Old Schoolhouse, Over Silton

We approached Over Silton from the A19 and parked at the road side opposite the Old School House.  Tom Scott Burns notes that the name Silton probably derives from Sal (as in Up-sal) which means a Hall or important place, and Ton which is Anglian for a place or town, from tynan, to hedge in or enclose. In Germany, Saal still means hall.  The school house was built in 1844 by Sir George Wombwell who died in 1855.

We followed the road out of Silton and found our field track, almost hidden in long grass.  Plunging into the field we walked through tall grass, thistles and nettles until we reached immaculate Greystone Farm where we spent a few minutes admiring the handsome Suffolk sheep.  In a barn were hundreds of rosettes and ribbons from shows the sheep had competed in.

Over the stile and into the long grass

Last night's rain meant wet legs for much of  today's walk

Approaching Greystone Farm

Suffolk Rams

Ribbons and rosettes

Immaculate Greystone Farm

We walked through the farm and back into fields, following the yellow waymarks towards Nether Silton.  We crossed the road at at the village and rejoined our path which led us to Hall Farm.   We walked through overgrown fields following a path that was thick with nettles and briers until we came to a footbridge.  The ponds shown above on Tom Scott Burns' map, which he says were man made, are no longer to be seen.

Approaching Hall Farm

Various breeds of sheep in these fields and all looking very healthy

The 'panda' is a Kerry Hill, a breed from mid-Wales

Lots of butterflies and, unfortunately flies, after the rain and in today's warm weather

There was no sign of the paths having been walked by others

Approaching the bridge over Sorrow Beck

This path crosses the old railway

Old railway track

Our overgrown footpath continued to a small stone bridge over what used to be a 3.5 mile narrow gauge railway, built in 1833, that brought limestone mined near Kepwick to kilns near to the Yarm and Thirsk turnpike road.  We crossed another field and joined Peasland Lane which we followed for a mile into Cowesby.  St Michael and All Angels Church at Cowesby looked lovely in the sunshine and for the first time we found it unlocked, so had a look round before settling down on the steps to enjoy our coffee and scones.

Peasland Lane

First glimpse of Cowesby Church

It looks locked but it isn't!

St Michael and All Angels Church, Cowesby

Attractive church suffering badly from damp

Weather-vane in Cowesby

Cowesby

We walked through Cowesby, past Home Farm, and then followed a path bearing left along the western shoulder of Pen Hill. This path then led us down towards Kepwick.  TSB mentions that a John Henry Warner constructed two reservoirs on the moors above Kepwick in 1873 to supply water to Kepwick Hall and we came to an old stone building with the remains of a large metal pipe in its floor.  We guessed this must be something to do with Warner's reservoir system.

Looking back at Cowesby as we climb Pen Hill

Climbing Pen Hill

Looking at Atlay Bank from Pen Hill

Walking from Atlay Bank down to Kepwick

The stone shed contains old pipework - probably dating back to the old reservoir for Kepwick Hall

We're just too late to see the rhododendrons flowering on Atley Bank

We didn't enter Kepwick, simply crossed the road and entered more fields which were full of cows and more alarmingly a large brown bull.  Fortunately he appeared to be dozing in the sun and showed little interest as we scurried past.

We re-crossed the remains of the railway line and made our way back to Sorrow Beck where we found the bridge in a much worse state of repair than our last visit.

Old railway bed

Sorrow Beck bridge...

... is in poor repair

Soon after the beck we saw the old hall at Nether Silton (Silftune in Domesday) in the field above us and made our way towards it through thick vegetation.  Last summer there had been a distinct path, this year there was no sign that anyone had crossed these fields.  When we reached the hall we paused to admire the old monolith nearby, and trace the letters and test our memory as to what they actually mean.

An old monolith and a stone with some lettering

Here The Grand Old Manor House Stood

The Black Beams Were Oak, The Great Walls Were Good

The Walls At The East Wing Are Hidden Here

A Thatched Cottage Like A Barn Was Erected 
Year AD 1765

A Wide Porch Spans A Yard And Alcove

This inscription was the idea of a Squire Hicks to mark the spot where the medieval manor house once stood.

The old hall at Nether Silton dates from 16th century

Just near the hall is the Church of All Saints and once again we were lucky to find a church unlocked, so entered for a look round.  We were interested to see a memorial to the fallen from WW1, listing seven men from a tiny hamlet like this, and in the graveyard saw a memorial to one of them, a soldier who fell at the Battle of Marne.

All Saints, Nether Silton

All Saints, Nether Silton

Altar window at All Saints

TSB explains that the chapel of All Saints dates from medieval days and was rebuilt in 1812 by the Lord Bishop of Durham, at a cost of £450 raised by subscription.  Wood used in the altar rails and other refurbishments were presented by a R M Jaques, and were from HMS Dreadnought of Lord Nelson's day.This chapel was in far better repair than the church at Cowesby.

Timber with an illustrious past?

Cottage garden in Nether Silton

Leaving the church we followed our path back into fields walking parallel to Greystone Farm and crossing Kirk Ings Lane to St Mary's Church, which looks abandoned in the middle of a field quite some distance from the village of Over Silton.  We didn't enter the church this time and crossed the field to the road leading back into Over Silton and our car.

Striding towards St Mary's

St Mary's Church, Over Silton