|
You are here:
Rievaulx Abbey: Precinct
The site today
The remains of the great Cistercian abbey of
Rievaulx are amongst the most impressive medieval ruins in the
country. The site has, however, changed significantly since the
Middle Ages and less than one sixth of the original ninety-two
acre precinct can now be traced. Whilst little now remains of the
monastic buildings, records dating from around the time of the
suppression of Rievaulx, in 1538, shed considerable light on the
layout of the precinct in the later Middle Ages, and of the seventy-two
buildings that once stood here.(1)
Still, it is hard to imagine just how much
larger the precinct must have been with the orchards, mills, workshops
and stables that extended to the east and west of the standing
remains.
Documents surviving from the suppression
of Rievaulx
There are four surviving documents:
(a) the grant of the site to Thomas Manners, the earl of Rutland, December
1538 x March 1539
(b) an inventory for the earl following his receipt of the site
(c) a survey for the earl
(d) ministers’ accounts of the income from the land the earl had
received.
[See Fergusson and Harrison, Rievaulx Abbey, pp. 226-337.]
|
The medieval precinct
During the Middle Ages, access to the site was
restricted, and from the early thirteenth century the abbey precinct
was surrounded by a wall; much of this survives on the northern
side. Those arriving at the abbey would have entered the precinct
via a great gatehouse which stood to the NE of the abbey church,
near to where the parish church now stands; this was formerly the
gatehouse chapel. From here visitors would have been directed to
an inner gatehouse and thereafter pointed to either the inner or
outer court, or to the church. Much of the agricultural and industrial
work was carried out beyond the precinct, but there was considerable
activity within the enclosure. The outer court, which was situated
to the south and west of the church, was usually a hive of activity.
This area housed most of the abbey’s workshops and farm buildings,
as well as orchards, mills and fishponds. Although this part of
the precinct has not been excavated, the remains still standing
include the abbey’s cornmill, which is now a house. In the
sixteenth century there were about forty buildings here. These
included a barkhouse or tannery, a double water-mill, a slaughter-house,
cart sheds and wagon houses, as well as yards, meadows and orchards.(2) More
domestic buildings such as the bakehouse and brewhouse, and also
the guesthouse, lay in the inner court, which stood to the west
of the western range.
Did you know?
The village of Rievaulx
now stands where the inner court of the monastery used
to be.
|
Today it is difficult to know where exactly
the boundary lay between the two courts, but this would have been
clearly demarcated in the Middle Ages. The church and claustral
buildings lay at the centre of the precinct and formed the heart
of monastic life. Here, they were sheltered from noise and activity,
as well as from visitors. The monks were able to access all the
buildings necessary to conduct their everyday life without leaving
the cloister.
<next>
|