2-980-748 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

Rievaulx Abbey, Rievaulx, Ryedale, North Yorkshire, 1940-1948. View of the nave and choir taken from inside the ruins, with low rubble walls in the foreground and a clean line of sight to the end of the nave. In he centre of the image is a huge arched entrance through to the nave which is flanked on either side by columns and three storeys of arches. Further outwards from these are sections of walls with three storeys, the uppermost of which has brick of a different colour. At the very end is a small pyramidical top which is slightly higher than the rest of the wall, but this is only seen on the left side, as the right has been damaged. The abbey is one of the ealiest outposts of the Cistercian Order in the north of England, and it is thought that the earliest sections of the site were built betweet 1140-1150, including the nave. The abbey differs from most buildings of its kind as it lies north to south, rather than east to west. The site is owned and managed by English Heritage.