RIVAULX, a township in the parish of HELMSLEY,
wapentake of RYEDALE, North riding of the county of
YORK, 2 miles (W. by N.) from Helmsley, containing
212 inhabitants. An abbey, the first of the Cistercian
order in Yorkshire, was founded here in 1131, by
Walter L' Espec, in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
and at the dissolution possessed a revenue of £351. 14. 6.
The venerable ruins of this once sumptuous monastery
are situated near the rural, village of liivaulx, in a sequestered
valley, through which winds the river Rye,
on every side encompassed by. heights crowned with
majestic woods. The principal remains, which are those
of the church and the refectory, exhibit a mixture of
Norman and early English architecture; the choir, in
particular, is a beautiful composition still in good preservation;
it is one hundred and forty-four feet long,
by sixty-three feet wide, the transept one hundred and
eighteen feet by thirty-three, and the probable length
of the nave one hundred and fifty feet, dimensions
which entitled it to rank amongst the largest, as it did
with the most magnificent, abbey churches in the
kingdom.