Thurston, Archbishop of York, was very anxious to 
have a monastery of the newly founded and fervent order of 
Cistercians in his diocese; and so, at his invitation, 
St. Bernard of Clairvaux sent a colony of his monks,
under the leadership of Abbot William, to make 
the desired foundation.
.
After some delay Walter Espec became their founder 
and chief benefactor, presenting them with a suitable 
estate, situated in a wild and lonely spot, in the valley of 
the rivulet Rie (from whence the abbey derived its name),
and surrounded by precipitous hills, in Blakemore, 
near Helmesley.  The community took possession of 
the ground in 1131, and began the foundation, the first 
of their order in Yorkshire.  The church and abbey, 
as is the case with all monasteries of the order, were 
dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 
.
At first their land being crude and uncultivated, they 
suffered much until, after a number of years, their 
first benefactor again came to their assistance and, 
later on, joined their community. Their land, also,
through their incessant labours, eventually became 
productive, so that, with more adequate means of 
subsistence, they were able to devote their energies to 
the completion of church and monastic buildings, 
though these were finished only after a great lapse of 
time, on account of their isolation and the fact that 
the monastery was never wealthy. 
.
The constructions were carried on section by section, 
permanent edifices succeeding those that were temporary 
after long intervals. The final buildings, however, as 
attested by the magnificent, though melancholy, ruins
yet remaining, were completed on a grand scale. 
.
Within a very few years after its foundation the
community numbered three hundred members, and was by
far the most celebrated monastery in England; many others
sprang from it, the most important of them 
being Melrose, the first Cistecian monastery built 
in Scotland. 
.
Rievaulx early became a brilliant centre of learning 
and holiness; chief amongst its lights shone St. Aelred,
its third abbot (1147-67), who from his sweetness of 
character and depth of learning was called Bernardo 
prope par.  He had been, before his entrance into the
cloister, a most dear friend and companion of St. David, 
King of Scotland.
.
History gives us but scant details of the later life at 
Rievaulx. At the time of its suppression and confiscation 
by Henry VIII the abbot, Rowland Blyton, with 
twenty-three religious composed its community.
.
The estates of this ancient abbey are now in the
possession of the Duncombe family.  MANRIQUE,
Annales Cistercienses (Lyons, 1642); MARTENE 
AND DURAND, Thesaurus novus anecdotorum, IV 
(Paris, 1717); HENRIQUEZ, Phoenix reviviscens 
(Brussels, 1626); DUGDALE, Monasticon Anglicanum, 
V (London, 1817-30); Cartularium abbatiae
de Rievalle in Surtees' Soc. Publ. (London, 1889); 
St. Aelred, Abbot of Rievaulx (London, 1845); OXFORD, 
Ruins of Fountains Abbey (London, 1910); HODGES, 
Fountains Abbey (New York, 1904). 
.
EDMOND M. OBRECHT 
Transcribed by Herman F. Holbrook 
For the Cistercians of Our Lady of Spring Bank, 
Wisconsin, on the 9th Centenary. 
*************
.
Carolyn of Rievaulx Yorkshire Terriers writes:
.
I have only visited Rievaulx once, in 1990, but the ruins 
are the most impressive in all of Great Britain, IMO. 
When I decided that I was truly fascinated with the 
Yorkshire Terrier breed - I felt that the kennel name 
Dalriada which was the seat of the Gaelic Kings was too 
imperious for what I then perceived as a delicate toy. 
Knowing the breed as I  now do - the kennel name 
would have stayed the same as on many of 
my hounds!!!! LOL
.
Rievaulx's crowning glory the East end of the church
perhaps illustrates this combination of earthly and 
spiritual.  It was built in the early thirteenth century to 
replace a more austere church. Today the presbytery still
soars to three stories of pointed arches and flying 
buttresses support the vault. 
.
Rievaulx is undoubtedly one of the most magnificent 
examples of Early English Gothic architecture.  To see 
some photographs of it:

http://home1.gte.net/thudson/graphics/yorkshire.html

http://www.northyorkmoors-npa.gov.uk/explore/exp_bils_12.htm
.
Should you be in England these wonderful old abbey's are 
great places to tour - amazing architecture for the period!
.
http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/abbeys/rievaulx_abbey.htm

Founded in 1131 as the first Cistercian abbey in the north of
England. It was a daughter house of the French abbey at 
Clairvaux. The first abbot was William and he and his twelve 
monks were granted land by Walter l'Espec.
Very soon after its foundation, Rievaulx was sending out new 
missions to set up new abbeys at Melsore, Warden, 
Dundrennan and Revesby. 

The abbey was built on the side of the river Rye.  Land on the 
other side of the river was owned by Roger de Mowbray, and he 
donated his lands to the order of monks know as the Savigniacs. 
The Savigniacs built their abbey and called in Byland. The 
closeness of a second abbey became a problem because each 
could hear each others bells and so the Byland group relocated 
their site. The course of the river meant that the amount of land 
that Rievaulx had in the valley was limited, and so with an 
agreement with Byland, a new channel was cut and the river 
was diverted. Normally abbeys are built on an east-west
axis, but at Rievaulx restictions meant that the main axis of 
the church is almost north-south. Rievaulx Abbey is now in the
care of English Heritage   and is open to the public.