Rievaulx

Rievaulx (usually pronounced /ˈriːvoʊ/ REE-voh) is a small village and civil parish in Rye Dale within the North York Moors National Park near Helmsley in North Yorkshire, England and is located in what was the inner court of Rievaulx Abbey, close to the River Rye. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census was less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Sproxton, North Yorkshire.

This article is about the village in North Yorkshire, England. For the abbey, see Rievaulx Abbey.

Rievaulx
Village
Cottage in Rievaulx village
Rievaulx is located in North Yorkshire
Rievaulx
Rievaulx
Location within North Yorkshire
Population90 (2015 NYCC)[1]
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire

History

The inner court of the monastery contained buildings such as the brewhouse, bakehouse and guesthouse. Its name originated as Rye (the river) + Norman-French val or valle = "valley".[2] Its old local pronunciation was as "Rivers", and changed to "Reevo" when education brought a general familiarity with the French language.

St Mary the Virgin

Aelred of Rievaulx, the English Cistercian monk, was abbot of Rievaulx from 1147 until his death in 1167. He is regarded by Anglicans and Roman Catholics as a saint, and is buried in the Abbey.[3]

The abbey was closed as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII in 1538 and the grounds were bought by the Earl of Rutland. He was keen to continue the iron-smelting industry which had been conducted by the monks. He therefore established a charcoal-fired blast furnace and the associated structures and workings in what became Rievaulx village.[4] This continued until its disruption during the Civil War, with production ceasing in 1647.

The village then became agricultural in nature and remains as a small settlement, situated below the Abbey and the Rievaulx Terrace & Temples.[5] The old watermill has been converted into a house around the workings, many of which are still extant, including the mill wheel, though the mill has been out of operation for a long time. The miller's cottage also still stands and is a separate abode. Almost all of the other buildings in the village are built with stones from the ruins of the Abbey. The only buildings built with materials from other sources are the buildings constructed after 1917, following the conservation of the Abbey.[6]

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a grade II listed building converted by the architect Temple Moore in 1906.[7] The building was formerly the slipper chapel to the abbey.[8] A slipper chapel was a small building where pilgrims would remove their footwear before completing their pilgrimage into a cathedra, or place of worship.[9]

When he was raised to the House of Lords in 1983, former prime minister Harold Wilson took the title Baron Wilson of Rievaulx,[10] but chose to pronounce it Rivers (see above).[11]

Governance

Historically the village was in the wapentake of Ryedale, and in the ecclesiastical parish of Helmsley, in the North Riding. It was latterly in the Helmsley Rural District and was moved into the North Riding of Yorkshire in 1974.[12][13] The village is in its own civil parish, but population statistics were assessed in 2011 as part of Sproxton Parish.[14] In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the population of Rievaulx to be 90.[1] Rievaulx is represented at Westminster as part of the Thirsk and Malton Constituency.[15]

Population of Rievaulx 1801–2015[16][17]
1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 1931 1951 1961 2011 2015
223 212 212 225 216 209 229 225 227 208 181 170 191 208 173 140 60[note 1] 50[note 2]

See also

Notes
  1. Estimated population.[1]
  2. Estimated population.[1]

References
  1. "2015 Population Estimates: Parishes" (PDF). northyorks.gov.uk. December 2016. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  2. Smith, A. H. (1979) [1928]. The Place Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire. English Place Name Society. p. 73. OCLC 19714705.
  3. Bell, David N. (23 September 2004). "Ailred [Ælred, Æthelred] of Rievaulx". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8916. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. "History". Rievaulx Abbey. English Heritage. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  5. Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002) [1966]. Yorkshire, the North Riding. London: Yale University Press. p. 307. ISBN 0300096658.
  6. Ryan, Emma (23 September 2023). "Abbey stands proudly over village". The Yorkshire Post. Country Week. p. 16. ISSN 0963-1496.
  7. Historic England. "Church of St Mary (Grade II) (1308182)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  8. "St Mary the Virgin". achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  9. Sharpe, Geoffrey R. (2011). Historic English churches: a guide to their construction, design and features. London: I. B. Tauris. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-84885-8077.
  10. "Labour PM's of the past". BBC News. 30 July 2003. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  11. Ziegler, Philip (1995). Wilson: the authorised life of Lord Wilson of Rievaulx. London: Harper Collins. p. 512. ISBN 0006375049.
  12. "Helmsley :: Survey of English Place-Names". epns.nottingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  13. Guide No. 6: North Yorkshire Gazetteer of Townships and Parishes. Northallerton: North Yorkshire County Council. 2021 [1986]. p. 25. ISBN 0 906035 29 5.
  14. UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Sproxton Parish (E04007635)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  15. "Election Maps". ordnancesurvey.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2023. On the left of the screen is the "Boundary" tab; click this and activate either civil parishes or Westminster Constituencies (or both), however, only two functions can be active at any one time.
  16. Page, William, ed. (1907). The Victoria history of the county of York. vol 3. London: Constable & Co. p. 521. OCLC 500092527.
  17. "Rievaulx CP/Tn". visionofbritain.org.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2023.

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