Pictures of Yorkshire (2)

Rievaulx Abbey (2)

This is my second post today with pics of the fantastic ruins of Rievaulx Abbey - scroll down for the first one.

You can click on the pics to enlarge them.

The galilee porch in front of the abbey church, a typical feature of Cistercian buildings, with the remains of eight graves of important patrons. One is that of Isabel Ros, died 1264, and another is of a man named Jordan.

The nave of the abbey church, built in the 1150s.

In the north and south aisles of the nave stand the remains of 14th-century chapels. The stone slab in the forefront of the pic is an altar.

The north and south transepts, built in the 1150s and heightened in the 1220s - as you can see from the lighter stone and the larger windows.

The south transept from the other side.

How the south transept would have appeared in the fifteenth century.

Two chapels in the south transept.

Five chapels behind the high altar and Ailred's shrine. The middle three were dedicated to St John the Baptist, St John the Evangelist and the Virgin Mary.

The north transept.

The west range, which dates from the 1130s and is the oldest surviving part of the abbey - in fact, this is the oldest surviving Cistercian building in the world. Originally, it was the lay brothers' parlour and refectory, and (above) dormitory, but after about 1300 was remodelled to make private offices for senior abbey officials.