rievaulx

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".{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=A. H. |title=The Place Names of the North Riding of Yorkshire |date=1979|orig-date=1928|oclc= 19714705|publisher=English Place Name Society|page=73}} Its old local pronunciation was as "Rivers", and changed to "Reevo" when education brought a general familiarity with the French language.

File:St Mary the Virgin Rievaulx 1(Nigel Coates).jpg

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.{{cite ODNB|first=David N.|last=Bell|title=Ailred [Ælred, Æthelred] of Rievaulx|id=8916|date=23 September 2004}}

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.{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/rievaulx-abbey/history/|website=Rievaulx Abbey|publisher=English Heritage|accessdate=30 January 2016}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |title=Yorkshire, the North Riding |date=2002 |orig-date=1966 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=London |isbn=0300096658 |page=307}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Ryan |first1=Emma |title=Abbey stands proudly over village |work=The Yorkshire Post |date=23 September 2023 |location=Country Week |page=16|issn=0963-1496}}

The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a grade II listed building converted by the architect Temple Moore in 1906.{{NHLE|desc=Church of St Mary |num= 1308182|grade= II|access-date=23 September 2023 }} The building was formerly the slipper chapel to the abbey.{{cite web |title=St Mary the Virgin |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/19276/ |website=achurchnearyou.com |access-date=23 September 2023}} A slipper chapel was a small building where pilgrims would remove their footwear before completing their pilgrimage into a cathedra, or place of worship.{{cite book |last1=Sharpe |first1=Geoffrey R. |title=Historic English churches: a guide to their construction, design and features |date=2011 |publisher=I. B. Tauris |location=London |isbn=978-1-84885-8077 |page=3}}

When he was raised to the House of Lords in 1983, former prime minister Harold Wilson took the title Baron Wilson of Rievaulx,{{cite news|title=Labour PM's of the past|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3107623.stm|accessdate=30 January 2016|work=BBC News|date=30 July 2003}} but chose to pronounce it Rivers (see above).{{cite book |last1=Ziegler |first1=Philip |title=Wilson: the authorised life of Lord Wilson of Rievaulx |date=1995 |publisher=Harper Collins |location=London |isbn=0006375049 |page=512}}

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.{{cite web |title=Helmsley :: Survey of English Place-Names |url=http://epns.nottingham.ac.uk/browse/North+Riding+of+Yorkshire/53286b0cb47fc40bc6000373-Helmsley |website=epns.nottingham.ac.uk |access-date=24 September 2023}}{{cite book |title=Guide No. 6: North Yorkshire Gazetteer of Townships and Parishes |date=2021 |orig-date=1986 |publisher=North Yorkshire County Council |location=Northallerton |isbn=978-0-906035-29-0 |page=25}} The village is in its own civil parish, but population statistics were assessed in 2011 as part of Sproxton Parish.{{NOMIS2011|id=E04007635|title=Sproxton Parish|access-date=24 September 2023}} In 2015, North Yorkshire County Council estimated the population of Rievaulx to be 90. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Ryedale, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.

Rievaulx is represented at Westminster as part of the Thirsk and Malton Constituency.{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/?x=457702&y=485269&z=6&bnd1=WMC&bnd2=CPC&labels=on |website=ordnancesurvey.co.uk |access-date=24 September 2023 |quote=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.}}

• Swiss Cottage, Rievaulx

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• [http://cistercians.shef.ac.uk/rievaulx/precinct/ Information on the origin of the village]

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Category:Villages in North Yorkshire

Category:Civil parishes in North Yorkshire