Byland Abbey

It was founded as a Savigniac abbey in January 1135 and was absorbed by the Cistercian order in 1147. It was not an easy start for the community which had had to move five times before settling at the present site. The group of thirteen monks first left Furness Abbey, then in Lancashire, in 1134. They founded a new abbey at Calder, in Cumberland, and remained there for four years. They then suffered their first setback, when a Scottish raid forced them to return to Furness. However, they were refused re-entry, possibly due to lack of space at Furness or because their abbot, Gerald, refused to resign his rank. Its early history was marked by disputes with no fewer than four other religious…

Extensive remains can still be seen of all the main buildings of the abbey. The most important building was the vast church, which was grander than any previous Cistercian building in Britain. At the top of the west front is the lower half of a huge rose window which was the inspiration for the southern rose window at York Minster. The rest of the church is harder to visualise as all the internal arcades were destroyed after the Dissolution, but most of the external walls stand up to the level of the top of the aisles, as well as one corner of the south transept that stands to its full height. Some of the arcaded stone screens dividing the church into sections for the monks and lay brothers…