The Visible Monastic Past: Examining Mount Grace Priory and Rievaulx Abbey

As part of our Visible Past first-year module, students examine monasteries and castles through site visits to appreciate the impact of time, the environment around the buildings, and the make-up of the communities that lived there. Here, Byron Grierson reflects on the monastic experience of awe and isolation.

Mount Grace Priory

Upon arrival at Mount Grace Priory, it was immediately apparent just how secluded the monks were during the monastery’s age. Surrounded by trees and fields, it was easy to be transported and imagine how life would have been here centuries ago.

The most striking aspect of Mount Grace to me was the space allowed to the monks residing here. The word, “cell,” brings to mind images of a small area used to punish criminals. Here, this is certainly not the case. A reconstructed cell shows the space in which a monk would reside: a two-story cell with a separate bedroom, living room, prayer room, and a room upstairs devoted to activities such as clothmaking. On top of this, outside of the monk’s cell, you will find a garden which would have been used to grow various crops and flowers. Upon seeing this, it became more obvious to me as to why people would pay large sums of money to live here.

Another area which interested me was the bell tower. Constructed by Thomas Beauford in 1415, it remains a prominent feature of the monastery, even in its ruined state. Arguably, the bell tower is the best-preserved feature of Mount Grace, perhaps meaning Beauford was granted his wish of remaining part of the abbey’s legacy, even after its destruction.

Rievaulx Abbey

It is difficult not to be impressed, or even overwhelmed, by the sheer size and splendour of Rievaulx Abbey. Built by the Cistercians in 1132, this monastery was clearly designed to be stunning in its appearance. It is not until seeing an Abbey like Rievaulx in person that you can truly understand why many were critical of the way Cistercians approached monastic life.

Like Mount Grace, Rievaulx Abbey is nestled away in the countryside, allowing for the monks of the time to live a solitary life. Despite this, there is still a feeling of community in the abbey. Rooms such as the refectory served as somewhat of a meeting point where monks would gather to eat. Another example of this is the Presbytery, which remains among the best preserved and visually awe-inspiring parts of the abbey. It is impossible to gain an understanding of the sheer beauty of this part of the abbey through the ruins alone. Pictures that present the abbey as it likely was before its destruction show a massive room with giant, beautiful windows which light up the area. This paints a particularly pleasant image of life at Rievaulx.

The differences between Mount Grace Priory and Rievaulx Abbey are vast, and it is clear why these two locations were chosen for this particular visit. Even lying in ruins, it is easy to imagine Rievaulx Abbey in its past splendour, and Mount Grace Priory, in its much more humble, yet still impressive, appearance prior to the dissolution. Both monasteries capture the visitor’s imagination, and areas such as the recreated cell at Mount Grace Priory effectively transport you to an age of past glory. In the case of Rievaulx Abbey, the building still inspires awe, despite its ruined state. The intricate attention to detail in every aspect of the building was particularly impressive, and the feeling of awe is immediately felt, even when viewing the abbey in the distance.

Cramped and Communal to Space and Secure: Contrasting Castles in Medieval Yorkshire.

In one of our last teaching sessions before lockdown, students on first year module The Visible Past headed out into the Yorkshire countryside to explore Middleham Castle and Richmond Castle. Here, Emma Gizzi shares her experience of these site visits. 

Our class in front of Richmond’s impressive front.

As we shifted our focus from monastic life and architecture, we spent the next three weeks on castle studies to understand how the visible remains of sites can reveal a great deal concerning many narratives in medieval history, such as nobility, authority and community. In consolidation of the knowledge we have recently gained, we headed off to visit two of Yorkshire’s most visibly impressive castles, Middleham and Richmond. Guided by Carolyn Donohue, Liz Goodwin, and Anthony Smart, it was time to put into practice what we have learnt. 

The coach journey through the sunny Yorkshire countryside to Middleham was very picturesque with much to let the eye wander on, notably even reminding us of ecclesiastical life again as we passed the remains of Jervaulx Abbey on the way.  Once we arrived, immediately we were greeted by the imposing fourteenth-century curtain walls surrounding the twelfth-century hall keep which dominated the town, and entered through the north-east gatehouse into the courtyard. 

Middleham Castle’s kitchen

Once the group photographs were taken, Carolyn guided us through into the keep itself, with walls measuring up to 3.7m thick making it one of the largest by area in the country and a strongly fortified structure which could protect itself and its occupants from the elements. We could also see how domestic the space was, too, with the presence of water wells at both ends and the remains of where the vaulted ceiling would have been, separating the kitchen and cellar on the lower level where we stood and the great chamber and hall above. A further sense of separation and control could be seen in how limited the stairway access is, including the remains of the bridge that would have been used by the castle’s nobility; providing secluded access from the southern ranges into the keep.  

As we headed outside the keep into the southern courtyard we paid particular attention to the decorative remains of the fourteenth-century chapel and Prince’s Tower, as well as the fifteenth-century privy chamber and latrine tower. All of these adhere to the notion of community and a place of residence, with the Prince’s Tower and privy chamber serving to provide for the maternal and feminine members of the household, and the latrine tower as a fine example of the latest medieval hygiene methods. Before allowing us to explore and gather research for ourselves, Carolyn made a final point that the castle’s history should perhaps primarily be associated with the Neville family, since they fundamentally augmented the castle’s significance architecturally and politically, even though more recently the heritage is closely linked to Richard III. This king resided at the castle and also it is believed his only legitimate son, Edward, was born and died at Middleham.  

The entrances of Middleham Castle

For those of us who decided to investigate the top of the keep and check out the surrounding views, Carolyn’s words of how the legacy and beauty of the landscape must have mattered to the occupants certainly rang true, as we noticed to the south the site of where William’s Hill once stood; a wooden motte and bailey type castle probably built by Count Alan Rufus, future founder of Richmond Castle, or his brother Ribald. Moreover, Liz’s words of how the use of light at Middleham was a key indicator of who would have inhabited specific spaces could also be seen, as we noticed significantly smaller windows with less of them in domesticated areas than there was in areas of accommodation that was reserved for the nobility.  

The view from Middleham Castle

As we took a break for lunch, we got back on the coach and headed into the market town of Richmond, where my pals and I decided to opt for some local pub food before we all reconvened outside the entrance to the castle. While Middleham is a fine example of what can be perhaps a cramped and communal experience of castle living, Richmond illustrated an open and more architecturally defensible type of castle; a comparison extremely useful for our studies. As we stood beside the impressive 30m high keep, Carolyn gave us an introduction to its Norman heritage and the vast amount of eleventh and twelfth-century architecture, including the stone curtain wall, the great archway that forms part of the keep, and Scolland’s Hall. The keep as stands today exists from the twelfth-century and is said to be one of the best-preserved castle of this scale and age in the country.  

View from Richmond Castle

Unlike Middleham, which fell into ruin in the seventeenth-century, Richmond remained almost continually in use by authority of some sort until the early twentieth-century. For instance, in the nineteenth-century a barrack block and armoury was built, with the armoury being adapted for later use as a cell block for conscientious objectors during the First World War, although the barrack block is now demolished. We also noted how domesticated and opulent the castle once was too, with Scolland’s Hall, which included a kitchen, buttery and pantry, overlooking the river beside the ‘Cockpit’ garden. Once we set off to explore ourselves, we made sure to investigate some of Carolyn’s suggestions, notably the eleventh-century St. Nicholas chapel featuring visible traces of red paint which would have been used to mark out the lines of masonry, showing how medieval decorative colour schemes would have looked. Upon inspection of the keep, we were greeted with a rather spacious interior that differed considerably to the remains of Middleham, with three floors including a great chamber and small rooms accessible usually from only one entrance. While this furthers the notion of Richmond being a practical defensive structure, it also supports the significance of hierarchy and separation that typically exist within castles. 

Richmond Castle

Since you can never grasp the physical sensations of light and sound, along with the power and emotion of space you are studying, it was a vitally important experience for our studies, and thinking back now whilst considering the current circumstances, it was lovely way to end our first year of studies at York St. John. 

 

 

Encountering the Monastic Past

First year students on the module The Visible Past got a chance to experience their classroom learning in the field last month, walking in the footsteps of the monks of Mount Grace Priory and Rievaulx Abbey. Joseph Hartley shares his experience.

With the Mount Grace’s grounds bathed in sunlight and not a drop of rain in sight it was only the temperature which left something to be desired. The ruins of the monastery still allowed us to imagine what life could have been like for both choir monks and lay brothers, even if the grounds were more noisy than they would have been in the days when it was inhabited. The areas restricted for the choir monks earn the priory’s title as the best preserved Carthusian priory in the country. The choir monk accommodation was far larger than I think most of us assumed it would be, with a private garden, writing space and toilet.

This, compared to the areas designed for lay brothers, could not have been more different, with areas for crafting, accommodation nowhere near the standard of the lay brothers, the area was far more open and privacy was a second thought. The church allowed us to see the development of the building over time, different architectural styles, materials and repairs could provide us with a vision of how the church would have looked. The separation within monasteries could not have been more apparent, with clear restrictions for where lay brothers could and could not enter, every aspect of the monastery was controlled.

Rievaulx was a completely different experience to Mount Grace. The weather decided not to maintain its clear skies and sun, instead we were greeted with wind, rain and mist as we stepped off the coach. As soon as the site came into view it was still shrouded in mist. Unlike Mount Grace’s modest grounds and ‘small’ church, Rievaulx dominated the landscape, a grand gothic structure which even in ruins demanded respect from those who wandered its roofless halls. With the monasteries being in ruins we were given an insight into how a monk could move about the spaces within the different compounds of the abbey. Though we can still only guess how some areas are connected, most of the remains can still be read and imagined with modern plans to hand. What is most striking about Rievaulx is the size, not only the size of the church, which is more like a cathedral with the later additions, but the grounds which the abbey controlled are vast, encompassing the valley and the surrounding area. Rievaulx is truly an imposing structure which defies its original purpose; it consumed vast amounts of wealth in being constructed and reconstructed over time, something that can also be seen in the stonework and, just like Mount Grace, we can see different stones and architectural styles.

To learn about monasteries in a classroom is only as useful as it can be applied. If we did not think of these monasteries as the desert, and think about the sacred spaces within them along with the restricted areas, the experience would not have been anywhere near as educational nor as entertaining. What made the day truly special was being able to apply the knowledge we had observed in lectures and place it in the field. Being able to place yourself in the shoes of either a choir monk or a lay brother helped in enhancing the experience of the monasteries. I don’t believe that any of the students had a clear favourite, weather aside, they were both entirely different structures offering different experiences which were a pleasure to be part of.

Windows into the Lives of Medieval York

Second-year student Georgia Wilson reflects on a medieval church in York’s ability to provide (literal) windows into medieval social and gender history. 

This week, as part of studying the module Plague, Piety and Power: Europe c.1300-1550, we had the great opportunity to visit All Saints, North Street on York’s riverside. The morning of our visit the river was flooded, closing businesses and making footpaths inaccessible, yet the medieval church, slightly set back, remained unaffected by the elements. It struck me how the church, in its present form, has managed to survive for well over 600 years, the site a place of worship predating even this by several centuries. The church itself is a hidden gem, absent from the traditional tourist map of York, despite its rich history and beautiful stained glass.

The stained-glass windows date back to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and in places are believed to have been designed by the same artist responsible for the iconic glasswork in York Minster’s Great East Window. Even at first glance it is apparent that each of the 10 main windows are incredibly intricate and colourful, indicating that this is skilled and expensive work. I felt it a great privilege that we, as tourists and historians, are able to see up close such well-preserved glass that has decorated All Saints for centuries. I also felt privileged to experience the church just as others would have throughout the centuries; from admiring the bright colours and intricate designs, to seeing the light from a bright day reflect through the stained glass into the church. This contributed to what I viewed as a timeless experience, that has echoed throughout the ages.

From this visit we aimed to apply knowledge from our lectures and seminars to be able to use these windows as primary sources, to give us insight into medieval society and culture. The windows, therefore, preserve a sense of medieval society in their depictions, giving us an idea of what was important to the parish at this time, so much so that someone would commission these designs at considerable expense. We are able to see images such as the Pricke of Conscience window that depicts the final fifteen days of the world and the Corporal Acts of Mercy window that details how to be a good Christian. Images such as these would have resonated with their medieval audience to a far greater extent than with us, highlighting the importance people placed on religion, the prominence of the idea of death and purgatory, and God’s judgement.

My personal favourite was the Blackburn Window depicting St Anne teaching the virgin Mary to read and below them members of the Blackburn family (wealthy benefactors of the parish of All Saints), particularly highlighting the Blackburn women. This window emphasises the education of women at this time and specifically the Blackburn women being intelligent and learned, a fact the Blackburns were surely very proud of, to have such a window commissioned. I believe this is important in our understanding of medieval society as it contradicts the common misconception that all women at this time were illiterate and uneducated.

It was a different and special experience to actually go to All Saints Church for the seminar, allowing us to experience it first-hand, rather than reading about it and studying through pictures. As YSJ history students we are extremely fortunate to have such an abundance of history right on our doorstep and All Saints was the perfect place to visit to encompass all we have studied about the middle ages, in one place.