A short walk from Helmsley to Rievaulx Abbey

On a recent stay in the Hambleton Hills, my wife and I were looking for a walk we could do late one afternoon that would give us a good leg stretch, but could be back to our hotel to shower and get ready for dinner which had been booked for 6.30pm.

We found the Helmsley Castle to Rievaulx walk on the English Heritage website at a distance of 3 miles one way. So guessed if we we’re to set off at a good yomp we could be there and back in just over a couple of hours. We had visited the majestic Rievaulx Abbey earlier in the year, so didn’t plan to go into the ruins, but a nice cuppa in the café there was built into our plans!

We parked at Helmsley Castle, but again we didn’t have time to go in but had spent an afternoon there in the spring. The castle has a 900 year history and was once a mighty medieval fortress, then a luxurious Tudor mansion, a Civil War stronghold and eventually a romantic Victorian ruin. It’s well worth a visit and a perfect place for a picnic.

The start of the walk is actually the start of the Cleveland Way. This long distance walk heads over dramatic moorland to the Yorkshire Coast before following the coastal path to Filey. It’s about 109 miles and whilst I have not done the whole walk yet, I have walked many stretches of it.

After following the Cleveland Way on a wide track which gently rises, the path meets a kissing gate which takes you left down the side of a field and then turns right along some Blackdale Howl Wood on your left. It’s worth looking back as you walk along this track as there are some great views back to Helmsley Castle.

There was lots of sheep related activity to watch as we walked along the side of the field.

It was noticeable that looking into the wood land that we were reasonably high up and it was a steep drop to the valley floor.

We continued along the track and the fields on our right changed to wheat fields.

The walk then enters the wood where there is quite a steep down then up section on well defined steps down into the valley bottom and then up the other side.

As we came out of the wood at the top of the other valley side, we passed Griff Lodge. Griff Lodge is close to the site of the medieval settlement of Griff and a Monastic Grange now Griff Farm.

There is not a lot of information about the stone built Griff Lodge, but I assume it is a lodge house for the Duncombe Park Estate.

After following a track along the top of the ridge with Whinny Bank Wood on the left, we eventually entered the wood itself taking a long steady descent to the valley bottom. We did log that we would have to walk back up this on the way back!

Along the woodland path, there were lots of disused quarries along the valley side, where sandstone would have been quarried for the Cistercian Abbey as well as the later houses in Rievaulx village.

Eventually we met one of the roads in to Rievaulx village. We followed this quiet road down to Rievaulx Bridge.

Rather than go over the bridge we turned right towards the Abbey (signed by English Heritage). At this point it is worth looking up to the valley side as there is a great view up to the Tuscan Temple on the National Trust owned Rievaulx Terrace. Again once owned by the Duncombe Family the Earls of Feversham who built two temples on the valley side to impress their guests and allow wonderful views down to the Abbey ruins.

It was not long before we came to the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, one of the most important Abbeys in England at one point and once home to a community of over 650 Cistercian monks in this remote valley. I will blog separately about the location but it really is an amazing place to visit.

We ordered tea and a can of pop in the café there and realised even with the up and down we had covered 3 miles in less than an hour.

After refreshments we re-traced our steps. The first half of the walk back is uphill, but we had a gentle descent back into Helmsley at the end. Our return journey was not quite as quick as the outwood leg.

It was a lovely walk, and whilst there were some up and down bits, it was a walk most people could manage with a reasonable level of fitness.

A map of this walk can be found on this link - https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/siteassets/home/visit/places-to-visit/rievaulx-abbey/3437-helmsley-to-rievaulx-walk-a4-flyer_for-website.pdf