Yorkshire, England - Coxwold, Byland Abbey & Helmsley Castle

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It was only a few miles from our cottage to Coxwold and nearby Byland Abbey. Helmsley, which we visited later, was another ten miles or to the east, on narrow back roads. 

Coxwold has a church with Norman roots - built in the early 1200s - and in great condition. 

It was overcast, with light rain today.         

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again.

	tiny village of Coxwold		some sort of scenic village award		Norman church		berry-laden cotoneaster again
		view of the graveyard		usually open		well-preserved & still in use
	the Fauconberg record in Latin		young men who gave their lives for England in  WW I		old town hall		the pub at Coxwold
		we visited before it was open for the day (a Sunday)		Holly's family live in Coxwold & own the pub

The Byland Tea Room, across the street from Byland Abbey, has charming interiors with Mouseman furniture, and the staff were inquisitive and advice-giving.

Besides the Tea Room they also operate B&B with a few rooms upstairs. The women working there had great accents and a sense of humor and our light lunch was really impressive.    

	Byland Tea Room with guest rooms		today's lunch menu		Mouseman furniture
						nice dining spaces
		Tea Room and the Abbey to the east		< prolific cotoneaster, again

Byland Abbey

Byland Abbey, with red highlights, see below

This photo is from the Byland Abbey brochure, which states that "with its galleried upper walls, brightly painted decorations, and new handling of light and space, it reached a splendor far removed from the earlier Cistercian buildings with their relatively plain walls and small windows.....it was one of the first to break away fully from the Romanesque tradition". 

	early Gothic architecture		Byland was completed in 1177		another light rain day		Nave
				the floor was tiled in the 1200s
	fireplace		many fireplaces		good overview		at its height
						yes, too much info...
	Abbey bone yard				tools back then

Helmsley Castle

The first Helmsley Castle, made of wood, was built in 1120 by Walter L'Espec, a lifelong follower of King William II.  Walter was given a tremendous land grant by Wm. II, but he died childless, his property holdings passing to his sister's de Roos family by marriage.  

In 1186, Robert de Roos constructed the Medieval castle which still stands, well, sort of.   

An interesting bit of history is that in his time, Walter L'Espec made a generous land grant of 6,000 acres to the Cistercian Order, enabling nearby Rievaulx Abbey to be built, while a generation later Robert de Roos the inheritor made a similarly generous land grant, which made Fountains Abbey possible.         

Robert de Roos of Helmsley had an honest reputation and was one of 25 Barons selected to ensure that King John observed the conditions of the Magna Carta, signed in June 1215, nine hundred years ago. The Great Agreement limited the arbitrary authority of the Kings of England to imprison, condemn, or execute Barons, without some form of due process, in a rough sort of way.

But the Pope nullified it a few months later and then King John died of dysentery 15 months later, so the Magna Carta's significance faded. Historically, over time its symbolic value as the 'beginning of democratic ideals' grew and in modern times became 'revealed truth'.       

Following Robert's death in 1227, de Roos descendants continued to reside in the Castle for the next five centuries. 

	looking upstream		looking downstream		recording a royal gift of a building		there was a craft fair going on inside that building
				the Castle was completed in the 1120s
	a dry moat						on an earbud tour
				the south barbican and gate house
	east tower				east tower again		Castle overlooks the village
		walking on the Castle wall		the west tower, or main residence		Helmsley Walled Garden
							Knight Templar Robert de Roos
				Church in Helmsley		another great wooden ceiling
					Tudor style

go to next page - week two, part three Bolton Castle & Wensleydale

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