Rosedale Abbey

Rosedale Abbey is a village in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It is approximately 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Pickering, 8 miles south-east of Castleton and within Rosedale, part of the North York Moors National Park.

Rosedale Abbey
Rosedale Abbey
Rosedale Abbey is located in North Yorkshire
Rosedale Abbey
Rosedale Abbey
Location within North Yorkshire
OS grid referenceSE726955
• London200 mi (320 km) S
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townPICKERING
Postcode districtYO18
Dialling code01751
PoliceNorth Yorkshire
FireNorth Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament

History

Rosedale Priory

Overview of the priory:[1]

A Cistercian Priory once stood on the site. All that is left today is a staircase turret, a sundial and a single stone pillar. Some headstones that seem to belong to nuns have been reported, though it is unclear whether they are in situ. Founded in 1158 or earlier,[8] the priory was inhabited by a small group of nuns credited with being the first people to farm sheep commercially in the region - a quintessentially Cistercian practice driven by the order's desire to live "far from the concourse of men".

Little is known of the Priory. Unlike their male counterparts in nearby Fountains Abbey and Rievaulx Abbey, the nuns were probably not fluent writers.[9] Furthermore the Cistercians were famed for their hostility to women, leaving nuns wishing to follow the Cistercian life in an awkward, unofficial position only partially connected to the rest of the Order. This is compounded by the fact that a house for nuns could not be founded, as male Cistercian abbeys were, by a party being sent out from an existing abbey able to trace its filiation all the way to the mother-house at Cîteaux Abbey in France.[10] It is therefore extremely difficult to guess what the Priory would have looked like (whereas Cistercian abbeys are highly formulaic). What stone remains is well finished and laid, but it is unclear where in the church it would have been and what ancillary buildings might have surrounded that church. Indeed this whole chapter of the valley's history is little understood, with only a handful of references remaining. There are records suggesting that the nuns at one point had to be moved following a raid by Scots. Another record reprimands the nuns for financial mismanagement and urges them not to give away so much in aid to the poor that they bankrupt themselves. Another reprimand tells them not to allow visitors into their dormitory and another warns them against allowing puppies into the church lest they disturb the service. [lower-alpha 14] It seems from these records that there was probably a steady population of between half a dozen and a dozen nuns.

The priory ceased to operate in 1536 owing to the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The buildings were left to decay, with what remained eventually being dismantled in the 19th century. [lower-alpha 15] The stone was reused all around the village – including for a new church close to the priory church.[12] but there are also suspiciously well-carved lintels built into garden walls, and sheds with well-cut ashlar stone. Many of the buildings now in the village have distinctly Gothic windows and two of the churches at least have circular windows (a common feature of Cistercian churches, which were all dedicated to the Virgin Mary, of whom circular windows were a sign). It is unlikely that many (if any) of these stylistic details are remnants of the priory. They speak more of the Victorian sensibilities prevalent at the time that the population of the village soared but may well have mimicked traditions set out by the priory.

It is worth noting too that there is evidence that the local water-courses have been carefully managed – another common feature of Cistercian landscapes – and that there is a Monastic grange in Rosedale. Whilst it is easy to dismiss the priory as a small concern based on the small number of nuns and lack of surviving ruins, we must remember that Fountains Abbey is unlikely to have held more than a few dozen choir monks for much of its life, so really all we can say is that Rosedale Priory could have been very small, or could have been quite big, or could have been somewhere in between.

Mining

In the 19th century an iron ore mining industry was established. The population of the valley expanded rapidly until the demise of the mines in the 1920s. [lower-alpha 16]

Community

Rosedale Abbey consists of a collection of stone houses and public houses, St Mary & St Lawrence Church,[13] an art gallery, tea room, a sandwich shop, glass studio and a village green.

Tourism in the area has developed into a major industry, with many smaller properties renovated for private holiday homes or as self-catering accommodation. Hotels, larger properties and farms provide bed and breakfast accommodation.

Recently a local parish council election attracted candidates opposed to the construction of affordable housing close to their properties.

Rosedale Show is held in the village each August and attracts some 5,000 visitors. The show dates back to 1871 and is one of the oldest in North Yorkshire.

The notoriously steep road known as Chimney Bank starts in the village, though the chimney that gave it its name was demolished in 1972.

For such a small village Rosedale boasts both a football and cricket team. The football team, managed by Alastair Wilkinson, competes in the Ryedale Beckett League Division 1 and the cricket team, captained by William Sullivan, competes in the Feversham League, which they won in the 2019 season.

See also

References

Notes
  1. Parishes: Middleton ( William Page ).[3] . . .No mention of ROSEDALE. . .is found in the Domesday Book. It must, however, have been in the king's hands together with Middleton and Cropton, for these places afterwards formed part of the honour of Rosedale. The first lord of this fee was Turgis Brundos, lord of Liddell, who is styled Turgis de Rosedale in a charter of about 1125. He died before 1130–1 and was succeeded by William his son, founder of Rosedale Priory for nuns of the Cistercian order . . .[3]
  2. The Parish Church of St Mary and St Lawrence, Rosedale Abbey.
  3. ROSEDALE, EAST-SIDE ( Thomas Langdale ).[4] . . .This church[lower-alpha 2] is part of the ruins of a priory founded in the time of Richard I 1190, for Benedictines or Cistercians, by Robert de Stuteville, and dedicated to St. Lawrence and St. Mary . . .[4]
  4. The priory was established with endowments from:
  5. See also Keldholme Priory > . . .It was established by one of the Robert de Stutvilles in either the reign of Henry I of England or Henry II of England.
  6. At least part of the remaining structure was in use as a church or for another purpose.
  7. See Nun Monkton > Benedictine nunnery
  8. As of 1999 only four of the twenty four nunneries were still in use:[lower-alpha 6] [5] See also List of monastic houses in North Yorkshire
  9. Chapter 10 THE HOLY WOMEN ( Bernard Jennings ).[6] . . .sheep farming was just as important to some of the nunneries. . .as it was to Cistercian abbeys such as Fountains and Rievaulx. . .At the top of the list is Keldholme with 12 sacks, followed by Arden, Rosedale and Ellerton-in-swaledale with 10 sacks. . .[6]
  10. ROSEDALE, EAST-SIDE ( Thomas Langdale ).[4]. . .The site was granted 30th Henry VIII to Ralph Nevile, Earl of Westmorland. . .About the time of the dissolution, a prioress and 8 or 9 religious belonged to this house. . .Of the ruins that remain is the square of the cloister, which is almost entire; the buildings having been converted into dwelling houses. . .In this square, are some of the tomb stones that have been placed over the nuns, with crosses, &c. carved on them. . .[4]
  11. PRIORY REMAINS (Historic England).[7] . . .List Entry Summary:
  12. The Parish Church of St Mary and St Lawrence, Rosedale Abbey.
  13. Chapter 10 THE HOLY WOMEN ( Bernard Jennings ) . . .Present church[lower-alpha 12] built c.1839 on site of chancel of priory church. . .[2]
  14. Chapter 10 THE HOLY WOMEN ( Bernard Jennings ).[11] . . .In the 14th century Archbishop Greenfield told the nuns of Keldholme and Rosedale to stop taking their puppies into church. . .[11]
  15. Parishes: Middleton (William Page).[3] . .West Gill and North Gill rise over 1,300 ft. above the ordnance datum, unite to form Northdale Beck, and join the River Seven at Rosedale Abbey; within the triangle thus formed lie the conventual ruins, now converted into barns and cottages, the abbey church, rebuilt in 1894, and the mill in the grounds. . .The capital messuage, priory or mansion-house, known as the manor-house of Rosedale had in 1649 " several lower and upper rooms very ancient and decayed " . . .[3]
  16. See Rosedale, North Yorkshire > Mining

Citations
  1. See Rosedale, North Yorkshire > Rosedale Abbey maps.
  2. Jennings 1999, pp. 222.
  3. Page 1923, pp. 453–461.
  4. Langdale 1822, p. 96.
  5. Jennings 1999, pp. 167–169.
  6. Jennings 1999, p. 178.
  8. Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Yorkshire: The North Riding. Penguin. p. 313. ISBN 978-0-300-09665-1.
  9. Gilchrist, Roberta (1997). Gender and material culture : the archaeology of religious women (1st published in pbk. ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 0415156564.
  10. Lekai, Louis J. (1989). The Cistercians ideals and reality (2.[Dr.] ed.). Kent, Ohio: Kent State Univ. Press. ISBN 0873382013.
  11. Jennings 1999, p. 187.
  12. "Our Rosedale Abbey". Rosedale Abbey. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  13. "St Mary & St Lawrence". The Church of England. Retrieved 14 September 2018.

Sources
  • Jennings, Bernard (1999). The Yorkshire Monasteries: Cloister, Land and People. Smith Settle. ISBN 9781858251059.
  • Langdale, Thomas (1822). A Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire. LANGDALE.
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