Jervaulx Abbey
Jervaulx was founded in 1156 by Cistercian monks, having moved from an earlier monastery, established in 1145, at Fors in upper Wensleydale. It takes its name from the medieval word for valley, and the River Ure or Yorre, and was later changed to the more fashionable French spelling Jer/vaulx.
At the height of its power almost the entire length of Wensleydale belonged to the abbey and it became one of the wealthiest religious houses, with sheep rearing and horse breeding as its main source of revenue.
Jervaulx's last abbot, Adam de Sedbergh, was executed at Tyburn for his part in the 1536 Catholic rebellion against King Henry VIII, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace.
The Dissolution of the monasteries took place two years later and the abbey suffered more than other Yorkshire abbeys, with the complete destruction of the abbey church.
Little of the abbey remains but the ground plan can still be identified, and the site is noted for the abundance of wild plants, which grow amongst the ruins
