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History Jervaulx Abbey was once a Cistercian monastery that was founded in 1156, the daughter house of the abbey at Byland. Jervaulx was not the first monastic house in the Vale of Ure, an earlier monastery was established at nearby Fors but the land there was poor and so it was moved to its present site. At the height of its prosperity the abbey owned half of the valley and was renowned for breeding horses, a tradition that remains in the area to the present day. Early 12th-century manuscripts describe John de Kinstan and a company of twelve monks getting lost on their way through thick woods as they travelled from Byland Abbey in Ryedale, Yorkshire to another abbey at Fors. They were guided to safety by a vision of the Virgin Mary and Child, who said "Ye are late of Byland but now of Yorevale". This they took as a good omen and when they returned from Fors this site was chosen to establish their abbey on. The name derives from the nearby river Ure or Yore 'Yore vale' altered to, in later times more fashionable French spelling 'Jervaulx' by a former Marchioness of Ailesbury. Viking settlement during the Anglo-Saxon period had led to the destruction of many of the older monasteries in the the north of England and the Cistercians filled this spiritual vacuum with monastic houses like those at Rievaulx, Fountains, Byland and Jervaulx. The Cistercian Order was based on the austerity taught by St Benedict and, under the leadership of Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercian monks set out to establish themselves in wild and inhospitable areas where they could dedicate their lives to prayer, study, meditation and manual labour. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s, Jervaulx Abbey was closed, its property sold and its wealth redistributed. Fortunately, some of its fixtures, fittings and furnishings were salvaged and some of these have found their way into local parish churches. As a result, it is not uncommon to find relatively modest churches containing remnants from the Abbey. On their website they show a map with links to local churches in the area that contain artefacts saved from the Abbey. The Bells of the Abbot of Jervaulx Jervaulx Abbey at one time had five bells, one of which was presented by the Abbey of Byland. The monks used to cast the bells themselves, regular foundries were started in the 14th century. These bells were for different uses. The pitch of each bell is unknown. Cistercians are known to have used sound for meditational and medical purposes. Joop Visser to begin and write Music for five Bells after staying at 'The Old Hall', Jervaulx, and according to the first printed prayer book this was his inspiration, Jervaulx Abbey having at the time five bells. The exercise has now developed into the idea that the player, the campanologist or 'Beiaardier' as the Dutch say, chooses any smaller group of tunes and (as the prayer book ordered the Abbot to): "being at home and not being reasonably hindered shall cause the bell to be tolled". The 'tolling' being different from the way a carillon is played needs an editioned: "as in meditation rather than in a performance." The pieces are somewhat neutral in expression. So the player being himself and wanting to be responding to an audience, all related to her/his skills and moods (merry, sad, angry, exhilarated, or what have you) makes the merit during the meditation. One bell thought to be from the abbey is now in St Gregory's Church in Bedale, the 8th bell, it was founded by Johannes de Staford in c.1350. The building layout The Abbey was built according to the same plan as most, with a large church, facing east which was completed in the thirteenth century and had forty supporting buttresses. A square cloister to the south and the Chapter House, where the business was done after readings of the Chapters, and the Parlour, where the monks were allowed limited conversation, leading off from the Cloisters to the east. There were many other buildings, where the monks slept and ate, the kitchens, the abbots somewhat grander accommodation and the lay brothers buildings.
The Chapter House is reached by descending from the cloisters and five of the original six columns supporting the vaulted roof remain to their full height. This is perhaps unusual and helps to provide and idea of the proportions and appearance of this once important building within the abbey. What was once the Gatehouse of the Abbey can be seen on the right-hand side of the entrance, now a private house and much altered, but its stonework betrays its origins.
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