Though not so extensive as Fountains, nor in such a rugged mountainous district as Bolton, this ruin on the banks of the Rye can claim far more beauty and quiet loveliness than either of these popular abbeys. Sheltered on all sides by wooded hills and standing amid pastoral fields, this wreck of ancient glory is so completely in unison with its surroundings that the whole presents a perfect picture of past and present beauty. On the west the land slopes down rapidly towards the river, forming a terrace-like hill, and beyond this again are suggestions of moorland not far away. With the exception perhaps of Whitby and Tintern, Rievaulx may be considered to rank before any other ruined abbey for actual beauty both in itself and in its romantic situation. Dorothy Wordsworth, writing of Rievaulx in 1801, says, “I went down to look at the ruins.... Thrushes were singing, cattle feeding among green-grown hillocks about the ruins. The hillocks were scattered over with grovelets of wild roses and other shrubs and covered with wild flowers. I could have stayed in this solemn quiet spot till evening without a thought of moving.” Owing to the aforementioned sudden dip in the land, the church has the singularity of being built north and south, instead of the usual east and west, but, to avoid confusion in the general description of the building, it will be best to consider that the church is in the usual position of east to west. The church in former times consisted of a nave of nine bays, a choir of seven bays (both with aisles), and north and south transepts with eastern aisles. The nave of the church has completely disappeared and the only ruins left are those of the chancel and transepts. These are chiefly of Early English work; the portions of an earlier building of the Norman period can plainly be seen in the lower part of the north and west wall in the north transept, and in the west wall of the south transept. The junction of these two styles is not difficult to discern, for apart from the dissimilarity in style, the whiteness of the stone used in the Early English period offers a great contrast to that used in the earlier era. Both transepts have eastern aisles, triforium and clerestory. The windows are Early English. The chancel (of seven bays) has a particularly beautiful triforium and the east window consists of a double tier of triple lancets, of the upper three the middle light is higher than the other two. This abbey can boast of having had some of the earliest glass introduced into the north of England inserted into its walls in 1140, also a bell bearing the date 1167, which is now at Leek. Of the other monastic buildings, the refectory on the south of the cloisters can still be inspected with delight by those who appreciate the beautiful work of their forefathers. This Early English dining hall was lighted with lancet-windows and had the usual lectorium in the west wall, where now a recess shows its former position.