Yorkshire Heritage

Heritage Trails

Helmsley Castle to Rievaulx Abbey to Mount Grace Priory (Cleveland Way)

Distance: 18 mile route
Look out for: The unique place names that populate this region. Can you find signs to Windypit, Ingdale Howl or Abbot Hag Wood?

Start your walk at Helmsley, the starting point of the Cleveland Way, which you could follow all the way to Filey on the North Sea coast!

There's plenty see in Helmsley. Surrounded by spectacular banks and ditches the impressive ruins of Helmsley Castle stand close to the pretty market town. You can also see the grand Duncombe Park, where the 17th-century owners of Helmsley Castle later moved.

Next stop are the picturesque ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, approximately 1 ½ hours walk along the Cleveland Way. 'Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity' were the words St Aelred used to describe this place: the perfect spot to stop for a break and take in the tranquil surroundings.

Further along the trail is Sutton Bank, where walkers can enjoy spectacular views over the North Pennines. Nearby is the sheer cliff face of White Mare Cliff where, legend has it, the Abbot of Rievaulx Abbey raced a local knight to his death and reputedly transformed into a devil. According to local folklore, on a dark night the knight's white mare can still be seen stumbling over the cliff edge. A steep path off the Cleveland Way takes walkers down to Lake Gormire, where the devilish Abbot is said to have plunged in a dark cloud of steam.

From Sutton Bank, walkers can also take a detour to see the White Horse of Kilburn, designed and financed by Thomas Taylor of Kilburn, and cut in 1857 by the village schoolmaster and 20 assistants. 314 feet long by 228ft high, it is cut into limestone, unlike the chalk horses of the south. It requires artificially whitening, originally with gallons of whitewash, but now with chalk chippings from the Yorkshire Wolds.

Back on the Cleveland Way, the route takes walkers thought bleak, Bronte-esque landscapes, along what were once ancient drove roads.

The Hambleton Drove Road is thought to have prehistoric origins, but takes its name from its role in the transportation of cattle, sheep, pigs and even geese from Scotland and the north of England to Smithfield market in London. If you're feet are starting to ache by this point, spare a thought for the geese, whose feet were sometimes fitted with protective felt patches!

Remember to look out for the remnants of ancient hill forts and settlements along this stretch of the walk, as well as the remains of the once-famous Hambleton Down Racecourse.

Osmotherley is the next main stop on the route. This pretty town is also a scene of myth. Legend tells of a young prince of Northumbria called Oswy, whose mother was warned of an evil curse that her son would be drowned on his second birthday. Despite his mother's efforts to avoid water by taking him to the summit of Roseberry Topping, he drowned in a spring and she was so distraught she died soon after.  The village where both were buried took the name of Osmotherley, or 'Oswy-by-his-mother-lay'.

Soon after Osmotherley, walkers will arrive at their destination, the unusual monastic ruin of Mount Grace Priory. Set amid woodland, it is the best-preserved of the ten British 'charterhouses', whose Carthusian monks lived as hermits in cottage-like cells.