File:The ruined abbeys of Yorkshire (1883) (14592451930).jpg

Identifier: ruinedabbeysofyo00lefr_0 (find matches)
Title: The ruined abbeys of Yorkshire
Year: 1883 (1880s)
Authors: Lefroy, William, 1836-1900
Subjects: Abbeys
Publisher: London, Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday
Contributing Library: Getty Research Institute
Digitizing Sponsor: Getty Research Institute

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beauty to the emulation excited in theminds of the monks by the ambitious and successfulwork of their neighbours of Byland. At one time itseemed as if thewanderings ofthat Ulysses ofabbeys were toend on the banksof the Rie at apoint nearly op-posite Rievaulx ;and though thedisturbing influ-ence of the bellsand chanted ori-sons of Bylandceased with itsremoval to itsnext resting -place, an eagerrivalry in build-ing and adorn-ment remained totestify to the his-torical fact of itsformer proximity.It has been trulysaid that TheCistercian Ab-beys in York-shire, which arethe earliest pureGothic works inthis country, seemto have been theworks of themonks them-selves.! This fact, which has a special bearingupon our present subject, is, for many reasons, wellworth remembering. In these abbeys design andexecution were constantly and throughout personal,religious, monastic. Theirs is thus a beauty wroughtout from within. It has in it something of thenature of a growth, something of the mysterious
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RIEVAULX AKBEY. THE TRANSEPT. charm and unappraisablc value of a spontaneousdevelopment. Knowst thou what wove yon woodbirds nestOf leaves and feathers from her breast ?Or how the fish outbuilt her shell,Painting with morn each annual cell ?Or how the sacred pine-tree addsTo her did leaves now myriads ?Such and so grew these holy pilesWhilst love and terror laid the tiles. But to loveand terror atRievaulx wasadded the lesssolemn but scar-cely less potentmotive of emula-tion. For whatdo we find there,and what arcthe facts ? Wefind a ruinedchurch consistingentirely of achoir and tran-septs. Where thenave should beare grass - grownheaps which cryaloud, and not,it is hoped, invain, for excava-tion* The lowerpart of the tran-sept is clearlyNorman, and so,it will probablybe found, wasthe nave. Thesewere part of theolder and moretruly Cisterciandesign. But theupper part of the transepts and the whole of the choir are early English.Some idea of what the old choir of Rievaulx musthave been lik

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