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See full prices and opening timesOur exhibition at Rievaulx Abbey explores the importance of the river and water to this beautiful monastic site.
Through images and artefacts the exhibition will explore the relationship between the monastery and the River Rye and how it continues to support incredible biodiversity today.
Discover objects from the Abbey's long history - including brass taps in the shape of a serpent and a cockerel (a literal stop cock), a block of stone from the toilets graffitied by monks with a drawing of the Holy Spirit (a dove) and even monastic fishing hooks and weights.
The exhibition and accompanying site trail also show the ingenious engineering solutions to supply the monastery with water for daily living, sacred use and industry.
Walter Espec, lord of Helmsley, builds temporary timber structures for the first monks sent from Clairvaux in France.
Find out more about the history of Rievaulx Abbey
William, the first abbot, begins work on the first stone buildings.