The moors were monastic country in the Middle Ages. The Cistercians came for the empty valleys, the Carthusians for the solitude, and the Benedictines to Whitby for the cliff top where St Hild had founded her double monastery in 657.
Rievaulx Abbey
The first Cistercian house in the north, founded in 1132, and the most beautiful ruin in England. Three miles from Helmsley.
Byland Abbey
Cistercian, with a church that was once among the largest in Europe and the finest medieval tiled floor in the country. Ten minutes from Rievaulx.
Mount Grace Priory
The best-preserved Carthusian monastery in England, with a reconstructed monk's cell showing how the hermit-monks lived. Near Osmotherley.
Whitby Abbey
The Benedictine ruin on the East Cliff, on the site of St Hild's monastery and the Synod of Whitby. Reached by the 199 steps.
Lastingham
Not a ruin but a crypt: St Cedd founded a monastery here in 654 and the crypt of 1078 beneath the church is one of the most atmospheric spaces in the north.
Rosedale Abbey
The priory of Cistercian nuns has vanished except for a single turret beside the church, but the village keeps the name.
English Heritage membership covers Rievaulx, Byland, Mount Grace and Whitby
Rievaulx and Byland are 15 minutes apart; Mount Grace is 30 minutes further west
