🏰 History & heritage
Rievaulx Abbey
One of the most complete and beautiful Cistercian abbeys in England, in a wooded valley near Helmsley.
Town or village
Photo: Michael Garlick , CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
🏰 History & heritage
🌿 Moors & nature
🏰 History & heritage
🏰 History & heritage
🏰 History & heritage
🌿 Moors & nature
🏰 History & heritage
🏰 History & heritage
🚵 Active & outdoors
🎈 Family days out
🏰 History & heritage
🏰 History & heritage
🍽️ Food & drink
Easy
Easy
Challenging
Moderate
Dates TBC
Dates TBC
Dates TBC
Dates TBC
Helmsley
Handsome market town at the start of the Cleveland Way
Helmsley sits on the southern edge of the moors where the Rye comes out of the hills. A broad market square of honey-coloured stone is ringed by cafes, delis, an independent bookshop and pubs, with the castle keep peering over the rooftops.
The Cleveland Way National Trail starts here with a gentle stroll to Rievaulx Abbey, and the town makes a good base for the western moors, Sutton Bank and Ryedale.
- Helmsley Castle and the Walled Garden are a short walk from the square
- Friday is market day
- Duncombe Park estate borders the town
Things to do around Helmsley
🏰 History & heritage
🌿 Moors & nature
Sutton Bank and the National Park Centre
James Herriot called this the finest view in England. Easy walks, cycle hire and a cafe on the escarpment edge.
🏰 History & heritage
Helmsley Castle
Medieval castle with a shattered keep, Tudor mansion and Civil War history in the middle of the town.
🏰 History & heritage
Kilburn White Horse
Yorkshire's hill figure, cut in 1857 and visible from the A1 on a clear day.
🏰 History & heritage
Nunnington Hall
Sheltered manor house on the River Rye with walled gardens, peacocks and the Carlisle collection of miniature rooms.
🌿 Moors & nature
Helmsley Walled Garden
Five acres of restored Victorian walled garden beneath the castle, run as a charity with a vine house cafe.
🏰 History & heritage
Byland Abbey
Vast Cistercian ruin with a great rose window, once one of the largest churches in Europe.
🏰 History & heritage
Duncombe Park
Baroque country house and parkland on the edge of Helmsley, with a National Nature Reserve of ancient trees.
🚵 Active & outdoors
Yorkshire Gliding Club
Trial gliding flights launched from the edge of Sutton Bank, riding the ridge lift above the Vale of York.
🎈 Family days out
International Centre for Birds of Prey
Eagles, owls, vultures and falcons flown daily in the grounds of Duncombe Park.
🏰 History & heritage
Mouseman Visitor Centre, Kilburn
The workshop of Robert Thompson, whose oak furniture carries a carved mouse, still made in the village.
🏰 History & heritage
Rievaulx Terrace
A curving grass terrace with two Georgian temples and framed views down onto Rievaulx Abbey.
🍽️ Food & drink
Helmsley Brewing Company
Microbrewery and tap room a minute from Helmsley market square, brewing Yorkshire Legend and Striding the Riding.
Walks from Helmsley
Easy
Sutton Bank and Gormire Lake
The finest view in England, then a descent to a hidden glacial lake and a climb back through the woods.
Easy
Helmsley to Rievaulx Abbey
The first stage of the Cleveland Way: woods and meadows from the town to the most beautiful abbey in the north.
Challenging
The Cleveland Way
National Trail in a horseshoe around the moors: 109 miles of escarpment and sea cliff over about nine days.
Moderate
Byland Abbey and Mount Snever
Abbey ruins, a climb through woods to an observatory folly and a return past the Kilburn White Horse road.
Events in Helmsley
Dates TBC Sun 18 Oct 2026
Apple Day at Helmsley Walled Garden
Celebration of the garden's heritage orchard with apple identification, pressing, tastings and stalls.
Dates TBC Sat 28 Nov 2026
Helmsley Christmas Market
The market square fills with stalls, food, music and lights on the last Saturday in November.
Dates TBC 9–25 Jul 2027
Ryedale Festival
Two weeks of classical music in abbeys, churches and stately homes around the southern edge of the moors.
Dates TBC Sat 21 Aug 2027
Bilsdale Show
Dale show at Chop Gate below the Cleveland Hills: sheep, horses, produce, crafts and a fell race up Cold Moor.