Rievaulx Abbey was destroyed by King Henry VIII and his agents during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, with the final surrender taking place on 3 December 1538. Following the surrender, the site was sold to Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, who oversaw the dismantling of the buildings, specifically removing the roof leads and bells for the King.
Rievaulx Abbey was shut down on 3 December 1538, as part of the Suppression of the Monasteries that took place under Henry VIII in 1536–40. By this time Rievaulx's community had shrunk to just 23 monks. It was sold to Thomas Manners (d. 1543), 1st Earl of Rutland, who was closely associated with the royal court.
Henry VIII was keen to see the king becoming the ruler of the church in England and Wales and believed that the monks and their monasteries would obstruct this move. He was also very eager to get his hands on the land and wealth of the monasteries.
In 1914 the German High Seas Fleet shelled Whitby and struck the abbey ruins, causing considerable damage to the west front, though this was later repaired.
The wider site was awarded Scheduled Ancient Monument status in 1915 and the abbey was brought into the care of the then Ministry of Works in 1917. The ruins of its main buildings are today a tourist attraction, owned and maintained by English Heritage.
It was founded in 1132, and elements of its ornate architecture have survived in immaculate detail: a spectacular backdrop for picnics, live music and carol concerts. Rievaulx also transformed into Camelot for the filming of Transformers: The Last Knight (2017).
Rievaulx (pronounced "Ree-vo") means "Rye Valley," combining the French 'Rye' (from the River Rye) and 'val/valle' (valley), reflecting its location in a sheltered valley by that river in North Yorkshire, England, and its French Cistercian origins. It refers to both the ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, England's first Cistercian monastery, and the surrounding village and area.
At 9am on 16 December 1914, Whitby came under attack from the German battlecruiser Derfflinger. Three people were killed and many left homeless. The abbey ruins were a target, being hit by three twelve-inch shells. One direct hit destroyed much of the west front.
Some people believed one could be the grave of Dracula, but we know for a fact that there is no record of a Count Dracula ever being buried in St Mary's Churchyard. Vlad Tepes, a 15th Century Prince, who the character of Dracula is inspired by is buried near his home in Transylvania, Romania at Lake Snagov.
Following a mock 'trial' for robbery and other crimes, the 80-year old Abbot Richard Whiting (1525-39) was hanged and quartered on Glastonbury Tor, together with two of his monks. Whiting was dragged through the town on a hurdle up the Tor, where he “took his death patiently“.
In legal terms (de jure), Henry had only three wives and no divorces during his life, instead three of his marriages were annulled by the Church of England. Annulments declare that a true marriage never took place, unlike a divorce, in which a married couple end their union.
Henry VIII's Thames-side 'working palace' was a magnificent residence and centre of royal power for over 150 years, until a devastating fire reduced it to rubble. Only the Banqueting House remains.
How much money did Henry get from shutting down the monasteries?
So what were the immediate effects of the Dissolution of the Monasteries? Firstly, vast amounts of monastic land, gold and silver plate were transferred to the Crown. It is said that the King's own treasury profited by about one and a half million pounds.
Why did England turn away from the Catholic Church?
The Act of Supremacy issued by King Henry VIII in 1534 declared the king to be "the only supreme head on earth of the Church in England" in place of the pope. Any act of allegiance to the latter was considered treasonous because the papacy claimed both spiritual and political power over its followers.
To this day, Yorkshire consists of a North, East and West Riding, along with the City of York as its cultural capital. That is why there is no "South Riding"; except, of course, in a novel by that name.
His intention in destroying the monastic system was both to reap its wealth and to suppress political opposition. Between 1536 and 1540 he took over 800 monasteries, abbeys, nunneries and friaries, some of which had accumulated great wealth and land (through bequests for instance).
Dracula's Birthplace: Historic Centre of Sighisoara. Founded by German craftsmen and merchants known as the Saxons of Transylvania, Sighisoara is a fine example of a small, fortified medieval town which played an important strategic and commercial role on the fringes of central Europe for several centuries.
You know that Bella Legozi was buried in his full Dracula costume. He literally took his most iconic character to the grave. Legozi's performance in 1931's Dracula changed horror forever. The cape, the hypnotic stare, the accent, he became the count.
It's a love story about a man who waits for 400 years for the reincarnation of his wife. That's the true heart of the story, waiting an eternity for the return of love".
The 1916 Somme offensive was one of the largest and bloodiest battles of the First World War (1914-18). The opening day of the attack, 1 July 1916, saw the British Army sustain 57,000 casualties, the bloodiest day in its history.
Whitby, England: The first place where Dracula lands in England, and where Lucy and Mina are first exposed to him. The Royal Crescent: The neighborhood where Lucy and Mina stay while in Whitby. It is from here that Lucy sleepwalks across town to Whitby Abbey.
While London suffered the most casualties and overall destruction as the capital, Hull was arguably the most heavily bombed city in the UK relative to its size, with 95% of its buildings damaged and significant population displacement, though Liverpool also faced extreme devastation as a major port, with Coventry experiencing the single most concentrated raid.
The main Viking name for York was Jórvík, the capital of the independent Viking kingdom that ruled the area, while Yorkshire itself saw many Norse place names like those ending in -by (village) or -thorpe (outlying settlement), and streets like Micklegate (from gata, meaning street) reflecting the lasting Norse influence.
Ey 'Up – This can be traced back to Old Norse languages. A colloquial greeting the expression is a friendly way of saying 'Hello/Hi'. 'Ey 'up' can also be used to grab someone's attention or as an expression of surprise, similar to saying 'Wow'.
“The Yorkshire Accent: Bold, Authentic, and Proudly Northern” The Yorkshire accent, often called “Tyke,” is one of the most distinctive and beloved regional accents in the UK.
