Description

Jervaulx Abbey in East Witton near the city of Ripon, was one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, England, founded in 1156. Initially a Savigniac foundation, the abbey was later taken over by the Cistercian order and responsibility for it was taken by Byland Abbey. Originally founded in 1145 at Fors in Wensleydale, it was moved ten years later to a site a few miles away on the banks of the River Ure. It was dissolved in 1537, and its last abbot Adam Sedbar was hanged for his part in the Pilgrimage of Grace. The ruins of the abbey are open to the public and are privately owned. The place-name Jervaulx is first attested in 1145, where it appears as Jorvalle. The name means ‘the Ure valley’, in French, and is perhaps a translation of the English ‘Ure-dale’.