Rievaulx Terrace

Designed to enchant and inspire, Rievaulx Terrace is one of Yorkshires finest 18th-century landscape gardens. Built by Thomas Duncombe II, it offers a stunning view over the ruins of the Cistercian Rievaulx Abbey, the dramatic landscape of Ryedale, and the hills and moorland beyond. A narrow woodland backdrop gives little hint of the scene beyond. The terrace is marked at each end by a picturesque temple. The steeply sloping bank which falls away to the Abbey below is awash with wildflowers in the spring. Illustrated with brand new photography and rarely seen archive images, this guidebook reveals the history of Rievaulx Terrace, from the vision and inspiration of its creators, to its remarkable construction and the atmospheric ruins in the valley below.