Old Byland: A village that stretches back centuries

Sitting high on a gently sloping limestone plateau, the profoundly agricultural character of the North York Moors hamlet of Old Byland has not changed significantly for centuries.

Surrounded by arable and grazing fields which offer breath-taking views across the Tabular Hills, Old Byland remains dominated by farms and some attractive associated historic limestone agricultural buildings, alongside some less attractive corrugated metal barns at its entrances.

When almost the whole village was auctioned off in 1922, by the Wombwells, of Newburgh Priory, to pay off debts, the sale included nine freehold farms, 11 smallholdings, an inn, a school and a blacksmith's shop,

It is believed Old Byland, first known as Bega’s land, has supported a farming community for 1,200 years.

Designated a scheduled monument, rare surviving earthworks and buried remains of medieval buildings and enclosures at the west end of the village mark the site of a monastic grange farm, beside Valley View Farm.

The monument extends over a south-facing slope of a steep-sided gill that widens and joins the River Rye. The most distinct of the earthworks includes a terraced area 35m across with low stoney banks which appear to represent a multi-roomed building.

On the south side of a track running across the monument, there is a building platform which has been linked to the site of a medieval longhouse.

Archaeologists say remains of the ancient farm are in situ and have potential to shed light on the medieval wool trade.

The farm was established by monks fleeing marauding Scots who had received land a mile or so upstream from Rievaulx Abbey from a prominent noblewoman at Thirsk Castle. Peasants were forced by the monks to relocate and create a new settlement recognisable today as Old Byland.

However, within a few years tensions mounted between the new monastic cell and Rievaulx Abbey, mainly over the degree of disturbance caused by the abbey's bells, leading the monks to relocate again.

The monks established an impressive abbey about six miles to the south, near Coxwold, and named it Byland, but retained ownership of Old Byland for centuries.

Upon entering Old Byland it becomes apparent why the entire nuclear settlement is covered by a conservation area. Limestone features in all the properties, which are bordered by white picket fences, iron railings or dry stone walls and red pantiled roofs, with the exception of the slate-topped Byland Hall at the village’s southern end.

Many of the traditional brick chimney stacked properties have sash windows and white, painted timber doors and are set back from a large village green with mature trees, split by the lane from Cold Kirby to Rievaulx.

The east side of the green features some particularly attractive 18th century limestone rubble cottages and, almost totally hidden behind some houses, All Saint’s Church.

Architectural historian Pevsner gave it a “not a good looking building” critique, but it has been awarded a grade I listing, placing it among Yorkshire’s most significant buildings. It is also believed to be among England’s oldest churches.

Although much of its fabric is Norman in style, the east wall of the nave features coping stones of a lower, earlier roof, reflected by its ancient font and Saxon arch above the blocked-off priest’s door to the chancel.

The church features carvings of human heads with ram's horns, dragons and winged horses, which have been linked to the seventh century Anglo-Saxon King of Northumbria, St Oswald. Its chancel has a rough stone basin which could be Viking era or even Romano-British. The place of worship's interest is further elevated by its Anglo-Danish sundial, medieval floor tiles arranged in a circular pattern and a 15th century king-post roof with braces to rig tree and principal rafters.

Its survival is particularly remarkable given most of the area's key buildings were levelled by William the Conqueror in 1070. In fact, the Domesday Book suggests the church collapsed before being rebuilt and identifies Old Byland and Helmsley as the sole settlements in Upper Ryedale to survive the Harrying of the North.

Earlier this year, more than 80 people started from the green to walk and ride along the 41-mile Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail, which links the area’s churches with Rievaulx Abbey.

Walkers making a stop in the church are offered a selection of home-baked goods, often including lemon drizzle cake and flapjack, for a small charge. Some walkers head a trail to the south of the hamlet, where the plateau is dissected by the steeply wooded, and in summer often overgrown, Nettle Dale. The route passes former fishponds created by monks of nearby Rievaulx Abbey and Ashberry Pasture, a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust haven. The reserve boasts a crystal clear stream with freshwater shrimps and white-clawed crayfish and rare plants including bird’s-eye primrose, globeflower, marsh hawk’s-beard.

Also to the village's south, there’s evidence of historic industry in the area at the entrance to a former quarry off the lane to Cold Kirby, with a battery of four partially collapsed lime kilns.

Historians continue to examine the hamlet’s role in the Battle of Old Byland in 1322, which has been dubbed ‘Yorkshire's forgotten conflict’, between English King Edward II of and Scottish monarch Robert the Bruce. It marked a pivotal battle in the Scottish Wars of Indepence.

The main fighting took place at Sutton Bank as, it is believed, the English had learnt of the Scottish advance and moved at Old Byland to hold the ridge and block the notoriously steep route. The English force is believed to have fled towards Old Byland as King Edward sought refuge at either Byland Abbey or Rievaulx Abbey before taking a ship at Bridlington, thwarting the Scottish ambition to capture him.