Rievaulx Abbey, Helmsley, York

A pair of pilgrim routes pass these enchanting ruins, the Whitby Way (page 369) and the Yorkshire Dales Abbey Way, a 135-mile walk from Kirkstall Abbey to Whitby Abbey

‍Highlights

• St Ailred’s shrine base
• Abbot William’s shrine

St Ailred is celebrated above all for creating a friendly and thriving atmosphere in his community at Rievaulx Abbey, where he served in the 12th century. His emphasis on friendship, and a reputation for charitable acts, made him a particular favourite among fellow monks. The magnificent Rievaulx Abbey, though mostly in ruins, was built in part to honour him.

His focus on close companionship – and possible relationships when younger – have recently led him to be adopted by various gay-friendly Christian organisations as their patron saint. He was certainly a warmer and more sympathetic figure on the issue of homosexuality than most, though as a monk, celibacy was an overriding ideal.

The base of St Ailred’s medieval shrine can still be seen – a long stone step behind the site of the high altar. St Ailred was never formally adopted as a saint, but his veneration was widespread within his monastic order. He was buried in the chapter house and later moved to the centre of this monastery. His saint’s day is 12 January.

St Ailred was a highly successful and popular leader. It is partly thanks to him that the monastery ruins at Rievaulx are among the most striking in Britain, since he grew the community to 600 monks by the time of his death in 1167. Ruins of St Ailred’s own church of the 1140s can be seen in the foundations of the nave, built of a darker stone.

From about 1220, the monks embarked on a spectacular building programme, partly to ensure St Ailred’s shrine was housed in a style worthy of his status. His relics were kept in a gold and silver casket, placed directly above the high altar.

There is a second shrine structure in the abbey ruins, standing by the entrance to the chapter house. It was built in 1250 to house the relics of the monastery’s first abbot, called William, who founded Rievaulx in 1132. English Heritage describes him as a saint, though there is no evidence that he was canonised.

Sainthood would, however, explain the design of this shrine structure, which is divided into two levels. The upper shelf contained the saint’s body, while supplicants would crawl through the lower section to seek his intercessions. Both William and St Ailred were valued above all for their service to the Rievaulx community, their shrines reserved for monastic veneration rather than popular pilgrimage.

The ruined abbey is rivalled by Fountains Abbey 25 miles away as a place to contemplate North Yorkshire’s monastic legacy, but Rievaulx’s saintly abbot has a particular place in our spiritual history.

It hardly needs saying that St Ailred’s possible homosexuality is the subject of fierce debate among Christians and historians. It is obvious that same-sex relations occurred in monasteries, since there are explicit prohibitions and penances on the subject. St Ailred himself refers to them.

Whatever the extent of his personal history, it is clear that he greatly valued friendship and companionship, and wrote a moving treatise called On Spiritual Friendship. “No medicine is more valuable, none more efficacious, none better suited to the cure of all our temporal ills than a friend to whom we may turn for consolation in time of trouble, and with whom we may share our happiness in time of joy,” he wrote.

His views are not entirely comparable to modern debates on sexual orientation, though there are interesting similarities. What is unusual is that St Ailred seems to view same-sex and mixed-sex activities as belonging to the same category of sin. That alone is more tolerant than some rhetoric even today, given the disturbing amount of ire that homosexuality attracts from a few voices.

I sat on St Ailred’s shrine step in late evening sunshine, the limestone walls starkly contrasting with a gathering of dark clouds overhead. Surrounded by the empty ruins of his once mighty abbey, it is impossible to forget that St Ailred was first and foremost a monastic leader, valued for creating a successful and cohesive community. Monasteries are separate from the rest of the world for good reason, an alternative way of living rather than a model for everyone to aspire to.

Directions‍

Rievaulx Abbey, Rievaulx Bank, off the B1257, Rievaulx YO62 5LB

www.english-heritage.org.uk (search for Rievaulx)

W3W: cases.wove.retrieves

GPS: 54.2566N 1.1186W

The abbey is run by English Heritage. It is open all year, every day in the summer, but check seasonal times online. Entrance costs £9.40 for adults, £8.50 for concessions, £5.60 for children. There was a £4 parking fee when I visited, which simply encouraged many drivers to park in the surrounding lanes. You could reclaim the parking cost on admission however.