Rievaulx Terrace facts for kids

Rievaulx Terrace is a beautiful historical place in the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by the National Trust.

Imagine a long, grassy path that winds along the side of a wooded hill. From this path, you can look down and see the amazing ruins of Rievaulx Abbey. At each end of this special path, there are two small, fancy buildings called "follies." These are like decorative temples built a long time ago.

A Look Back in Time

Rievaulx Terrace sits on land that once belonged to Rievaulx Abbey. After the monasteries were closed down many years ago, the land changed hands several times. Eventually, it was bought by Sir Charles Duncombe in 1687.

His nephew, Thomas Duncombe, inherited the land in 1711. But it was his son, Thomas Duncombe III, who created Rievaulx Terrace in 1758. He had inherited the land and the nearby Helmsley estate (now Duncombe Park) about ten years earlier.

Thomas Duncombe III wanted to build something really special. He hoped to create a terrace that was even more impressive than the one his father had built at Duncombe Park. He might have even planned to connect the two terraces with a scenic drive along the River Rye!

The Amazing Temples

There are two special temples at Rievaulx Terrace.

The Doric Temple

At one end of the terrace, you'll find the domed Doric or Tuscan Temple. People think it might be a smaller version of the mausoleum at Castle Howard, which is a few miles away. The floor inside this temple is very old. It came from the choir area of Rievaulx Abbey itself!

The Ionic Temple

At the other end of the terrace stands the Ionic Temple. This temple was inspired by the Temple of Fortuna Virilis in Rome. It was designed to be a banqueting house, a place for fancy meals. You can still see the central table set as if a meal is about to begin!

The Ionic Temple has beautiful ceiling paintings and furniture from that time period. Downstairs, in the basement, there used to be a kitchen and living areas. Today, this space has an exhibition about how English landscape design changed in the 1700s.

Rievaulx Terrace Today

The last owner from the Duncombe family line, the third and final Earl of Feversham, passed away in 1963. In 1972, the National Trust bought Rievaulx Terrace and the woods next to it. They now look after this amazing historical site for everyone to enjoy.

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