Byland Abbey - Izeria

Byland Abbey is a ruined abbey and a small village in Byland with Wass civil parish, in the county of North Yorkshire, England, in the North York Moors National Park. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of Ryedale District, it is now administered by the unitary North Yorkshire Council.

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Byland with Wass

Byland with Wass is a civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 120, increasing to an estimated 160 in 2015. (At the 2011 Census the parish was included with the parish of Oldstead and not counted separately.) It covers Byland Abbey and Wass, in the North York Moors, and shares a parish council with Oldstead. It was part of the Ryedale district between 1974 and 2023. It is now administered by North Yorkshire Council.

Wass, North Yorkshire

Wass is a village in the civil parish of Byland with Wass, in North Yorkshire, England, in the North York Moors National Park. A short distance from the village lie the ruins of Byland Abbey. Despite the small size of the village (population about 100) there is a pub, the Stapylton Arms. It is at the foot of Wass Bank and has views of the surrounding countryside. It was part of the Ryedale district between 1974 and 2023. It is now administered by North Yorkshire Council. The toponym probably means 'fords', from Middle English wathes and ultimately from Old Norse vath. The village is at the junction of several small streams. Another suggestion is that the name derives from the Old English Wæsse, meaning swamp. Wass was formerly a township in the parish of Kilburn, in 1866 Wass became a separate civil parish, on 1 24 March 1887 the parish was abolished and merged with Byland Abbey to form "Byland with Wass". In 1881 the parish had a population of 113. To the east of the village is Wass Grange, in which building the monks of Byland Abbey stored their grain before the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In May 2009 the nuns of Stanbrook Abbey, in Worcestershire, re-established themselves in a purpose-built convent near Wass.

Stanbrook Abbey

Stanbrook Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Wass, North Yorkshire, England. The Roman Catholic community was founded in 1625 at Cambrai in Flanders (then part of the Spanish Netherlands, now in France), under the auspices of the English Benedictine Congregation. After being imprisoned during the French Revolution, the surviving nuns fled to England and in 1838 settled at Stanbrook, Callow End, Worcestershire, where a new abbey was built. With the steep contemporary decline in monastic life, the community left their Grade II-listed property, to relocate to Wass in the North York Moors National Park in 2009. Following refurbishment, the former Worcestershire monastic estate has been operated as a luxury hotel since 2015.

Mount Snever Observatory

Mount Snever Observatory is a historic building in Oldstead, a village in North Yorkshire, in England. The observation tower was constructed in 1838, in part to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Victoria. It was commissioned by John Wormald, and built by J. Dodds atop the Snever Point hill. While digging foundations for the building, a human skeleton was discovered. Wormald died in 1848, and later in the century the building was opened to the public, although it fell into decay. It was restored in the late 20th century by Noel Appleby, and again in about 2000, but is disused and kept locked. Gwyn Headley describes the building as "rather austere". The building was grade II listed in 1986. The observatory is housed in a square limestone tower about 35 feet (11 m) in height, with a platform on the front. The doorway has a massive stone lintel, it is flanked by buttresses, and over it is an inscription. Above is a three-light fixed window, a wooden parapet, and coped angle turrets. There is another inscription on the rear. The inscription on the front is adapted from Alexander Pope's poem "Windsor-Forest": "Here hills and waving groves a scene display And part admit and part exclude the day See rich industry smiling on the plains And peace and plenty tell VICTORIA reigns! Happy the MAN who to these shades retires Whom NATURE charms and whom the muse inspires Who wandering thoughtful in this silent wood Attends the duties of the wise and good To observe a mean, be to himself a friend To follow NATURE and regard his end".