This week I visited North Yorkshire’s Jervaulx Abbey situated between Masham and Middleham just north of Harrogate. Scant on hauntings, the Abbey’s nearest bridge (with a history dating to Norman times) is said to have been built while Satan tried to stop it through various means. Kilgram Bridge is still known locally as being a little weird or strange!
During the dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, the Abbey was one of many to be plundered and pillaged by the Crown and locals alike. The abbey is carefully managed by its private owners, and I must say that it is a stunning job! Rather than the over clinical approach of the National Trust and English Heritage, the site is now part atmospheric ruin and part nature reserve. I spent the day with my children exploring the ruin’s many nooks and crannies, discovering fire places, wells and the cloisters!
