Rievaulx Abbey

What if anything, hides among the dark shadows?

These images of Rievaulx Abbey where taken early morning and the views were simply stunning. It was once the most important Cistercian abbey in England and when I photographed it, it was surrounded by mist and I was fully inspired for taking some haunting Gothic horror photography. 

Is Rievaulx Abbey Haunted?

I’ve done a bit of Googling for ghost stories connected with Rievaulx Abbey and below is what I found: –

• The sounds of a heavenly choir can be heard
• The of its bell, yet there has been no bell at Rievaulx Abbey in over 400 years
• Chanting sounds at dusk
• Again at dusk, a ghost of a monk has been seen. Don’t most places have apparitions of ghostly monks?
• Visitors are overwhelmed with feelings of sadness

Rievaulx Abbey stands very tall and when I took these photographs, I wanted viewers to feel the imposing power and importance that the abbey once held. At the time of our visit, I did not feel that the place was haunted.

I find it very therapeutic to create atmospheric images that will, hopefully provoke an array of emotions such as fear and dread. There also has to be an element of mystery and abandonment, where echoes of the past hauntingly remain.

I’ve read that one Rievaulx abbot described his surroundings as ‘everywhere peace, everywhere serenity‘ and it’s certainly true.