Easby Abbey

A church has stood at the site of St. Agatha’s church in Easby since at least the 700’s, as the remains of an Anglo-Saxon cross have been found in the church, which dates it to prior to the Viking period of the 9th century. In 1152, Easby Abbey was established around the church, and although the abbey was was dissolved in 1536 (and stripped bare by Henry’s minions), the church remains in active operation to this day.

Our apartment in Easby Hall overlooks St. Agatha’s church and the ruins of Easby Abbey. Easby Abbey is better preserved than Hailes Abbey, which we visited last week. Easby Abbey is completely unstaffed, so you just park and explore on your own. The church, too, is open for tourists, and on Sundays, you can even attend a service there. We were lucky enough to run into a local who was biking by, whom we discovered had majored in theology and happened to know an awful lot about the church and the abbey.

Surrounding St. Agatha’s church is a graveyard containing at least 2000 bodies. Some of these date back to the Anglo-Saxon period, though we would not have noticed the Anglo-Saxon markings on the stones had it not been for our guide. Inside the church is the original lead-lined baptismal dating back to the Norman period, still in use to this day. Also, in recent years, several of the frescoes, which were covered up during the Reformation, have been discovered and restored. The Anglo-Saxon cross, which was discovered in the church, resides in a museum, but the church has a replica of the cross on display.

St. Agatha’s church, surrounded by graves dating back over 1000 years:

Baptismal from Norman period and replica of remains of Anglo-Saxon cross found on-site:

Frescoes uncovered inside St. Agatha’s church:

The abbey itself is quite large. Our guide explained to us that the commissioners pulled down the roofs when they closed the monastery to prevent it from being used or reinhabited by the canons who resided there. Our kids enjoyed running around and exploring the ruins. Unlike Hailes, which had just a few walls and arches still standing, Easby Abbey had much more significant remains standing, which gave a better sense of the size and scale of the abbey.

If you’re visiting North Yorkshire and swinging by the historical sites like Middleham or Richmond Castles, you will be very close to Easby Abbey (you can see Richmond Castle from Easby Abbey, and vice versa), so it’s worth a stop and look round. Admission is free, and you can park in St. Agatha church’s parking lot. The kids will be able to run around and explore on their own, and if they look hard enough, they will discover a rather large, dark, enclosed ground-level chamber with terrific acoustics. We decided that that chamber must have been used by the monks to practice their monkish chants.