Geograph - photograph every grid square

Reievaulx Abbey lies in a wooded dale by the River Rye, sheltered by hills. To have enough flat land to build on, The monks built dams to divert a small part of the river several metres west of its former channel and around the bottom of Ashberry Hill.

They also created water meadows, known in the 16th century as Abbottes Ing (Ing being a local word for "watery land").

The monks built a fish pond to supply fresh fish for their feast day meals. A pond was created to supply water for an industrial mill, probably an iron smithy on the edge of the water meadow. There was also a hammer smithy where the farm stands today.