From Helmsley Castle to Rievaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire
History can feel irrelevant nowadays – just interesting stories for entertainment – but we can learn from the resilience of people in the past,
There’s no doubt they were a lot like us, faced with challenges every day. The problems might have been different to ours, but the determination to somehow get through, get it done, or try an alternative way are the same.
We went to the quaint market town of Helmsley in North Yorkshire and discovered not only a castle that withstood a siege for three months, but its builder who demonstrated resilience in the greatest challenge of his life, and invested in a new way of finding inner peace.
Helmsley Castle and the nearby Rievaulx Abbey aren’t just linked with the ancient pilgrim walk through traditional woods, past a mediaeval quarry and village. They were both established in the early 1100s by the same man, Walter Espec.
The Knight
Walter Espec’s father was likely William Speche a loyal follower of William the Conqueror. Little note here: a name was often spelled as it sounded and depended on the literacy of its writer.
In 1120-ish Walter Espec, a Norman noble who owned the town and surrounding lands had a wooden fortress built over the limestone rocks. It went against tradition, being square, and not the usual round mound.
It depends on who you read as to its strategic value, but William the Conqueror’s sons had been arguing over who was the King of England, and Henry I won. He was a harsh ruler and brought ‘new’ men in who weren’t the usual aristocrats. By his death in 1135 the country tipped into civil war as Henry’s daughter Matilda and nephew Stephen vied for control of the crown.
Best off having a castle in those tumultuous times.
Crowns and Oaths
Stephen took the throne. He was an affable man, but his method of gaining control was seen as lawless, so he lost a lot of support, one of which was King David of Scotland who supported Matilda and had the idea of gaining a bit of land over the border.
There were tales of the Scottish ‘harrying’ which was the standard accepted slaughtering and pillaging. But what really upset the English was that the Scots were allegedly carrying off women and children as slaves.
With Stephen embroiled in wars down south it was mainly up to the lords of the north to defend their own.
In 1138, at Northallerton 23 miles from Helmsley, the Scots were halted in their march to York by the English. Walter Espec was one of them, who along with other noblemen pledged ‘to stand and fight and if needs be die in a holy cause’.
Before a battle it was customary for negotiators on both sides to meet to try to come to a compromise. Nothing was agreed, and each withdrew to prepare to fight it out.
The Battle of the Standard
There was a mist the day of the battle and David meant to surprise the English – you’d certainly be shocked at the sight of thousands of naked men running at you with knives and spears – but then as the mist cleared he realised they were too close to each other.
It’s hard to think positive when you’re out-numbered and facing an enemy you’ve been told are barbaric savages who live in the hills and speak in a strange (Gaelic) language. And you can see them clearly waving everything at you not far away.
Walter Espec stood in front of the line and gave a rousing speech, telling the English that God had chosen them to defeat the Scots, and to put on their helmets and chain mail, because numbers mean nothing against well-armed and trained men.
‘Who then would not laugh, rather than fear, when to fight against such men runs the worthless Scot with half-bare buttocks ? They are those, they are only those who of yore thought not to oppose us, but to yield, when William conqueror of England penetrated Lothian, Calatria and Scotland as far as Abernethy, where the warlike Malcolm was made ours by his surrender’.
His stirring words increased courage and confidence. Indeed there was a need for great resilience with 16,000 Scots to 10,000 English.
The northerners drove the Scots back, and later a truce was negotiated. Walter kept his land, and the monks at the newly founded monastery nearby breathed a relieved sigh.
A New Way to Inner Peace
Walter Espec is also known for his efforts to introduce a new order of monk into England – the Cistercians.
England had the Benedictines, and they’d gathered a reputation of not being as devout, with their monasteries in towns – ministering to the public, holding markets, handling money. Indeed, there were tales of ‘rich’ Benedictine monks being rowdy and extravagant in nearby York.
The Cistercians were from Citeaux near Dijon, France. Their challenge was to bring severe reformation to monastic life and believed in poverty and detachment from the world. They actually invented the term labourer, by having lay brothers who did physical work for them.
In 1132 Walter Espec gifted them 1,000 acres three miles from his castle in a remote valley, enabling them to establish a thriving community which at its height had 650 men living and working there.
The most famous Abbot of Riexaulx was Aelred. He was an Anglo-Saxon born in Northumbria, and a talented author and theologian. He became a diplomat to King David of Scotland and was responsible for a lot of what we know about the Battle of the Standard, being a part of the negotiations for the Scots and documenting the battle.
He was Abbot from 1147-67 and wrote a guide for novices: The Mirror of Charity
‘Our food is scanty, our garments rough; our drink is from the stream and our sleep upon our book. Under our tired limbs there is a hard mat; when sleep is sweetest we must rise at a bell’s bidding… self-will has no scope; there is no moment for idleness or dissipation… Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity, and a marvellous freedom from the tumult of the world.’
A successful advert for the new Order. When he died there were 140 monks and 500 lay brothers.
It’s interesting that two men with opposing points of view during war found peace and tranquillity in this small valley.
Walter Espec was obviously a devout man, giving his land to the Church and with his references to God in his speech to the English Army. Before he died in 1153 he became a Cistercian monk. He and Aelred may well have silently passed each other in the passageways of the mighty Abbey.
Here were two men who both demonstrated resilience with their challenges, one for his country and the other for his faith, both trying new ways to reach their goals. Espec building a fortress on rock, and Aelred building faith through depravation.
Resistance
You mentioned a siege?
During the English Civil War: 1642-51 the Royalist castle was attacked by Thomas Fairfax for the Parliamentarians. They tried incendiary cannonballing, but the defences stood, so they laid siege, for three months until Fairfax surrendered.
Parliament had it destroyed but was unable to cancel the memory of what it stood for. Resistance, resilience and a path to inner peace.
If you like mediaeval stories of knights who become monks you might be interested in:
World Without End – Ken Follett
The Cadfael books – Ellis Peters
(Non-affiliate links)
And there’s the real life story of the Sir Hugh de Morville, who had to became a crusader monk after committing a terrible crime, which is in this post
You can walk from Helmsley Castle car park to the Abbey through quiet woodlands (there are steps in the wood), there and back 6 miles.
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Or if real life stories are more your thing, here’s the start of our journey on a motorcycle and in a van, raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust after Richard’s terminal diagnosis. Towers and Spires has been described by readers as ‘powerful’ and ‘beautiful’.
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Thank you for reading!
About the author:
Julie is a writer and has worked in mental health for 35 years. Richard her husband received a diagnosis of an aggressive cancer in 2021 and died in June 2023. He raised money for Teenage Cancer Trust through his Motorcycle Church Challenge. Julie continues this with the Church Walk Challenge.
She knows how stories can influence and inspire us, and offers stories as ‘therapy’.
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