Byland Abbey and Wass Walk
This is a nice Sunday morning stroll, starting from Wass near Ampleforth, wandering down to Byland Abbey and then back up
to Wass again. No more than a couple of miles, much of it sheep free so quite suitable for dogs. It also
takes in two pubs so it must be good.
The tricky part is actually finding the place to begin with. It's two miles west
of Ampleforth and five miles east of Sutton Bank. It's signposted from Ampleforth
but if you're coming from any other direction
signposting is just about non-existant, so use a map.
Wass is a tiny little hamlet nestling at the foot of the Hambleton Hills. It's tiny
and very pretty, and it does have a splendid pub in the
Wombwell Arms, the Wombwell's being the family who inhabit nearby Newburgh
Priory. The pub serves a lovely pint of Black Sheep among others, does
really good food at reasonable prices and has accommodation at fair prices.
Hard to fault really.
After parking somewhere near the pub, head off up the lane heading West (away from
Ampleforth) which is signposted as a dead end. Just after the last house on the
left and before you get to the wood, go through the gate on the left. It is a footpath but it's not marked. This wanders over by the corner of the wood, and at the crest
of the hill is a magnificent viewpoint where someone has conveniently planted a
park bench. The view is fantastic, showing the magnificent ruins of Byland Abbey
at it's best.
From here the path wanders down across the fields to the Abbey. Spend a little time
looking round the abbey area it's quite interesting. There's a pub here with
a nice gatehouse behind it. The pub's called the
Abbey Inn and is quite unusual in that it's owned by English Heritage. I
think it's the only pub they own, and like most state owned enterprises is a dead
certainty to fail. What makes bureaucrats in their cosseted jobs with feather-bedded
terms and conditions think they can succeed in private enterprise I do not know.
They should leave it to the professionals.
The pub does very posh accommodation (3 rooms) at prices to match, and very posh food to go
with it. If you're planning to go at a busy time then booking's a good idea. Main
courses are about £15 a time (2007), but there is a lighter lunch menu.
Byland abbey itself is pretty nondescript to be honest. It was Cistercian, was important,
fell out with Henry VIII and
is now a ruin. You used to be able to sneak in round the back to look, but they've
built a big new fence now and you have to pay £3.50, which is a lot considering
how little of it there is. We now have free national museums, how come we still
have to look at Enflish Heritage properties. More details can be found on the dismal
English Heritage Website. When
I looked in Summer 2007 it was offering me vouchers from the World Cup a year before
and extolling the "warm winter welcome" at the Abbey Inn.
Anyway, from the abbey the path back to Wass goes behind the abbey (on the Wass
side) from opposite where you reached the road originally, across fields and to
the corner of a woodland. At the end of the woodland the path doubles back through
the wood, over the hill and down a track back to Wass. Just in time for a nice pint
at the Wombwell Arms, and perhaps a good Sunday lunch.
Pictures From the Byland Abbey Walk