Editing Byland Abbey (section)

==Description==
Extensive remains can still be seen of all the main buildings of the abbey. The most important building was the vast church, which was grander than any previous Cistercian building in Britain.<ref name=":0" /> It replaced a smaller unfinished church, of which parts of the nave and south transept survive, and was under construction from the late 1160s to about 1195.<ref name=":0" /> It was aisled throughout, with the aisles behind the presbytery and to the west of the transepts being particularly unusual. The plan was cruciform, with a twelve-bay nave and a lantern tower over the crossing, in violation of Cistercian custom. The elaboration of the church was also novel, with a three-storey internal elevation, wooden vaults over the high central vessels, and shafted columns of a type that was copied across [[northern England]]. The design seems to have been inspired by the contemporary work at [[Ripon Cathedral]] (then a minster under York), and possibly [[Roger de Pont L'Évêque|Archbishop Roger]]'s vanished eastern limb at [[York Minster|York]] itself.<ref name=":0" /> The west front of the church stands almost to its full height, while the monastic building ruins have a height of about {{convert|5|m}} in places.<ref name="nhle">{{cite web |title=Byland Abbey |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.17035 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080110113023/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.17035 |archive-date=10 January 2008 |access-date=27 November 2017 |website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Sophie |date=14 July 2006 |title=Monkish austerity was so 12th century |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/735823/Monkish-austerity-was-so-12th-century.html |access-date=27 November 2017 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref> At the top of the west front is the lower half of a huge [[rose window]] which was the inspiration for the southern rose window at York Minster.  The rest of the church is harder to visualise as all the internal arcades were destroyed after the Dissolution, but most of the external walls stand up to the level of the top of the aisles, as well as one corner of the south transept that stands to its full height. Some of the arcaded stone screens dividing the church into sections for the monks and lay brothers were recovered in excavation and have been reset. An altar table (mensa) was also recovered, although that is now in [[Ampleforth Abbey]]. Mosaic floor tiles of the 1230s survive in large areas of the south transept and presbytery, in yellows and greens.<ref name=":0" />

To the south of the church was the cloister, 145 feet (44m) square and laid out in the early 1160s.<ref name=":0" /> It was surrounded by three ranges containing the monks' domestic buildings. The east range adjoined the south transept of the church, and has mostly been reduced to low walls. The first room south of the transept was the library and [[sacristy]]. The next room was the [[chapter house]], which was vaulted over four central columns and projected beyond the body of the range. The surviving stone lectern base from the chapter house is the only example of its kind in Britain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dhi.ac.uk/cistercians/byland/history/|title=Home page of the Cistercians in Yorkshire Project|first1=Sarah |last1=Foot |first2=Julie |last2=Kerr|website=www.dhi.ac.uk}}</ref> The next room was the parlour, and then there was a passage to the ground floor of the [[reredorter]]. South again was the day stair, and finally there was the day room, where the monks worked, which opened onto a yard to the east.<ref name=":0" /> Over the whole range was the dormitory, which has vanished. The south range housed the warming room and the kitchen. Between them stood the [[refectory]], aligned north-south in the Cistercian manner, of which some high walls and a window survive. It was raised over a vaulted undercroft. The west range was the longest, and housed the lay brothers. They were segregated from the choir monks by a 'lane', and had their own dormitory, refectory and reredorter. Unusually, they also had their own cloister, tucked behind the kitchen.<ref name=":0" /> This range was the first to be built, possibly in the 1150s, so that it could house the lay brothers who would then assist with constructing the rest before the monks moved in in 1177.<ref name=":0" />

To the east of the main claustral buildings stood the infirmary, the reredorter and the abbot's house. These parts were greatly altered throughout the abbey's working life. In the 13th century a new detached abbot's house was built to the south of the infirmary, and the reredorter was replaced as the drainage was found wanting. Then, in the late 14th century, the infirmary was demolished and replaced by a series of apartments, reflecting the decline in communal living.<ref name=":0" /> [[Rievaulx Abbey|Rievaulx]] similarly lost its infirmary in the later middle ages. Further apartments were formed out of the old day room, and possibly the dormitory.<ref name=":0" />

The [[limestone]] gatehouse also survives, as a ruin.  The remains consist of [[molding (architecture)|moulded]] [[impost (architecture)|imposts]] supporting moulded [[capital (architecture)|capitals]] carrying a round arch with two moulded orders and a [[hood mould]].  Attached to it is a wall containing a blocked doorway with a pointed arch and a moulded surround.<ref>{{NHLE |desc=The Abbey Gatehouse |num=1149576 |access-date=10 May 2024}}</ref> Of the other outer buildings in the precinct, dry hollows remain of the three large millponds, and extensive earthworks can be seen of the rest.

In 2017, conservation work was undertaken to preserve the remains.<ref name=":YP:">{{cite news |last1=Behrens |first1=David |date=11 October 2017 |title=Medieval mixture replaces 20th century concrete as restorers seize 'chance of a lifetime' to preserve Byland Abbey |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/our-yorkshire/heritage/medieval-mixture-replaces-20th-century-concrete-as-restorers-seize-chance-of-a-lifetime-to-preserve-byland-abbey-1-8799714 |access-date=27 November 2017 |work=The Yorkshire Post}}</ref>