Things to Do

Helmsley's strongest sights sit in a tight historical landscape: castle, garden, parkland, ruined abbey, and moor-edge walking. A car helps, but several of the best places can be combined on foot.

Guide

Things to Do

01

Rievaulx Abbey

Grand Cistercian abbey ruins in a quiet valley west of Helmsley.

Sight
02

Byland Abbey

Byland Abbey is a ruined Cistercian abbey founded in the 12th century. Its west front, rose window, and broad church plan still show how …
03

Helmsley Castle

Substantial medieval castle ruins above Helmsley, later reshaped as a Tudor mansion and Civil War stronghold.

Sight
04

Rievaulx Terrace

Georgian landscape terrace with temples and framed views down to Rievaulx Abbey.

Sight
05

Cleveland Way from Helmsley

Long-distance trail beginning at Helmsley Castle and heading across the North York Moors.

Sight
06

Nunnington Hall

Nunnington Hall is a 17th-century manor house with period rooms, art displays, and gardens beside the River Rye. The house is run by the …

Museum
07

Helmsley Walled Garden

Restored eighteenth-century walled garden tucked below the castle walls.

Sight
08

Ampleforth Abbey

Ampleforth Abbey is a nineteenth-century Benedictine abbey in the countryside south-west of Helmsley. Visitors can see the abbey church and walk the quiet grounds, …

Sight
09

Newburgh Priory

Newburgh Priory began as a 12th-century Augustinian priory, though the building visitors see today is largely a 16th-century country house. It is often used …

Architecture
10

Duncombe Park

Duncombe Park is the landscaped parkland and garden estate around an early 18th-century country house outside Helmsley. The house itself is not normally open, …