Kilburn White Horse and Byland Abbey, North Yorkshire

Kilburn White Horse
and sheep - those fuzzy white dots in the pasture below

Both the Kilburn White Horse and Byland Abbey lie in the SW corner of the North York Moors National Park.

Blue dot represents the approximate location of the Kilburn White Horse

I want you to know that I was making every effort to embed a Google Earth image here, so that you would be able to move around the Kilburn White Horse, zooming in and out. Every attempt I made ended with too long a load time. But if you're interested in seeing this on Google Earth,  you can type in the location. It really is pretty cool!

Latitude: 54°13'29.13"N
Longitude:   1°12'45.56"W

The Kilburn White Horse was made by some industrious souls who, in the mid-nineteenth century, scraped off the top soil to expose a huge limestone horse, just dying to get some fresh air.

Approaching the White Horse

Leaving Thirsk, we headed east on the A170.

Directions from mapquest.co.uk: 

"Enter next roundabout and take the 1st exit onto SUTTON ROAD/A170.

Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto MOOR LANE.

MOOR LANE becomes unnamed road." (Those always seem to be interesting)
I had thought that there were M-roads, A-roads, and B-roads. I guess there are all of the above plus lanes and unnamed roads. 
 

View of car park from the top

The white that you see in the foreground is not snow; it is the Kilburn White Horse

Looking NW from the top

Zooming in on the village of Kilburn, south of the Kilburn White Horse

Near the White Horse

more of my favorites: sheep and fences

 Approaching Byland Abbey in the gloaming

Once a great Cistercian monastery, along with Rievaulx and Fountains, 12th century Byland Abbey was among the most impressive churches in England. Contrary to appearances, Byland Abbey was not 'open' when we were there, but we enjoyed walking the perimeter.

Imagine what that large west window must have looked like!

Across the street, the Abbey Inn

snagging the odd PG

Preserved in stone, the Abbey guard dog

 I have a thing about dogs on chains, but I guess I can tolerate this one.

It's always surprising, when driving around Yorkshire, that out in the middle of absolutely nowhere will appear the ruins of a once magnificent castle or abbey. After dark, I would almost expect to see hooded monks moving quietly about the abbey ruins. (See Season One, Episode 6 of All Creatures Great and Small)

Author, Second Chance - A Tale of Two Puppies

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