Founded in 1147, Roche Abbey is one of the lesser known Cistercian monasteries in Yorkshire. More modest in size than Fountains, Rievaulx or Byland Abbeys, it was more typical of the order. It was suppressed in 1538 and rapidly destroyed, however the soaring early Gothic transepts still survive to their original height.

The ground plan remains one of the most complete of any English Cistercian monastery with the excavated foundations now the centrepiece of landscaping designed by ‘Capability’ Brown in the 18th century.