St Aelred's Pilgrim Trail: New 41-mile walking trail that covers the history of the North York Moors launches

The St Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail starts and ends in the market town of Helmsley and leads walkers along a 41-mile route through a land shaped by Christianity through the ages.

It includes eight Anglican churches, two Methodist chapels and the magnificent ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, and the full length would take the average person four days to complete.

Members of the Upper Ryedale parish were inspired to design the trail after the success of a shorter loop connecting the five churches in their care last year.

The original trail has now been extended to form an ‘egg-shaped’ circular route that incorporates three ‘hamlet’ churches around Helmsley that have tales of their own to tell.

"We were really surprised by how many people came out to walk the Upper Ryedale Parish Trail, so we looked at creating this much larger circular walk which would include Rievaulx Abbey. We couldn’t think of a better person to name it after than St Aelred, the second abbot of the abbey; he was a great walker and a great believer in friendship,” said parish secretary George Gyte.

The route is expected to appeal to walkers of all ages and abilities because of the range of accommodation available in an area already well used to tourist flows, from farmhouse B&Bs to pubs with rooms. It takes in the ‘hidden’ church at East Moors which few people realise is there as it cannot be seen from the nearby road.

Mr Gyte’s wife Mal and friend Joyce Garbutt spent the winter acting as ‘pathfinders’, mapping and marking the route, which includes sections of the Cleveland Way and Ebor Way. Signage will be erected by the end of the spring and a guidebook will be published.

"Helmsley had a very hard-working vicar in the 19th century, Charles Norris Gray, who wanted to both Christianise the area and improve public health. He personally persuaded Lord Feversham of Duncombe Park to build churches in several villages that had never had one before, and rebuild others – one was even moved brick by brick. He even had a plan to rebuild Rievaulx, which would have cost billions of pounds in today’s money,” added Mr Gyte.

The trail is very much a legacy of the Reverend Gray’s impact on the area. He died in 1913, having made a major contribution to the life of the town.

It passes through villages such as Sproxton, Hawnby and Bilsdale.

"English Heritage have been very supportive, and have allowed us to hold our launch event at the Rievaulx cafe. The North York Moors National Park Authority have been very helpful too.

"We’ve marked out separate routes for cyclists and horseriders, and ‘chunked off’ the walk into sections for people who want to do shorter distances. This area really caters for walkers, and there are places to stay along the way. We’re confident it will be a really good experience.

"There seems to be a growing trend for people to undertake pilgrimages now, from all faiths or none.”

The St Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail is now accessible, with an official launch event to be held in September.