RIEVAULX Abbey Visitor Centre and Museum has won the Commercial and Leisure category in the coveted Wood Awards - the UK’s premier competition for excellence in architecture and product design in the world’s only naturally sustainable material.

The new Visitor Centre, which includes café, retail and exhibition space, and the Museum, benefited from a £1.9m investment and opened to visitors in summer 2016.

Award winning architects Simpson & Brown were appointed by English Heritage and they accepted the award last week`. Rievaulx Abbey Visitor Centre and Museum has already won the RIBA Regional Award and the EAA Ambassador Award in Edinburgh.

Andrea Selley, Historic Properties Director at English Heritage North says: “This is fantastic news and we are delighted to be among the winners of this prominent award. Rievaulx additionally provides a stunning backdrop for events, and these facilities now allow us the opportunity to provide the appropriate hospitality and space to welcome visitors.

"We celebrated 100 years of Rievaulx Abbey under our care this year, and it seems fitting that this announcement of yet another award comes at this time. This is a superb site that merits these award winning visitor facilities and museum.”

Andrea said: "The decision to invest in the Rievaulx Visitor Centre was taken to ensure the visitor facilities were commensurate with this key site and expand the onsite visitor offer, including significantly more space in the visitor centre itself, and to refigure and refresh the display facilities in the Museum.

"The Visitor Centre was also rotated to face the ruins with two large windows, one overlooking the ruins, to maximise natural light and provide a stunning view of the Abbey for visitors. External materials including zinc roof and timber cladding were selected to be sympathetic to the site in an effort to make the visitor centre blend with its surroundings. The interior frame, which is deliberately nave-like, is made from a series of light stained engineered spruce frames to provide a contrast against the dark painted timber cladding creating a focal point for the visitor.

Rievaulx Abbey is hosting traditional Carols at Rievaulx from 1pm to 2.30pm on Sunday, December 10– an informal event in the nave with the Bilsdale Silver Band.

‘Rievaulx: Reviewed’ an exhibition of photographs and documents, many not exhibited before, detailing the journey of the site as a visitor destination has been extended until spring 2018.

The site is currently open weekends only until February half term. For more information go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/rievaulx-abbey/prices-and-opening-times