Heritage Keeper To Inn Keeper

The Abbey Inn (c) Tony BartholomewEnglish Heritage is celebrating a unique venture with the purchase of a Grade II listed public house in the grounds of Byland Abbey in North Yorkshire.

The purchase of the inn will safeguard the spectacular setting of the Abbey, once one of the largest and most important Cistercian monasteries in England , which attracts some 10,000 visitors a year. Profits from the inn will be pumped back into the conservation and upkeep of English Heritage’s properties in the area, including Byland Abbey.

The Abbey Inn at Byland is a highly successful restaurant with rooms set on the edge of the beautiful North York Moors National Park and is extremely popular with tourists and locals alike. English Heritage plans to continue operating the inn as a gastro pub but is looking for an experienced manager to run it on a day to day basis.

Jeremy Reed, Visitor Operations Director for English Heritage in the North, said: “The Abbey Inn has been bought by English Heritage to preserve the spectacular setting of the Abbey and also as a much needed source of income to invest in our properties locally."

The restaurant at The Abbey inn “We are now looking for an experienced manager who is passionate about good food, quality and excellent customer service to run this successful gastro pub and develop its guest accommodation further.”

The current owners will continue to run the inn on English Heritage’s behalf until a new manager can be found.

The move is the first of its kind in the organisation’s history with the Abbey Inn joining a list of some 400 properties under the care of English Heritage.