Rievaulx or Reivaulx

The house in Burniston Gardens named Reivaulx (Rievaulx) was built by my Dad in the 1930's. He made the Windows, doors and stairs. As I remember, it is a dormer type bungalow having two bedrooms upstairs, a bedroom, front room, living room, kitchen, and bathroom downstairs. We lived in the house from the mid 30's through the war years.

I was told that my mother and father chose the name because the original Rivis name was derived from Rievaulx. The story is that the locals living in the village of Rievaulx some 400 years ago, pronounced it “Rivis” or “Rivers”.

I have two copies of The Illustrated Guide To Britain, published for the AA. In the first book it mentions the pronunciation of Rievaulx, as “Rivers”, but the later edition it was changed to say that it is now pronounced “Reevo”. I never have discovered why it was changed.