A NEW seasonal custodian at 12th century Byland abbey is so captivated by her surroundings, she is to capture them on canvass and mount an exhibition.

York university graduate, Ms Eleri Lynn, aged 23, has just taken up a summer assignment welcoming visitors to the Cistercian ruin near Coxwold. She is originally from a small village near Cardiff, and despite taking a master's degree in medieval buildings archaeology at York, it did not prepare her for Byland abbey's beauty.

She said: "The site is absolutely stunning and the biggest mistake is thinking it can be seen from the roadside.

"Byland is actually larger than either Fountains or Rievaulx in land area and a truly fantastic place to lose yourself for a couple of hours."

She is planning to reflect the ruin's charms in a series of paintings to be exhibited at York's Adze gallery in Goodramgate this summer.

Ms Lynn is a former winner of the Welsh Young Painter of the Year title and will use sketches of the site to create six expressioniste works in acrylic on canvass. "I'd originally planned the exhibition on the general theme of historic buildings, but coming to Byland has completely changed my mind," she said.

"Now I want to concentrate exclusively on the abbey's tiles and corbels. The ruin is so powerful and its setting so perfect, it's a natural subject."