THERE won’t be a fluffy Easter chick in sight this weekend when some of the finest hunters in the country take flight.

Rievaulx Abbey, near Helmsley, is playing host to the original “sport of kings” with the help of master falconers Mike and Emma Raphael.

They will be unleashing a rare collection of falcons, hawks and even owls into the sky above the Cistercian ruins.

They will be demonstrating how early medieval kings built up falconry from a simple leisure pursuit into a demonstration of skill and status for royals and nobles alike.

“During the Plantagenet period, you start to see a real rise in the popularity of hunting with birds – indeed, the period is known as the ‘flowering of falconry’ – culminating in the reign of Edward I, who was nicknamed the ‘Falconer King’,” said English Heritage’s regional events manager, Jonathan Hogan.

“This is the period when falconry became far more visually flamboyant, with the introduction of dress hoods for the birds, and ‘showing’ the birds became far more popular.”

For kings and wealthy nobles, flying a rare bird was the ultimate in prestige and one of the birds that visitors should see over the Easter weekend is the Jer Falcon, a bird so rare that only kings would have been able to afford one.

Falconry of Kings runs from noon until 5pm on Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Admission prices are £6.50 for adults, £6 concessions and £4.50 for children. English Heritage members get in free.

For more information visit english-heritage.org.uk/rievaulx or call 01439-798228.