Fountains Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery near Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1132 under the direction of Thurstan, archbishop of York, and over the next four centuries became one of the wealthiest monasteries in England thanks to its large and diverse landholdings. The monastery was dissolved in 1539 as part of the English Reformation and its estates sold. Fountains Abbey is now within Studley Royal Park, a landscaped garden created in the eighteenth century.
Even in its current state, Fountains is described by Historic England as "the best preserved of English abbeys and [...] the finest picturesque ruin." The majority of the buildings were constructed in the Romanesque and Early English Gothic style between 1170 and 1247, with significant additions in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The abbey church and many of the claustral buildings survive, including the chapter house, refectory, and lay brothers' dormitory, as well as ancillary structures such as the guest houses, abbey mill, and bridges.
The abbey is protected for its historic significance, having been designated a grade I listed building and a scheduled monument by Historic England. It also forms part of the Studley Royal including the ruins of Fountains Abbey World Heritage Site. It is owned by the National Trust and maintained by English Heritage, and is open to the public.
Foundation
After a dispute and riot in 1132 at the Benedictine house of St Mary's Abbey, York, thirteen monks were expelled, among them Robert of Newminster, who was later canonised. They were taken under the protection of Thurstan, Archbishop of York, who provided them with land in the valley of the River Skell, a tributary of the Ure. The enclosed valley had all the natural features needed for the creation of a monastery, providing shelter from the weather; stone and timber for building; and a supply of running water. The six springs that watered the site inspired the monks to give it the name of Fountains.
After enduring a harsh winter in 1133, the monks applied to join the Cistercian order, which since the end of the previous century had been a fast-growing reform movement and by the beginning of the 13th century had more than 500 houses. In 1135 Fountains became the second Cistercian house in northern England, after Rievaulx Abbey. The monks of Fountains became subject to Clairvaux Abbey in Burgundy, which was under the rule of St Bernard. Under the guidance of Geoffrey of Ainai, a monk sent from Clairvaux, the group learned how to celebrate the seven canonical hours according to Cistercian usage and were shown how to construct wooden buildings in accordance with Cistercian practice.
Consolidation
According to archaeologist Glyn Coppack, after Henry Murdac was elected abbot in 1143 the small stone church and timber claustral buildings were replaced; the new church was similar in plan to the church at Vauclair Abbey that Murdac had previously commissioned. Within three years an aisled nave had been added to the stone church, and the first permanent claustral buildings, built in stone and roofed in tile, had been completed.
In 1146 an angry mob, annoyed at Murdac because of his role in opposing the election of William FitzHerbert as archbishop of York, attacked the abbey and burned down all but the church and some surrounding buildings. The community recovered swiftly from the attack and founded four daughter houses. Henry Murdac resigned as abbot in 1147 upon becoming archbishop of York. He was replaced first by Maurice, abbot of Rievaulx (1147–8), then, on the resignation of Maurice, by Thorald (1148–50). Thorald was forced by Murdac, now archbishop, to resign after two years in office.
The next abbot, Richard, restored the abbey's stability and prosperity. During his twenty years as abbot he supervised an extensive building programme that involved completing repairs to the damaged church and building more accommodation for the increasing number of recruits. At his death in 1170 the chapter house was complete and the new church almost finished. The work was continued by his successor, Robert of Pipewell.
The next abbot was William of Newminster, a noted ascetic, who presided over the abbey from 1180 to 1190. He was succeeded by Ralph Haget, who had entered Fountains at the age of 30 as a novice after pursuing a military career. Prior to his abbacy at Fountains, from 1182 to 1190/1 he was abbot of Kirkstall Abbey. During the European famine of 1194 the abbey provided support for six months to local people in the form of food, shelter and spiritual care. Famine was joined by the spread of disease, and the abbey helped those who needed treatment. During the first half of the 13th century Fountains increased in reputation and prosperity under John of York (1203–1211), John of Hessle (1211–1220) and John of Kent (1220–1247). These three abbots managed to complete another expansion of the abbey's buildings, which included enlarging the church and building an infirmary.
Difficulties
During the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, the north of England was subject to increased taxation, Fountains Abbey included. According to William Grainge, writing in Annals of a Yorkshire Abbey: A Popular History of the Famous Monastery of Fountains, the taxation of temporal goods had reduced from £343 in 1292, to £243 in 1318. Grainge interprets this reduction as evidence for detriment to the estate of the abbey. The abbey was criticised for its dire material and physical state when it was visited by Archbishop John le Romeyn in 1294, and by the 1330s was no longer working to surplus, but having to borrow money.
By the second half of the 13th century the abbey was in working in straitened circumstances. It was presided over by eleven abbots, and became financially unstable largely due to forward selling its wool crop. The run of disasters that befell the community continued into the early 14th century when northern England was invaded by the Scots and there were further demands for taxes. The culmination of these misfortunes was the Black Death of 1348–1349. The loss of manpower and income due to the ravages of the plague was almost ruinous.
A further complication arose as a result of the Papal Schism of 1378–1409. Fountains and other English Cistercian houses were told to break off contact with the mother house of Citeaux, which supported a rival pope. This resulted in the abbots forming their own chapter to rule the order in England, and they became increasingly involved in internecine politics. In 1410, following the death of Abbot Burley of Fountains, the community was riven by several years of turmoil over the election of his successor. John Ripon, abbot of Meaux, and Roger Frank, a monk of Fountains, were locked in conflict until 1416 when Ripon was finally appointed, ruling until his death in 1434.
Fountains regained some stability and prosperity under abbots John Greenwell (1442–1471), Thomas Swinton (1471–1478), and John Darnton (1478–1495), who undertook some much needed restoration of the fabric of the abbey, including notable work on the church. During Greenwell's abbacy, he reduced the debts of the abbey by 1000 marks, and survived a poisoning attempt by a monk called William Downom. Swinton kept a detailed "Memorandum Book", which provides exceptional detail on the life of the abbey during his abbacy. Marmaduke Huby (1495–1526) expanded the number of monks from twenty-two to fifty-two and undertook a building programme which included an extension to the infirmary and a new tower attached to the north transept. Huby's Tower, as it became known, is decorated with the abbot's insignia, as well as religious texts.
At Abbot Huby's death he was succeeded by William Thirsk, who was accused by the royal commissioners of immorality and inadequacy and dismissed as abbot, retiring to Jervaulx Abbey; he was later hanged for his involvement in the Pilgrimage of Grace. He was replaced by Marmaduke Bradley, a monk of the abbey who had reported Thirsk's supposed offences and testified against him. Furthermore, Bradley paid 600 marks to essentially buy the abbacy for himself. In 1539 it was Bradley who surrendered the abbey when its seizure was ordered under Henry VIII at the dissolution of the monasteries.
Architecture
The abbey precinct covered 70 acres (28 ha) surrounded by an 11-foot (3.4 m) wall built in the 13th century, some parts of which are visible to the south and west of the abbey. The area consists of three concentric zones cut by the River Skell flowing from west to east across the site. The church and claustral buildings stand at the centre of the precinct north of the Skell. The inner court containing the domestic buildings stretches down to the river and the outer court housing the industrial and agricultural buildings lies on the river's south bank. The early abbey buildings were added to and altered over time, resulting in deviations from the strict Cistercian type. Outside the walls were the abbey's "home granges".
The original abbey church was built of wood and "was probably" two storeys high; it was, however, quickly replaced in stone. The church was damaged in the attack on the abbey in 1146 and was rebuilt, in a larger scale, on the same site. Building work was completed c. 1170. This structure, completed around 1170, was 300 ft (91 m) long and had 11 bays in the side aisles. A lantern tower was added at the crossing of the church in the late 12th century. The presbytery at the eastern end of the church was much altered in the 13th century. The church's greatly lengthened choir, commenced by Abbot John of York, 1203–11 and carried on by his successor, terminates, like that of Durham Cathedral, in an eastern transept, the work of Abbot John of Kent, 1220–47. Similarities to the choir at Beverley Minster have been drawn by architectural historian Lawrence Hoey. The 160-foot-tall (49 m) tower, which was added not long before the dissolution, by Abbot Huby, 1494–1526, is in an unusual position at the northern end of the north transept and bears Huby's motto: Soli Deo Honor et Gloria (Honor and Glory to God Alone). The sacristry adjoined the south transept.
The cloister, which had arcading of black marble from Nidderdale and white sandstone, is in the centre of the precinct and to the south of the church. The three-aisled chapter-house and parlour open from the eastern walk of the cloister, with the monks' dormitory above; along the cloister's southern walk are, from east to west, the warming house with muniment room above, the refectory, and the kitchens. Parallel with the western walk is an immense, vaulted substructure known as the cellarium (divided into sections serving as cellars and store-rooms, and with the lay brothers' refectory at its southern end, next to the kitchens), which supported the dormitory of the conversi (lay brothers) above. This building extended across the river and at its south-west corner were the latrines, built above the swiftly flowing stream.
The infirmary is located to the east of the latrine block, where portions of it are suspended on arches over the River Skell. It was built in the mid-12th century as a modest single-storey structure, then, from the 14th century, underwent extensive expansion and remodelling to end up in the 16th century as a grand dwelling with fine bay windows and large fireplaces. The great hall was an expansive room 171 by 69 feet (52 by 21 m), "one of the largest aisled halls ever built in mediaeval England". The infirmary had its own oratory or chapel, 46+1⁄2-by-23-foot (14 by 7 m), and a kitchen, 50-by-38-foot (15 by 12 m).
To the west of the cloister was the lay brothers' infirmary, and beyond that the two guest houses still visible, and a large guest hall to the north of them. Only the base of a pier and a table leg survive of the guest hall, but its plan has been established by geophysical survey.
To the east of the abbey, north of the infirmary, is the monks' cemetery. It was long known to exist, but its extent and arrangement were only discovered in 2016, when a partnership between the National Trust, the University of Bradford, Geoscan Research, Magnitude Surveys and Guideline Geo used ground penetrating radar which discovered several hundred graves in a careful and orderly arrangement.