Origins of Fountains Abbey

Fountains Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in North Yorkshire, England, near the town of Ripon. It was founded by a group of monks who left St Mary's Abbey in York in search of a stricter way of life, and who settled in the wild valley of the River Skell. The community grew rich from sheep farming and the wool trade, and its estates spread across northern England. Its church and buildings, among them the vaulted cellarium and the great tower added in the fifteenth century, are some of the best-preserved monastic ruins in Europe. The abbey was closed during the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. Its ruins later became the centerpiece of the landscaped gardens at Studley Royal, now a World Heritage Site.

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