Fountains Abbey

The Founting Abbey is the remains of the largest Cistercian monastery of England in the Middle Ages, located in North Yorkshire near the city of Ripon. Another name for the architectural complex – Fauntains Abbey.

The founders of the Fauntin Abbey were thirteen Tistercian monks who were expelled from the monastery of the Virgin Mary in York. The York Archbishop of Thurstan allowed them to settle on the banks of the Skell River. In the 12th century, the arrangement of the territory allocated to them began, which lasted for several centuries. The York archbishops became their patrons, thanks to this, the monks managed to turn their monastery into the most magnificent monument of the English Gothic. They developed economic activity, began to receive considerable income, and helped the local population. In the 13th century, this monastery was the richest, majestic and prosperous in all of England.

In the 16th century, the ruler of the country, Henry VIII, established church reform, the main purpose of which was to obtain a divorce from his wife. He ordered the closure of all the monasteries. As a result of this, the buildings of the Fauntin Abbey were destroyed, and the king took the land for himself. In 1539, the Fauntaines Abbey ceased to exist. The remains of building material were used in the construction of the Fountins Hall.

With a revival of interest in the Gothic style, the surviving remnants of the monastery became interested in connoisseurs of early Gothic architecture. Since the eighteenth century, the ruins of the complex have begun to attract an increasing number of guests. During the reign of Queen Victoria around the abbey, the Royal Steel Park was arranged with many canals and lakes with a total territory of 150 hectares. The church of St. Mary was also built.

Today, this architectural monument of early Gothic is visited by thousands of tourists from all over the world. Its main decoration is columns and capitals from the bare sandstone, since under the influence of time, rain, snow paint and plaster were washed away. The cells in which the monks lived have reached our days as the most surviving of all other buildings. The water mill also survived. Everyone can grind flour on it themselves.

The Founting Abbey is the center of the historical and architectural complex, which is part of UNESCO's worldwide inheritance.