Studley Royal Park

Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey *
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Country	United Kingdom
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iv
Reference	372
Region **	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1986 (10th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO

Studley Royal including the ruins of Fountains Abbey is a designated World Heritage Site in North Yorkshire, England. The site features an 18th century landscaped garden, some of the largest Cistercian ruins in Europe, a Jacobean mansion and a Victorian church designed by William Burges. It was developed around, the ruins of the Cistercian Fountains Abbey.

History

Fountains Abbey and Hall

Fountains Abbey was founded in 1132 by Benedictine monks who left St Mary's Abbey, York to follow the Cistercian order. After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 by Henry VIII, the Abbey buildings and over 500 acres (200 ha) of land were sold by the Crown to Sir Richard Gresham, a merchant. The property was passed down through several generations of Sir Richard's family, then sold to Stephen Proctor who built Fountains Hall probably between 1598 and 1604. The hall is a Jacobean mansion, built partly with stone from the Abbey ruins. Fountains Abbey mill is the only 12th-century Cistercian cornmill left in the UK and the oldest 'intact' building on the estate.

Studley estate

John Aislabie inherited the Studley estate in 1699. He was the Tory Member of Parliament for Ripon in 1695, and in 1718 became Chancellor of the Exchequer. Aislabie was a principal sponsor of the South Sea Company scheme, the bill for which was promoted by him personally. In 1720 when this vast financial operation collapsed, he was expelled from Parliament and disqualified for life from public office.

Aislabie returned to Yorkshire and devoted himself to the creation of the garden he had begun in 1718. After his death in 1742, his son William extended his scheme by purchasing the remains of the Abbey and Fountains Hall. He extended the landscaped area in the picturesque romantic style, contrasting with the formality of his father's work. Between them, the two created what is arguably England's most important 18th century Water Garden.

The 16th-century house at Studley Royal, rebuilt in Palladian style, as it appeared in 1880; it burned to the ground in 1946.

After William's death, the estate passed to his daughter, then her niece. It escaped major reshaping and the garden and park passed to the Vyner family, descendants of the Aislabies.

Recent history

In 1966 the estate was purchased by West Riding County Council and was acquired by the National Trust in 1983. The Abbey precinct is managed by English Heritage on behalf of the National Trust. In 1986 the entire Park was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It gained recognition as it fulfills the criteria of being a masterpiece of human creative genius, and an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates significant stages in human history.

Major features

Main article: Fountains Abbey

Main article: Fountains Hall

The park incorporates Fountains Abbey, Fountains Hall, and a number of other notable historic features.

Studley Royal Water Garden

The water garden at Studley Royal created by John Aislabie in 1718 is one of the best surviving examples of a Georgian water garden in England. It was expanded by his son, William who purchased the adjacent Fountains Estate. The garden's elegant ornamental lakes, canals, temples and cascades provide a succession of dramatic eye-catching vistas. It is also studded with a number of follies including a neo-Gothic castle and a palladian style banqueting house.

St Mary's Church

Main article: St Mary's, Studley Royal

View of the West End of the church

St Mary's Church was one of two, late Victorian, memorial churches in Yorkshire, built by the family of the First Marquess of Ripon in memory of Frederick Grantham Vyner. The other is the Church of Christ the Consoler at Skelton-on-Ure, and the architect of both was William Burges. Vyner was murdered by Greek bandits in 1870 and his mother, Lady Mary Vyner, and sister, Lady Ripon, used the unspent ransom, gathered to obtain his release, to build two churches in Vyner's memory on their respective Yorkshire estates. Burges' appointment as architect was most likely due to the connection between his greatest patron, John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute and Vyner, who had been friends at Oxford. St Mary's, on Lady Ripon's estate at Studley Royal, was commissioned in 1870 and work began in 1871. The church was consecrated in 1878. As at Skelton, Burges' design demonstrates a move from his favoured Early-French, to an English style. Pevsner writes of "a Victorian shrine, a dream of Early English glory." The interior is spectacular, exceeding Skelton in richness and majesty. The stained glass is of particularly high quality. St Mary's is Burges' "ecclesiastical masterpiece."

Deer park

The medieval deer park, where the church stands, is home to 500 deer and a wealth of flora and fauna. This park once enclosed Studley Royal House, which was destroyed by fire in December 1716 and rebuilt. The replacement building was extensively damaged by fire in 1946 and demolished. Only the large stable block, built between 1728 and 1732, has survived. This is now a private house.

Image gallery

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  Palladian style mini banqueting house

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  View of the water garden showing the Gothic folly of the Octagonal Tower

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  The Chorister's House (located adjacent to St Mary's Church)

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  St. Mary's Church

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  The Obelisk Above St. Mary's Church

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  Temple of Piety and water gardens

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  Cascade

References

• "My turbulent life as an aristocrat" (Web and Print). The Northern Echo. Newsquest Media Group. 28 February 2005. http://archive.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/2005/2/28/21464.html. Retrieved 4 February 2007. 
• Crook, J. Mordaunt (1981). William Burges and the High Victorian Dream. London: John Murray. p. 454. ISBN 0-7195-3822-X. 

External links

• Fountains Abbey
• UNESCO entry for Studley Royal Park
• National Trust online handbook entry
• Studley Royal and Fountains Abbey — Gardens Guide