Great Abbeys of Yorkshire: How 'crowning glory' Fountains Abbey was almost never built

They turned their backs on the Benedictine order - the Black Monks, so-called because of the colour of their cowls - and instead joined the fast-growing Cistercian movement who wore white cowls. Initially centred round a small timber church, the monks endured hard times and at one point survived on a diet of boiled leaves and salt. But within a decade the abbey began to attract gifts of money and expanded with new stone buildings, including an infirmary. The recruitment of many novices and lay brothers followed. Wool from large flocks of sheep in the Yorkshire Dales helped fill the coffers, although the Black Death of 1348-1349 and mismanagement of wool sales are said to have been almost ruinous.

However, by the time the abbey was seized by the Crown in 1540 Fountains was said to be the richest Cistercian monastery in England with an annual taxable income of £1,115, ownership of 60,000 acres of land, and assets which included nearly 2000 head of cattle and over 1100 sheep.

The spectacular abbey fell into disrepair but later became the eye-catching centrepiece of the exquisitely beautiful Studley Royal park with water gardens and other landscape adornments following its purchase by the wealthy Aislabie family. The estate was bought by the National Trust in 1983 and three years later was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.