Everything about Studley Royal Park totally explained
Studley Royal Park is a park containing, and developed around, the ruins of the
Cistercian Fountains Abbey in
North Yorkshire,
England. It is a
World Heritage Site. The site also contains features dating from the eighteenth century such as Studley Royal Water Garden.
History
Origins
The Fountains Abbey was founded in 1132 by thirteen
Benedictine monks. They later became Cistercian monks. Following the
dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 by
Henry VIII, the Abbey buildings and over 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, finally being sold to Stephen Proctor who built
Fountains Hall probably between 1598 and 1604. A remarkable Elizabethan mansion, Fountains Hall was built partly with stone from the Abbey ruins. Today there are two rooms open to the public.
The development of the estate
John Aislabie inherited the Studley estate in 1693. A socially and politically ambitious man, he first became the
Tory Member of
Parliament for
Ripon in 1695 and in 1718 became Chancellor of the
Exchequer. In 1720 disaster struck. Aislabie was a principal sponsor of the South Sea Company scheme, the bill for which was promoted by him personally. After this vast financial operation collapsed (the
South Sea Bubble), 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'd 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 also 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.
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 part of the estate is currently managed by
English Heritage on behalf of the National Trust.
In 1986 the entire Park was designated a
World Heritage Site by
UNESCO.
Major features
Studley Royal Water Garden
The water garden at Studley Royal is one of the best surviving examples of a
Georgian water garden in
England.
The garden was created by
John Aislabie in 1718. It was expanded by his son, William, after Aislabie's death. William expanded the property, purchasing the adjacent Fountains Estate. The garden's elegant ornamental lakes, canals, temples and cascades provide a succession of dramatic eye-catching vistas. The garden is also studded with a number of
follies including a
neo-Gothic castle and a
palladian style banqueting house.
St Mary's Church and the deer park
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 Gratham 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 his sister, Lady Ripon, determined to use 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."
The church stands in a medieval
deer park, home to 500
deer and a wealth of
flora and
fauna. The Deer Park once enclosed Studley Royal House, but this was largely destroyed by fire in December 1716 and had to be almost entirely rebuilt. The replacement building, was, in turn, extensively damaged by fire in 1946 and was demolished soon afterwards. Only the large stable block, built between 1728 and 1732, has survived. This is now a private house. Until about 2000 it belonged to
Sir Paul Sykes, but has since been purchased by the author
Susie Bulmer.
Fountains Abbey mill
The mill is the only 12th-century Cistercian cornmill left in the UK and the oldest 'intact' building on the estate.
Image gallery
Image:Banqueting House.jpg|Palladian style mini banqueting house
Image:Water Garden and Tower.jpg|View of the water garden showing the gothic folly of the Octagonal Tower
Image:Chorister's House.jpg|The Choirster's House (located adjacent to St Mary's Church)
Image:St Mary's Church.jpg|St. Mary's Church
Further Information
Get more info on 'Studley Royal Park'.
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