© NTPL / Andrew Butler
Different families and groups of people have called Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal ‘home’ over the centuries.
Originally the property was two separate estates, with activity dating from the Dark Ages and Medieval Period respectively. The two estates finally came together to become one, when the visionary Aislabie family purchased Fountains Abbey in 1767.
Monks
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The first group of people to call Fountains home were the White Monks. In 1132 just 13 monks began the tradition of monasticism at Fountains which developed into one of the largest and most wealthy religious houses in England. Three short years later in the autumn of 1135, the Abbey they founded was considered sufficiently secure and stable to be admitted into the pan-European Cistercian Order.
Proctor Family
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Sir Stephen Proctor built Fountain's Hall - a remarkable Elizabethan mansion - between 1598 and 1604, using stone from the Abbey. His initials and badge - an otter with a fish in its mouth - are carved in stone above the main entrance.
The Proctors came to own Fountains Estate when the Abbey buildings and land were sold by Henry VIII after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. One of the two holiday apartments in Fountains Hall is named Proctor, after the family who built this beautiful mansion.
Aislabie Family
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The Aislabie family are synonymous with the enchanting Water Garden at Studley Royal, created by John and his son William between 1716 and 1781. John inherited the estate through his mother’s family in 1693 and became the MP for Ripon in 1695, then in 1718 the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
This success was short lived though, as in 1721 he was expelled from parliament, following his part in the South Sea Bubble scandal, for which he spent a spell in the Tower of London. John's son William was also MP for Ripon. He died in 1781 and the estate passed to his daughter, then to her niece and was subsequently preserved by members of the Vyner family.
Vyner Family
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The Vyner family; descendants of the Aislabie family, were the last inhabitants of the estate, only selling, reluctantly, to North Yorkshire County Council in 1966.
Commander Vyner extensively repaired and renovated Fountains Hall from 1928-31 to once again make it a habitable private residence. The Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) often stayed in the hall as guests of the Vyners and enjoyed tennis matches on the lawn, where drinks receptions for weddings and functions are now held.
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