163 



GARDENS OLD AND NBW. 



suddenly disclosed, and the visitor lingers to contemplate the 

 great monastic pile. The abbey went through many vicis- 

 situdes. Once it was burned by vengeful partisans, but the 

 building went on through the twelfth century. Abbot John, 

 the Yorkshireman, began the choir of the church in 1203. It 

 was nearly completed in 1220, from which time up to 1247 

 the house was ruled by Abbot John, the Kentishman, to whose 

 taste and energy are due the erection of part of the magnificent 

 cloister, the infirmary, the hospitium, and the exquisite 

 transeptal aisle at the east end, known as the " Nine Altars." 

 The great tower, which is such a conspicuous object in the 

 landscape, was erected by Abbot Huby (1294-1526). The 

 bridge across the Skell belongs to the thirteenth century, and 

 is close to the Abbey 

 Mill, the " Seven 

 Sisters " being near 

 by. These last are 

 no longer seven, but 

 only two, and are 

 venerable yew trees, 

 which have been 

 growing there per- 

 haps from the day 

 when the thirteen 

 monks reached the 

 banks of the Skell, 

 and may even have 

 given them shelter 

 then. From the west 

 gate-house, or por- 

 ter's lodge, there is 

 a magnificent pros- 

 pect of the great 

 church with its lofty 

 tower, and the long 

 range of the cloisters 

 and dormitory ex- 

 tending to and across 

 the river Skell. 

 Nowhere in England 

 can the plan of a 

 Cistercian house be 

 so well studied, and 

 the excavations 

 which have been 

 conducted have 

 revealed a vast deal 

 that was formerly 

 hidden. Every style 

 of architecture from 

 Transition-N o r m a n 

 to the Perpendicular 

 is found in perfec- 

 tion in these 

 impressive and 

 beautiful ruins. 



The site was 

 granted in the 32 

 Henry VIII., to Sir 

 Richard Gresham, 

 and the story of tha 

 ruin is a painful and 



even a terrible one. It is now known that the rich carved 

 woodwork of the choir was torn down anJ burnt in order to 

 melt the lead taken from the roof, which formed a large 

 item in the accounts of the depredators, and there is good 

 evidence to show that even the graves were rifled in quest of 

 valuables. 



In 1597, Sir Richard Gresham's representatives sold the 

 site to Sir Stephen Proctor, who pulled down the abbot's house 

 which had been built over the river Skell at the east end of 

 the conventu il building, and used the material to erect the 

 mansion of Fountains Hall. The estate was sold again in 

 1623, and passed through various hands, until from the 

 Messengers it went by sale in 1768 to Mr. Aislabie, at the 

 price of ,18,000. As we have already seen, the Ablabies did 



Co' v'ij- r f. 



THE POKCH AND ITS SUNDIAL. 



i great deal to beautify and improve the estate, and Fountains 

 Abbey is now well protected and Jealously guarded by its 

 proprietor, the Marquess of Ripon. 



Fountains Hall, the noble house built by Sir Stephen 

 Proctor, stands a little way beyond the West Gate House of 

 the Abbey, and is a most picturesque example of Jacobean 

 architecture, which has remained unaltered since its completion, 

 and forms an admirable subject for the artist, chiefly because 

 of the very charming grouping of its bay windows, gables, and 

 chimneys. It is approached by broken, weatherworn steps, in the 

 interstices of which the careful hand of the gardener has 

 made green things grow, while a great yew overshadows 

 the way. Then, by a path between well-clipped hedges, we 



reach tile entrance, 

 which is very im- 

 posing in its varied 

 character. The 

 round-heaJed door- 

 way is flanked by 

 fluted Ionic pillars, 

 and adorned with 

 quaint figures and a 

 sundial over the arch. 

 Mul Honed windows 

 are on both sides, and 

 a gallery is above for 

 the outlook, with a 

 semi-circular bay and 

 large and beautiful 

 windows set furthei 

 back. The lofty 

 projecting bays of 

 the structure on 

 either hand, with 

 their gables and em- 

 battlements, and 

 their great ranges of 

 mullioned windows, 

 are particularly strik- 

 ing, and the whole 

 composition is of so 

 notable a character 

 that it is scarcely 

 surpassed in England 

 in its kind. Ivy 

 clothes a large part 

 of the facade, and 

 roses and other 

 climbing plants gar- 

 hind the stonework, 

 without, however, 

 concealing its 

 character. 



The gardens 

 about the house have 

 a subtle charm all 

 their own. They are 

 distinguished by a 

 simple character in 

 which radiantflbwers 

 are contrasted with 

 dark green hedges of 

 yew, and the foliage is particularly fine, the trees being of 

 large size and beautiful growth. 1 he outlook from the terrace 

 over the quaint features of the garden to the meadows is 

 remarkably attractive. Fountains Hall, like Fountains Abbey 

 and the stately gardens of Studley Royal, lies in a singularly 

 beautiful part of ti:e country, within a few miles of the 

 notable city of Ripon, and in a land invested with a character 

 of great natural charm, rich in oak and lime, and often deep in 

 beechen shade. The house 's not in itself devoid of any of 

 those elements of attraction which are found in old country 

 hojses, and has notable features of broad impressiveness 

 which few others possess, while about it are gardens appro- 

 priate to its charac'er, and entirely pleasing, rich, and attractive 

 in themselves. 



