Fountains Abbey: The Cistercians in Northern England

by Glyn Coppack

Within the stunning eighteenth-century park of Studley Royal in Yorkshire, lie the ruinous remains of Fountains Abbey – one of the finest examples of Cistercian architecture in Europe. Drawing on contemporary historical evidence, the results of excavations, and his English Heritage conservation work from the past 30 years, Glyn Coppack outlines the history of this fascinating site from its use as an early mission centre in 1132 through its subsequent growth over the centuries.Glyn Coppack works for English Heritage and is one of Britain’s foremost monastic scholars. He lives in north Lincolnshire.

Genres: Guidebook

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Richard Hakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the post conquest days when everyone in charge seemed to have a French name something strange happened. Build Build Build came the cry to reinvigorate the economy but instead of new houses for the masses or roads (or even trains) or anything else except maybe a few castles what happened? The French came and built their churches, their cathedrals, their monasteries, their priories and their abbeys. They were very successful and in an impoverish world an imminence amount of magnificent incredibly large and beautiful buildings were built. Fountains Abbey is one of the better examples to go see but without some guidance hard to comprehend. The book is a bit mechanical and in an older style not led to speculate and only hints at the wider political world. It concerns itself with the building and the story of the building. I found it interesting how fashion conscious these guys were. Seeking out remote locations they perused their dreams of building in the latest fashions. While dressed in there fashionable white robes (the ones who could read and write, who had been to the right schools) and the guys who did the work made do with their brown ones (usual story here).