<P> Fountains Abbey was founded in 1132 by Benedictine monks who left St Mary's Abbey, York to follow the Cistercian order . After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539 by Henry VIII, the Abbey buildings and over 500 acres (200 ha) 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, then sold to Stephen Proctor who built Fountains Hall probably between 1598 and 1604 . The hall is a Jacobean mansion, built partly with stone from the Abbey ruins . Fountains Abbey mill is the only 12th - century Cistercian cornmill left in the UK and the oldest' intact' building on the estate . </P> <P> From 1452 onwards, Studley Royal was inhabited by the Mallory Family, most notably by MPs John Mallory and William Mallory . John Aislabie inherited the Studley estate from his elder brother in 1693 . He was the Tory Member of Parliament for Ripon in 1695, and in 1718 became Chancellor of the Exchequer . Aislabie was a principal sponsor of the South Sea Company scheme, the bill for which was promoted by him personally . In 1720 when this vast financial operation collapsed, he was expelled from Parliament and disqualified for life from public office . </P> <P> Aislabie returned to Yorkshire and devoted himself to the creation of the garden he had 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 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 . </P> <P> After William's death, the estate passed to his daughter Elizabeth Allanson and then to her niece, Mrs Elizabeth Sophie Lawrence, who lived there from 1808 until her death in 1845 . It then devolved to Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, a distant relative on whose death in 1859 the estate passed to his nephew the Marquess of Ripon, the Viceroy of India, who built St Mary's church in the park . On the death of Frederick Robinson, 2nd Marquess of Ripon in 1923, the estate was acquired by his cousin Clare George Vyner . </P>

Studley royal park including the ruins of fountains abbey