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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Fountains Abbey
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(6km/4m W of Ripon) The largest and one of the best preserved of the abbeys destroyed in the *dissolution of the monasteries. Its beautiful position on the wooded banks of the river Skell, in North Yorkshire, is further enhanced by the proximity of *Studley Royal. The long 12C nave is in the severe style characteristic of the *Cistercian order. The monastery was founded in 1132 by a group of monks dissatisfied with the lax ways of a *Benedictine abbey in York, and three years later they aligned themselves with the more rigorous Cistercians. The nearby Fountains Hall (1598–1611) was built partly with stone from the abbey.
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