Bolton Abbey

The priory, which was closed in the 1539 Dissolution of the Monasteries ordered by King Henry VIII, is in the Yorkshire Dales, which lies next to the village of Bolton Abbey.

[1] In the early 14th century Scottish raiders caused the temporary abandonment of the site and serious structural damage to the priory.

Most of the remaining church is in the Gothic style of architecture, but more work was done in the Victorian era, including windows by August Pugin.

[5] The Domesday Book lists Bolton Abbey as the caput manor of a multiple estate including 77 carucates of ploughland (around 9240 acres/3850 ha) belonging to Edwin, Earl of Mercia.

The estate then comprised Bolton Abbey, Halton East, Embsay, Draughton; Skibeden, Skipton, Low Snaygill, Thorlby; Addingham, Beamsley, Holme, Gargrave; Stainton, Otterburn, Scosthrop, Malham, Anley; Coniston Cold, Hellifield and Hanlith.

They were all laid waste in the Harrying of the North after the defeat of the rebellion of Edwin, Earl of Mercia and classified as the Clamores (disputed land) of Yorkshire[6] until around 1090, when they were transferred to Robert de Romille, who moved its administrative centre to Skipton Castle.

[9] As well as Bolton Abbey, the Cavendish family also own the Chatsworth (Derbyshire, England) and Lismore Castle (Waterford, in the Republic of Ireland) estates.

Most notably a painting by Edwin Landseer and several watercolours by J. M. W. Turner one of which, Bolton Abbey, Yorkshire (1809), is held at the British Museum.

[11] (Researching for his painting Bolton Abbey in Olden Times, the young authors were escorted on an exclusive guided tour by an unnamed 'E'.)

The following year Charlotte Brontë exhibited a drawing 'Bolton Abbey' alongside stars of the day at the Royal Northern Festival of Arts, Leeds.