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A parish church since the Reformation, Selby Abbey was founded in 1069 as a Benedictine foundation and became one of the richest abbeys in Yorkshire on the back of the wool trade. The abbot was granted a mitre by PopeAlexander IV in 1256. The abbey and community gained a reputation for lax morales and failure to observe even the basics of monastics life. It was suppressed on 6 December 1539 when the abbot was given a pension of £100 per yrear and the Prior, £8. A fire in 1906 destroyed the internal fittings leading to the installation of a wooden roof.