Founded in 1132 by 13 dissident Benedictine monks from York and suppressed in 1539, Fountains rose to be the richest Cistercian monastery in England at the time of the dissolution with a income of over £1,100 pounds per year. Like Rievaulx, Fountains owed allegiance to Clairvaux Abbey in France, a source of interminable dispute during the 100 years war and the period of the papal schism. It suffered badly from the imposition of additional taxes, the outbreak of sheep scab, the Black Death. and the frequent wars with Scotland.
The church stands in stark comparisob to Rievaulx. Rievaulx was rebuilt in the emergent Perpendicular style with soaring vaults and huge windows giving a sense of openness and light whereas Fountains is largely Romanesque and must have been a stark dark place.
