More interesting information. I'm sure that someone just keeps throwing little clues into the abyss of the internet for me. It's some kind of cruel scavenger hunt. Just as I'm giving up, along comes a fantastic little nugget of history!
I love that the history is fractured and that the answer isn't clear - it is an untold story that isn't well known, like that of Fountains Abbey or Ripon Cathedral.
The beauty of this story is that it is a mystery. It's complex and scattered, my job is to pick up the pieces.
The monument includes the site of a medieval chapel of Fountains Abbey and a section of the monastic deer park boundary known as a park pale. The monument occupies the prominent natural hill known as How Hill. The whole of the western flank and part of the northern and eastern flanks are included in the protected area. The top of the hill is dominated by an 18th century tower, which was constructed as part of the designed landscape of Studley Royal, 1.7km to the north west. How Hill was part of a larger tract of land granted to Fountains Abbey by Robert de Sartis in 1134. This was the first endowment given to the Abbey after its foundation and enabled the Abbey to become a viable concern. The first documentary reference to a chapel on How Hill is in 1346 when a chapel dedicated to St Michael de Mont is recorded. The chapel is known to have been repaired during the time of Abbot Huby between 1494 and 1526. It is thought to have been for the use of workers on the nearby monastic granges of Haddockstanes, Morker and possibly from the adjacent deer park. There is also a reference, supported by the dedication, that the chapel may have been a pilgrimage centre. The chapel fell into disuse at the dissolution of Fountains Abbey in 1539 when the chapel and surrounding lands passed into the Weeks family of Sawley. In 1716 How Hill and the chapel were bequeathed to John Aislabie of Studley Royal. The chapel was partly robbed of stone in 1719 when a tower was built on the hill and it appears to have been an extant ruin in the 19th century. Although there are now no surface remains of the chapel, there is a 19th century reference to ruins standing next to the tower. The tower is built on the eastern edge of the hill, on partly made up ground, and it is suggested that this location was chosen to avoid the standing ruins of the chapel lying to the west. The level top of the hill where the chapel site is thought to be measures approximately 30m square. Excavations in the 19th century uncovered a number of human burials on How Hill assumed to be associated with the chapel. Further possible burials were identified by geophysical survey to the south of the tower. The tower is a square two storey building with a stone pyramid shaped roof. The four faces each have a round-headed window with simple `Y'-shaped stone tracery. The building reused stone from the former chapel to the west, in particular there is a decorative frieze with the Latin inscription `Sol Deo Honor MH et Gloria' around the south side of the tower, the `MH' standing for Marmaduke Huby, Abbot of Fountains Abbey. The tower was part of the wider designed landscape of the Studley Royal estate located 1.7km to the north east. It was built primarily as the focal point at the end of a grand axial vista extending along the canal through the water gardens and was designed to be seen in conjunction with the remains of the adjacent chapel. As such the whole building was constructed with a church like appearance. Soon after its completion an external stair turret was added in order to increase the usable space inside as the tower became more of a functional building and there is evidence of its occasional use for gaming. In the 19th century a series of domestic buildings were added to the east side of the tower. These were partly cut into the hillside so that the tower and chapel ruins were still a visible landmark and was thus still an important detached element of the wider designed landscape. The tower was occupied until the mid-20th century. Both it and the adjacent buildings are Listed Grade II*. On the western and northern flanks of the hill there are a series of earthwork features associated with the monastic and post-monastic use of the site. On the western flank there is a substantial earth and stone bank extending north to south for 150m. This measures up to 7m wide and 1.75m high. It forms a boundary between the area surrounding the chapel and the arable agriculture to the west and may have originally defined the curtilage of the chapel. Between the bank and the top of the hill there are a series of terraces and platforms, interpreted as the site of buildings and trackways giving access to the top of the hill. Some of these are thought to be modified natural features. On the northern flank of the hill there are further trackways, a large platform and quarry scoops. Immediately to the west of the boundary bank there is an area of ridge and furrow extending east to west. A further area of ridge and furrow lies to the north west, extending parallel to the deer park boundary. Both these areas are currently undated but are included in the monument as they represent agricultural exploitation of the area by the monastic community or in the immediate post-medieval period and will preserve information about the relationship between other features in the monument.
[Source: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1020119]
Whether the first occupation of the crown of the hill as a place of Christian worship was caused by the spiritual wants of the inhabitants of this
After the dissolution of Fountains, the Chapel, no doubt, fell into ruin. In the next century the estate on which it stood became the property of the family of
After the estate came into the possession of Mr.
[Source: http://www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/The_Publications_of_the_Surtees_Society_1000708173/297]
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