Summary
Remains fo accomodation for the abbey's high status guests
Identification Images (0)
Monument Types
- GUEST HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
Description
The Guest House complex lies to the west of the main cloistral group and in preservation lies between 30432a and 30432b. The main gables of the East Guest House and one of those of the west remain intact to full height, with other walls to first floor level. But the north of the complex has fared rather less well, having been demolished to ground level. For many years it was thought that the above ground remains were the only guest houses but recently parch marks and geophysical surveys have shown that a third, all but fully demolished, house lay to the north, occupying much of the West Green.
The Guest Houses were intended to be a self-sufficient unit, negating the need for visitors to intrude on the abbey proper. Correspondingly, they were supplied with all their needs, including a heating system and garderobes emptying into the Skell. 18th and 19th century sources show the ruins as wild, unkept and full of trees. The Cuitt engravings of 1822 show much more vaulting preserved in the eastern house, subsequently brought down by the vegetation.
The buildings are constructed from ashlared sandstone, much as the rest of the abbey is. The third guest house was larger than the other two - on a scale similar to the nave of the church. This was noted as a parch mark by MN, Judith Roebuck and Keith Emerick in 1989, and formally located by John Szhmanski of York University in 1992, using resistivity survey techniques. This showed that the pile of stones long seen on the west green was in fact a surviving remnant of the aisled buildings columns, still in situ. (It was probably first exposed by Walbran's excavations in 1855). They are not shown on early illustrative sources, which rather raises the question of when and how they were exposed.
This building - or 30215 - was a much more likely source of stone for the building of Fountains Hall than the Abbot's Lodging or Infirmary.
The Guest Houses were excavated by Glyn Coppack in 1984-6.
References
- SZP10138 - Post Card: Fountains Abbey from the south-west.
- SZP10147 - Graphic material: J Buckler. 1817. Sketch of the vaulting (before collapse) of the east guest house.
- SZP10988 - Slide: The interior of the guest house, much overgrown (Glass slide). SMR124.
- SZP11816 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1856. The west front of the abbey and the guest houses from south of the river. SMR431.
- SZP12024 - Slide: The Guest Houses. (Glass slide). SMR49.
- SZP13914 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1985. The West Green of the Abbey. A3-34-23.
- SZP1546 - Graphic material: J Buckler. 1818. Measured survey of the abbey and surrounding buildings.
- SZP16457 - Photograph - colour: 01/01/1970. The abbey from the south-west (postcard). SMR270.
- SZP18153 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1910. East guest house and bridge from the south. SMR350.
- SZP2311 - Graphic material: J Truelove. 1909. Drawing of the interior of the east guest house, Fountains Abbey.
- SZP2724 - Graphic material: F Nicholson. 1822. Engraving of the interior of the Guest House of Fountains Abbey.
- SZP27965 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1985. The West Green, east side. A3-34-25.
- SZP28107 - Slide: The church and guest houses. (Glass slide). SMR52.
- SZP30611 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1985. Guest House Bridge. A1-05-29A.
- SZP30738 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1967. The abbey church, cellarium and Guest House from Mill Bridge. SMR245.
- SZP3257 - Article in serial: 1818. On the present state of Fountains Abbey.
- SZP36160 - Slide: Interior of the east guest house (Glass Slide). SMR32.
- SZP36570 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1910. The west guest house. SMR351.
- SZP36714 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1985. Detail of latrine, west guest house. A1-05-34A.
- SZP39779 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1985. The West Green. A3-34-24.
- SZP43355 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1985. North-west part of Kitchen Bank, with Mill Yard. A2-22-39.
- SZP4423 - Graphic material: W Wood. 1793. Watercolour of the west front and guest house of Fountains Abbey.
- SZP44925 - Photograph - black and white: 01/01/1870. The lay brothers infirmary bridge etc.. SMR173.
- SZP4927 - Graphic material: J Reeve. 1892. Reconstruction drawing of the guest houses, Fountains Abbey.
- SZP562 - Graphic material: Carter. 1790. Sketch of the west front of the abbey.
- SZP5904 - Graphic material: J Truelove. 1909. Plan of the cellarium and guesthouses, Fountains Abbey.
- SZP6524 - Graphic material: Robert Dunning. 1821. Drawing of the east guest house and lay brother's infirmary at Fountains Abbey.
- SZP7577 - Graphic material: J Storer. Engraving of Fountains Abbey from the south-west.
- SZP8473 - Graphic material: J Reeve. 1892. Reconstruction drawing of the Lay Brothers infirmary and the east guest house, Fountains Abbey.
- SZP9232 - Graphic material: J Metcalf. 1832. Engraving of the east guest house and guest house bridge, Fountains Abbey, from the north..
- SZP9648 - Map: J Buckler. 1818. Detailed measured plan of the abbey ruins.
Other Statuses and References
None Recorded
Associated Finds
None Recorded
Related Records
- Related to: The Cistercian Abbey of St. Mary at Fountains, Fountains and Studley Royal (Monument) - 30432*0 / MNA145544