A look at the history of Studley Royal with Dr Emma Wells

in Ripon

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Seated within Studley Royal estate’s renowned 18th-century water gardens, fed by the River Skell and framing the atmospheric ruins of Fountains Abbey, Studley Royal House is a substantial property hidden off the more well-trodden paths.

In 1699, John Aislabie, an ambitious politician and later Chancellor of the Exchequer, inherited the Studley Royal estate. Following his expulsion from Parliament in 1720 after the South Sea Bubble scandal, Aislabie devoted himself to landscape gardening. His son, William, continued his work, extending the gardens into the eastern Skell valley. In 1760, after acquiring the neighbouring Fountains estate, William incorporated the abbey ruins into his new pleasure grounds.

The original Studley Royal House within this wider estate dated back to the 13th century. A fire in 1716 forced John Aislabie to rebuild and he did so in the popular Palladian style, with a main block and projecting wings. His son William then added a portico in 1762. The 1st Marquess of Ripon introduced further modifications, including a new entrance hall, a royal suite, and a Catholic chapel in 1878. Tragically, the house was again destroyed by another conflagration in 1946. With repairs deemed too costly, the Vyner family demolished the remaining structure.

With the main house lost, its Georgian stable block, built between 1728 and 1732 to house Aislabie’s racehorses, survived alone and saw conversion into an elegant country house set within 2.5 acres of formal gardens with views across the deer park toward Ripon Cathedral. Also Palladian in style, it features distinctive pavilion towers at each corner and encloses a central courtyard dominated by a working clock tower.

The estate later passed through the Vyner family, who sold the property to West Riding County Council in 1966. In 1983, North Yorkshire County Council transferred ownership to the National Trust, and in 1986, UNESCO designated Studley Royal Park a World Heritage Site.

Today, though the original house is gone, the estate as a whole welcomes over half a million people per year.

Address: Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, Ripon, HG4 3DY


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