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Byland Abbey: History
Byland Abbey: Buildings
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Mining and quarrying Byland engaged in industrial as well as agricultural work, to provide all the necessary building materials, tools and domestic implements required by the community. The monks therefore secured rights to quarry stone for building and roofing, and to mine minerals and cut turf. The community had turbaries at Deepdale and Kambe, quarries at Claverley and Denby, and mining rights in Kirkby Malzeard and Denby.(64) The Nidderdale region was particularly rich in minerals, but rival interests here led to conflict with the monks of Fountains. This culminated in a bitter dispute in the 1220s over rights to mine the Tankersley Ore.(65) The General Chapter denounced their bickering as a disgrace to the Order, but the fact that both communities considered this a fight worth pursuing underlines the importance of lead-mining rights in the region. Lead was highly much valued and was particularly important for roofing, water-piping and guttering.
The site at Byland is today renowned for the stunning remnants of mosaic floor tiling in the church. This is particularly impressive in the south transept and offers a glimpse of just how magnificent the interior of the church would have been in the Middle Ages. The community had a tilery at ‘Tile House grange’, which was established at Old Byland when the monks relocated to Stocking in 1147. However, the fact that the tiles at Byland, Fountains, Meaux and Rievaulx are similar in design and were manufactured using the same techniques suggests that whilst they were made at different kilns, they were probably fashioned by the same men. (66) |