Unfortunately the surrender deed that the community
signed on 26 November 1539, and which ended monastic life at Fountains,
has not survived. However, other sixteenth-century documents, pre-
and post-dating the Dissolution of the abbey, reveal much about
monastic life at Fountains at the close of the Middle Ages. These
include a lease book, compiled during the abbacies of William
Thirsk and Marmaduke
Huby, the last two abbots of Fountains. The community
had apparently retained much of its land in hand until shortly
before the Dissolution, and the lease book reveals details about
the duties of tenants and keepers.(5) An
inventory taken at the time of
the Dissolution
lists the weight and value of gold and silver plate belonging to
the abbey. It mentions a gold cross, set with stones, wherein lay
part of Christ’s cross, weighing fourteen ounces and valued
at £30 2s; an image of St James weighed over sixty ounces.(6) A
list of pensions awarded to the monks
upon their surrender of the abbey has also survived.(7)
ÔFarewell freedomÕ Excavations
at the abbey in the nineteenth century revealed an interesting piece
of graffiti on the walls of the former prison: the words Vale libertas (ÔFarewell freedomÕ) had been etched
onto the wall. The fact that this was a Latin inscription suggests that
disobedient monks, rather than lay-brothers, were kept here. Sadly this
inscription is no longer visible.
Many visual remains of monastic life at Fountains
survive to complement these written documents. These include a
wide-range of artefacts
recovered during excavation of the site, such as wax seals, taps,
a sickle head, rings, meat bones, pieces of sculpture, the tombs
of former abbots and patrons, and even graffiti. Not least of
all, the magnificent ruins of Fountains are a fine tribute and
testimony to monastic life at the abbey during the
Middle Ages, and can shed considerable light on the history,
life and organisation of the community.