Huby's Tower

The tower at Fountains Abbey near Ripon has to be one of the finest structures in England. It still stands, though roofless, despite the ravages of Reformation and passing time. Its huge height, 180 feet, is remarkable, and it is now the most visible feature of that World Heritage Site. It is a token of the old monks’ prestige and enormous wealth, orginally built by Abbot Huby around 1526.

In the Volume 82, 2010, Issue 1 of the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Michael Carter wrote an article entitled The Tower of Abbot Marmaduke Huby of Fountains Abbey: Hubris or Piety? Carter thinks that the tower was the product of the then abbot’s deep devotion, considering the texts he had sculpted around the walls, some of which may still be read. Others think it a symbol of his overweening pride, carving also his family crests into the stonework. Whatever his motive, it was ruinous or at least empty within the decade, as the monasteries were nationalised and then privatised. Only God knows Huby’s heart, and the reasons for building so lavish a tower. Whether piety or pride, its days were numbered. Well might Isaiah the prophet remark (40:8):

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.

And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:4