Читать книгу Walking in the Yorkshire Dales: North and East. Howgills, Mallerstang, Swaledale, Wensleydale, Coverdale and Nidderdale онлайн

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During the succeeding centuries, much of the region was gradually encompassed within vast monastic estates. Fountains Abbey and the priory at Bolton Abbey became the greatest landowners, but houses such as Furness on the Cumbrian coast and Bridlington far to the east also held significant tracts of land here. Under the careful administration and watchful eyes of the abbots and priors, the farms made their money from wool, as well as growing a range of staple crops. The monasteries also exploited the mineral resources of the region, mining for coal, lead and other metals.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century, ownership of much of the land eventually fell to individual freeholding farmers. By the 17th century, agricultural improvements and an expanding lead industry began to engender a climate of growing personal prosperity, and brought with it a new confidence that was translated into building in stone. It is from this era that the earliest domestic buildings survive, sturdily constructed from rough stone, with dressed blocks being reserved for corners, lintels and window openings. They reflect the local geology, in limestone, gritstone, and heavy stone flags for the roofs. Although largely utilitarian and lacking ornate decoration, individualism is nevertheless displayed in the carvings of dates and initials on lintels above doorways.