In 1132 a group of monks left St. Mary’s Benedictine Abbey in York to found a new, more devout, monastery. Within three years, the little settlement at Fountains had been admitted into the austere Cistercian order. Most of the abbey buildings date from between 1140 and 1270, though the north tower was added in Henry VIII’s reign. The abbey was closed down in 1539 and the abbot, prior and monks were sent away with pensions. The estate was sold by the crown to a merchant, Sir Richard Gresham. It remained in private hands until the 1960s.
More information:

http://www.fountainsabbey.org.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountains_Abbey