Abbott Huby's Wall

Marmaduke Huby was Abbot of Fountains Abbey near Ripon from 1494 till 1526. He is remembered for restoring the fortunes of the Abbey after a period of decline. He was responsible for the repair of the Abbey buildings and the building of a tower on the north isle of the Church in Fountains to replace the unsafe central tower. It is called Huby’s tower. He was responsible for building Chapels locally in Bewerley, Sawley and Winksley (rebuilt in 1917).
Marmaduke Huby was appointed Master of the medieval hospital of St Mary Magdalen in Ripon in 1506 and may well have held the post until 1522. The Chapel built in the early days of the hospital (1132) still stands and is in regular use. The Master is now the Dean of Ripon.
In 1505 Abbot Huby planned to establish a cell of Cistercian monks in Ripon. He obtained from the Archbishop of York and prebendaries of Ripon, the ancient Chapel of our Lady which stood near the Minster on the site of the old monastery. He began the building of a fair high wall* of squared stone around the Chapel garth but only completed the wall on the east side before the project was abandoned.
In the meantime, he had pulled down the east end of the Chapel of our Lady (a piece of exceeding ancient work*) and replaced it with new squared stone. The west end, of very old work*, he left standing.

* Itinerary of John Leland 1535-1543

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The wall, as we see it today, is not the most stiking historic feature in Ripon, but the part of the wall built of squared stone is 520 years old and while the Lady chapel and the old monastery have disppeared, the wall remains.