Following the Norman invasion of Britain in 1066 there was a period during the next 200 years of a series of building not only building castles but also Abbeys and Monasteries. In Yorkshire alone there were over a dozen built, and these were built of stone and replaced the wooden Anglo Saxon structures. They did have one thing in common though; they had extensive libraries, which allowed them to become great places of learning, and as we all know knowledge is power.


Some of the richest abbeys and monasteries in England were in Yorkshire at places like St Mary’s Abbey in York, Fountains Abbey near Ripon and Rievaulx Abbey near Helmsley. In addition to the religious aspect of their lives they were also great natural philosophers noting everything that was happening around them into natural world.