03/09/2026
Where did the money come from to build some of Yorkshire's fine houses, churches & abbeys? Why do places like Masham, Skipton and Richmond have such large market squares or trading areas, and how did 'poor' monks afford to build such enormous and beautiful abbeys?
It all goes back to the Vikings and something we take for granted and which has far less monetary value now - sheep and wool.
The Vikings brought their own breeds of black-faced sheep with horns. These were the ancestors of Swaledale, Blackface, and Herdwicks. Britainâs woollen industry and wool exports steadily grew. The largest flocks of sheep belonged to the monasteries and abbeys. By the 1100s wool was the driving force of the English economy.
The Woolsack became the seat for the Lord speaker in the House of Lords. King Edward III introduced it as a reminder of England's key source of wealth and sign of great prosperity. It was largely thanks to King Edward III that the wool trade prospered. A great deal of British wool was exported to Flanders to be made into cloth, and then imported back into Britain.
The Flemish weavers were apparently discontent with their working conditions. In 1331 Edward III invited around 50 Flemish master weavers to settle in Britain with the proviso that they must each take on at least one English apprentice. They taught the arts of textile processing and added value to the woollen trade.
Over the next few years the textile industry flourished. The monks in abbeys such as Fountains Abbey &
Jervaulx Abbey, Rievaulx Abbey and Byland Abbey were renowned for their sheep farming. Sheep were crucial to them: they used wool for clothing and bedding and sold it at market alongside lamb, cheese and butter. They even used sheep skins for parchment.
By 1300, Fountains Abbey was the leading producer and exporter of wool. Their extensive lands stretched over to Malham Moor. Fountains Abbey had an enormous wool warehouse, a fulling mill and dye-vats.
The monks at Jervaulx Abbey were the first to produce Wensleydale cheese made from ewes milk. Wool became an increasingly valuable commodity and was traded internationally, with a very strong market in Italy. The richness of the ecclesiastical architecture of the abbeys built during this time can still be seen.
After Henry VIII seized the lands of the monasteries, much of the land was sold off and let to local people. Lowland pastures and arable land were eventually enclosed, leaving the upland hills as pastures for grazing sheep.
Sheep had to be âdrivenâ from farm to market, usually along established routes known as droversâ lanes. Goods such as wool and knitted clothing were often traded at markets established on the fringes of the Yorkshire Dales, in places like Richmond where farmers from outside the Dales brought corn.
Itâs easy to spot evidence of earlier open air markets, such as the cobbled square in the middle of Grassington or remains of market crosses in Austwick, Askrigg, Clapham and Masham.
Visit Masham and you'll soon spot one of the biggest market squares in Northern England. It dates back from medieval times when it was a major sheep trading market, thanks to its proximity to Jervaulx and Fountains Abbey. The Masham Sheep Fair is still held over the last weekend in September (come & visit - you'll find me selling programmes in the trailer in the middle of the square!)
Sheep are said to have been farmed in Skipton since the 7th century and the townâs name comes from the Saxon word for sheep. Skiptonâs origins are rooted in its time as an important trading centre for sheep and wool. Legend has it that when Cromwell ordered the removal of the Skipton Castke roof in 1645, sheep fleeces were hung over the walls and used to deaden the impact from the cannon fire!
