YORKSHIRE is famous for many things – not least its once powerful magnificent abbeys and monasteries.

A new book on all aspects of Yorkshire’s history relates how some of the most famous were founded out of hardship and tragedy to become enormously wealthy and influential.

Author Richard A Powell says that at their height they were “without doubt among the finest of their kind built anywhere in the Christian world”.

Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, is probably the most famous and was founded by a breakaway group of 12 monks who left St Mary’s Abbey, York, in 1132 seeking the more strenuous and disciplined religious life of the Cistercians.

The monks suffered real hardship – they had only bread to eat and drank water from the river – but their faith and hard work was rewarded.

By the time of Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536, its annual income was said to be £1,000.

Perhaps more impressive was the number of animals the monks kept on the pastures they had created – 1,000 sheep, 2,000 cattle, 100 horses and almost as many pigs.

Bolton Priory, near Skipton, was a powerful Augustinian creation which ranked among the most beautiful and magnificent of its kind.

Begun in 1154, it owed its existence to the tragic death of a young boy who was heir to the lands around Bolton.

His distressed mother decided to perpetuate her son’s memory by dedicating the land around Bolton to the monks of nearby Embsay – who built the magnificent priory.

Historic Yorkshire is fully illustrated and covers a wide range of topics including prehistoric and Roman Yorkshire; the historic city of York; coaching days; ghosts, folklore and legends and canals and railways.

Powell lived in Yorkshire for many years. He now lives in Spain but retains strong links in the county.

Illustrated with photographs, maps and line drawings, the book is in paperback and costs £9.99.

Historic Yorkshire is published by The History Press, The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Glos GL5 2QG. Tel 01453-883300 or visit www.thehistorypress.co.uk.