How Hill Tower

About

How Hill Tower is a historic 18th century building at Studley Royal Park, a World Heritage Site in North Yorkshire, in England, close to the site of, and/or incorporating the remains of, an earlier medieval chapel. An earlier structure on the site, the Chapel of Saint Michael de Monte, was built for Fountains Abbey in the 13th century. This became a minor medieval pilgrimage site.

Visitors to the site could see both York Minster and Ripon Cathedral from its summit. The flooring was made of mosaic tiles, similar to those attributed to a painted pavement dating to between 1236 and 1247. Marmaduke Huby either repaired or rebuilt it between 1494 and 1526.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries it initially served local women, but was abandoned by 1600 and fell into ruin. In 1719, John Aislabie commissioned a folly tower, as part of his initial design of Studley Royal Park, adjacent to (and possibly re-using stones from) the ruins of the old chapel. Likely designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, the view from the tower extended across the Studley estates, and York could even be seen 26 miles (42 km) away.

In 1737, gaming tables were installed, while later in the century, the tower and further chapel...