There was already a chapel in Bewerley in 1175 when Roger de Mowbray gave lands in the area to Fountains Abbey. Roger was also a patron of the Abbey of Byland and it was there that he finished his life as a Cistercian monk and was interred in 1195.
A significant innovation of the Cistercian order was the creation of a second type of monk, the lay brother, who lived under monastic vows, but whose life was devoted to labour. It was they who ran the monastery's farms, or granges, and such a grange was established at Bewerley. A grange was more than simply a farm, in order to sustain the lay brother's theological life away from the monastery, it was also furnished with a chapel.
The present chapel was built during the Abbacy of Marmaduke Huby, 1494 to 1526. His initials, "M.H." can be seen on the walls and the motto "HONOR ET GLORIA" (To God Alone Honour and Glory). Bewerley Grange remained in the possession of Fountains until the dissolution, when it was valued at £16 16s 8d. Since the dissolution it has been both a private dwelling and a school, before once more reverting to being a place of worship.
The following photograph, copied from Thomas Whitehead's book on the churches in Nidderdale (See Bibliography) shows the chapel in the early part of the 20th. Century, before the grounds to the rear of the chapel were sold off. It is still possible to visit these gardens on garden 'open' days, but it is very difficult to appreciate the chapel in this wider setting because of the way everything is now set out.
At present......
