The magnificent St Mary's Church is one of the finest examples of High Victorian Gothic Revival architecture in England. It was designed in the 1870s by the architect William Burges. Set within Studley Royal Park, a World Heritage Site which also includes the ruins of Fountains Abbey, the church has been called Burges's 'ecclesiastical masterpiece'. The church was built by the Marquess and Marchioness of Ripon following a tragic family death in 1870.