serlo, then abbot of savigny, disapproved of the foundation, as it had been made without his knowledge and consent. he refused to supply it with monks from his abbey because of the great difficulties experienced by those he had previously sent into england. he therefore, in a general chapter, proposed that it should be transferred to the abbey of belland (byland) which was closer and would be able to lend the necessary assistance required by the new foundation. monks were sent from byland and after undergoing great hardships because of the meagreness of their endowment and sterility of their lands, conan, son to alan, 1st earl of richmond, greatly increased their revenues and, in 1156, removed their monastery to a better location in east witton, the present situation. here the monks erected a new church and monastery, which, like most of the cistercian order, was dedicated to st mary. at the height of its prosperity the abbey owned half of the valley and was renowned for breeding horses, a tradition that remains in middleham to the present day. it was also the original home of wensleydale cheese. in 1279 abbot philip of jervaulx was murdered by one of his monks.