Selby Abbey was the first Norman monastic foundation in the north of England after the Conquest.  In 1069 a monk called Benedict of Auxerre voyaged from France and landed at a bleak marsh beside the Ouse.  There he saw three swans alight on the water which reminded him of a vision he had seen before he left France. He decided that this should be the site for his new Abbey (and the symbol of the three swans eventually became the Abbey's crest).  William the Conqueror was at York during a pause in his 'harrying of the North'.  He heard of Benedict's arrival and gave his support and patronage to the new Abbey.
The present North Transept and most of the Nave were built by Abbot Hugh in the early 12th century, during the reign of Henry 1.  It took 130 years to complete his plans.  The Choir was then rebuilt and enlarged in the Decorated style in the 14th century which is the date of the East Window (the Tree of Jesse).  Selby Abbey was dissolved as a monastery in 1539, and eventually taken over for parish worship.  Despite damage in the English Civil War, and the fire in 1906, the Abbey remains a splendid monastic building.