Yorkshire Museum and Gardens, Garden Edition

After finishing up with the museum, we headed out to the gardens of the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens. The main attraction there is the very climbable ruins of St. Mary's Abbey. First built in 1088, this Benedictine monastery was dissolved (along with all the other monasteries) by King Henry VIII in the 1530s and 1540s. It slowly fell into ruin and is now the home of the museum.

The children were excited as soon as they saw it because, let's face it, nothing's more fun than climbing all over ruins.

Hey, wait for me!!!

Large doorway and walls

Jacob comes through the doorway

Lucy climbs what's left of the pillars supporting the church

Relaxing after a tough climb

Pushups are better at high altitudes

Climbing this one made me nervous

Jacob the Stylite

Trying to drive Fred Flintstone's car

We walked down the hillside from the abbey ruins to discover a Tudor-style building that was large and empty inside. A sign said it was available for rental, I assume for weddings or other big celebrations.

Not open for climbing

Later research (i.e. online research) shows this was the "hospitium." The ground floor is medieval and was originally used as a guest house or a barn for the abbey. It was rebuilt in a newer style in the 20th century.

Several gardens graced this area. I tried to keep the kids out but one area was just too tempting. Luckily the main feature is the stones that look perfect for walking across.

My advice: don't have this layout if you don't want children wandering through

We headed back toward the entrance and saw that we just missed our bus. Luckily, the next one would be along in ten minutes, so we went back through the main gate and explored the nearby tunnel.

Admiring the signs

Where did the bus go?

Lucy finds her niche

This area was the location of St. Leonard's Hospital, where the sick and poor in York were taken care of. The hospital even provided meals for prisoners in York Castle.

The one thing we didn't see that I would have liked to was the Observatory. It isn't very large but who isn't interested in astronomy? Alas, it's only open on Saturdays from 1130 to 1430. And every second Tuesday of the month. Not exactly convenient. Maybe over the summer when Jacob is out of school we will visit again!