Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, Yorkshire, England

Fountains Abbey was a spot we visited frequently when we lived in England, so we were sure to go back. The abbey was a flourishing Cistercian Abbey until Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. It fell into ruins. They took the lead roof (lead being highly valuable) and locals used the nice pre-cut stone to build other things. A lot of the abbey is still standing and is still an impressive sight about five hundred years later.

Abbey Tower

West wall/entrance

Nave

The River Skell behind the refectory (dining hall)

The river runs through part of the Abbey!

Cellarium, for storage

Guest houses of Fountains Abbey

The main attraction here for my children was the playground, which does have a lot of structures to play on. It was a favorite eight years ago too.

Walking after a climb

Resting in the middle of a challenge

Sliding down

Zip line

Zip line zoomed in

Crossing a rope bridge

Another challenging climb

What am I supposed to do here?

New watchtower addition (at least it's new to us)

At the same obstacle

Sharing a swing

The fields have other sights like sheep, a small building on wool processing, and lots of plants.

Field of sheep

A sample garden

Studley Royal was visited less by us. It's a slightly longer walk from the abbey ruins so we only explored little bits of it in the past. We walked around a lot more on this visit, seeing the water park that served to impress visitors and locals. In 1676, William Aislabie (owner of Studley Royal) was able to purchase the abbey ruins and Fountains Hall for eighteen thousand pounds. He began making improvements, building ritzy gardens from the ruins all the way to his home. We did not see the house.

Gates to Studley Royal

Studley Lake

Better view of the water

The lake was the scene of an epic tragedy. The afternoon wind was strong and a gust took my Baltimore Ravens cap from my head and deposited it in the lake. We had no way to reach it and no one to report it to, so that was the end of that.

Canal connecting the River Skell to the lake

Amazing tree roots

Semi-circular lakes along the walking path

Statue of Poseidon in the lake

Statue zoomed in

Along the canal is a building called "Temple of Piety." It is not too big and seems more like a place to shelter if the rain catches visitors off guard. Another impressive bit for visitors, I am sure.

Temple of Piety

Inside the temple

One of the busts

Temple of Fame up on a ridge

Upper canal

Canal corner

All three attractions (ruins, water garden, and playground) are worth a visit anytime you are in the area.