Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens near Ripon in North Yorkshire make a great day out at any time of year. The properties are cared for by the National Trust and have UNESCO World Heritage status. The photos here are from a recent visit on a snowy winter’s day.
Fountains Abbey on a snowy winter’s day
Surrounding landscape
The ruins of Fountains Abbey are hugely impressive and atmospheric. They are the largest monastic ruins in the country, situated in a sheltered wooded valley with limestone outcrops.
Impressive ruins of the abbey
You can easily spend an hour or two exploring the buildings, and wondering what life would have been like for the Cistercian monks who lived here.
Bridge to the ruins
The undercroft (photo obtained from Pixabay.com)
Studley Royal Water Gardens and Park, in which the abbey is situated, are great for stretching the legs. Well constructed paths allow you to wander around the beautiful Georgian water gardens. There are lovely views of the abbey and surrounding hills and woods.
View of the Abbey from a waterside path
Temple of Piety and statues in the Water Gardens
Colourful trees
Swans love the water gardens too
Being lovers of nature and trees, we particularly like to explore the paths through the ancient woodland. There are some magnificent old trees.
Ancient yew tree
Path through woodland
Yew tree growing from a rocky bank
Some of the trees look decidedly precarious, as the slope they are growing on has been gradually eroded.
Precarious trees on an eroded slope
Yew tree roots growing over a bare rock
There are also some interesting follies to discover within the gardens and woods.
Octagon Tower
Folly
If you are in the North of England it is definitely worth spending a day exploring Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal. And if you have only visited during the summer, remember that the abbey and gardens are equally beautiful on a frosty or snowy winter’s day.
PRACTICALITIES
The visitor centre at Fountains Abbey has a large restaurant and excellent gift shop. There is also a charming tea room situated by a lake in the Studley Royal Water Gardens, and another smaller tea room which is open in the summer.
Lakeside tea room – there are also tables inside!
If you like to visit National Trust properties regularly, membership makes a lot of sense.
As a member you get free access to over 500 National Trust properties (including National Trust for Scotland), and free parking in many NT car parks. Just a few visits will recover the membership fee and you will then be saving money. You can visit as often as you like, and you will be contributing towards the care and maintenance of these very special places.
For information on how to get to Fountains Abbey, opening times, access and prices for non-members see this page.
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