2021 OCTOBER VISIT TO FOUNTAINS ABBEY NEAR RIPON NORTH YORKSHIRE
Good day readers
I live in Ripon in the UK and recently went to the nearby World
Heritage Site at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal. I didn’t go into the water
gardens (perhaps a later blog) but stayed mainly around the abbey.
I parked in the carpark at the Visitor Centre that has toilets, shop
and restaurant. The abbey is a short walk from the visitors centre
predominantly downhill. If the walk back up is daunting then you can get a lift
in the from either the Fountains Hall or Studley Roger entry points. For those
people who need a level access then the Fountains Hall entry point is accessed
from a level car park and there are mobility scooters that can be booked in
advance.
The abbey was founded in 1132 by Benedictine monks dissatisfied with
the luxury of their existing abbey at York. Their severe lifestyle later
allowed them to switch to the Cistercian Order. The Cistercians dedicated their
lives to prayer and worship whilst lay-brothers were used to carry out the day
to day tasks of farming, lead mining, sheep rearing and cattle. In the 14th century the monks suffered bad harvest, raids by the Scots and
the Bubonic plague. They recovered from this and the abbey became very wealthy.
Huby’s tower was built in the early part of the 16th century, however, in the mid 16th century Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and used the wealth
to fund the country. Selling the lands to Sir Richard Gresham gained more funds
for the realm.
John and William Aislabie built the water gardens and it is
predominantly the gardens that led to Studley Roger becoming recognised as a
World Heritage Site. The abbey is the largest monastic ruin in the UK. The
lands were in private ownership until they became the property of the West
Yorkshire County Council in the 1960s. WYMCC did subsistence maintenance until
the estate was bought by the NT in the 1980s. Since then a considerable amount
of time and monies have been used to bring and maintain the estate to WH
standards.
During the summer of 2019 a number of contemporary (and temporary)
large scale works of public sculpture were commissioned by the NT, however due
to Covid they were not installed at FASR until the summer of 2021. Originally
four sculptures were installed, one was removed at the beginning of September
21, a further one was removed later in September and the final two are to be
removed at the end of October 2021. Some visitors find the contrast between the
old follies on the estate and the new sculptures fascinating whereas some have
given them a lukewarm reception. It is like all art installations a matter of
personal taste.
I have included a photo of one of the sculptures and a view of the
abbey showing Huby’s tower. The tower often hosts a peregrine falcon during the
year and the waterways around the abbey hosts dippers, kingfishers and herons.
My book Port
St James: Cliff Farm was published by Austin Macauley on
31st August 2021and is available on line,
from most bookshops and as an ebook. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I
did writing the novel. If so please post a review on
https://austinmacauley.com/book/port-st-james
Thank you and all the best Philippa
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