Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal
West Yorkshire
Fountains Abbey forms part of a World Heritage Site, along with the gardens of Studley Royal, within the 900 acre Fountains Estate. The estate is owned by the National Trust, while the abbey itself is maintained by English Heritage under a guardianship agreement. The grounds include the spectacular ruins of the twelfth century Cistercian abbey and working monastic watermill, an Elizabethan mansion, one of the best surviving examples of an eighteenth century Georgian water garden, a Victorian Gothic church and the 330 acre deer park.
The abbey’s former wealth is reflected in the magnificence of what are the most complete Cistercian remains in England. The visitor centre houses a restaurant, shop and audio-visual theatre. The water garden consists of elegant ornamental lakes, canals, temples and cascades providing a succession of dramatic eye-catching vistas. St Mary’s Church is located in the medieval deer park, home to 500 deer, some 300 acres of earthworks from a deserted medieval village and a wealth of flora and fauna. The water mill has recently been fully restored, returning its waterwheel to working order, as well as introducing an interpretation of the building’s many uses, and putting on display some finds from the abbey. The Fountains Estate offers such a variety of experiences that one day is hardly enough to take full advantage of it.
Volunteers daily offer guided walks of the abbey ruins and the water garden, and also of the whole estate, while staff offer additional in depth tours on a periodic programme. The grounds are often used as a venue for open air theatre and concerts. School groups can make use of the dedicated education resource centre at Swanley Grange farm, with hands-on activities. There is also a children’s quiz trail around the site. Educational packages exist for all ages using both the remains of the abbey and the gardens, which are charged at varying rates. Pupils can explore a monk’s daily life, create designs for tiled floors, use their senses to explore the ruins and learn about science along the way, view the grounds using maps and begin to interpret archaeological evidence. A professional artist can lead pupils in creating their own works of art based on what they see at the site. There are also packages that concentrate on literacy and maths. Staff on the site also provide help and support on request for tertiary students studying subjects relating to the estate’s history or current management. DH
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