Radweg Way of Roses

Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. It is located approximately 3 miles (5 kilometres) south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for 407 years becoming one of the wealthiest monasteries in England until its dissolution in 1539 under the order of Henry VIII.

The abbey is a Grade I listed building owned by the National Trust and part of the designated Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The abbey was founded in 1132 by a group of monks who’d been expelled from the Benedictines. (Rioting, rowdiness, just the usual.) They were allowed however to affiliate with the Cistercians, and their abbey took shape in the following decades, in Cistercian Norman style. Its fortunes fell, rose and fell again over the centuries until Henry VIII dissolved all the monasteries in 1539. The land came into the hands of the Mallory and Aislabie families, and John Aislabie began beautifying the area with a landscaped water garden. He certainly had the time, it’s amazing he still had the money, having being expelled from Parliament in 1720 for near-bankrupting the nation through the disastrous “South Sea Bubble” (just the usual for a Chancellor of the Exchequer). Apart from the water garden, he and his family renovated Studley Royal Hall and added Fountains Hall (neither can be visited) and a deer park. St Mary’s Church was erected in the grounds in the 19th C, paid for with the unspent ransom for Frederick Grantham Vyner, murdered in 1870 by Greek bandits before they could collect. The Choristers House is a charming Victorian Gothic creation within the grounds. Formerly a music school, nowadays it’s let by the National Trust as a holiday cottage and isn’t open to the public. (Some cottage: five bedrooms, sleeps ten.) Start by seeing the abbey itself, then move on through the gardens & grounds.

Ripon is a small cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England. Its main attraction is the cathedral, and the nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site of Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden. It’s also a good base for exploring the Yorkshire Dales.

Ripon claims to be the oldest city in England, and it’s certainly one of the smallest, with a population of about 17,000.

See

In town, stroll the ancient streets, and the highlight is the Cathedral. The Law & Order Museum is on three sites: the Workhouse Museum, the Courthouse Museum, and the Police & Prison Museum, you buy a combined ticket for a Rake’s Progress of social decline. The market is held in the Square on Thursdays. At 9 pm every evening the Watchman blows his horn here, as he has every night since 886 AD, to warn everyone to get indoors, safe from marauding Vikings. The horn was originally presented by King Alfred the Great, to symbolise Ripon’s charter as a city, and to remind folk to stay vigilant against the foes he’d defeated.

• ⊙ Cathedral, Minster Rd HG4 1QT. M-Sa 08:30-18:00, Su 12:00-17:00. The oldest part of the building is the Saxon Crypt, the only remnant of the stone church built here in 672 AD by St Wilfred. It’s been continually added to, smashed down and rebuilt ever since, so the present fourth incarnation of the building is mostly Gothic and Early English. (updated Aug 2018)
• Law & Order Museum (Workhouse, Courthouse and Prison & Police Museums), ☏ +44 1765 690799. Daily March-Nov. Combined ticket (valid for 12 months): Adult £13, conc £12.50, adult plus one child (6-15) £19. Individual museum entry also available, as below. (updated Aug 2018)
  • ⊙ Workhouse Museum & Garden, 76 Allhallowgate HG4 1LE. 10:00-16:00. £6.50, £6, child £5. (updated Aug 2018)
  • ⊙ Courthouse Museum, Minster Road HG4 1QS. 10:00-16:00. £4.50, £4, child £3.75. (updated Aug 2018)
  • ⊙ Prison & Police Museum, St Marygate HG4 1LX. 10:00-16:00. £6.50, £6, child £5. (updated Aug 2018)