What's on in the area

Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden

Daily

Cost: £6.50; family ticket £17.50

Hours: 10am-4pm (until 5pm in summer)
Grounds closed on Fri Nov-Feb

The 800-year old Cistercian Fountains Abbey is Britain's largest ruin and one of Yorkshire's most visited attractions. It includes the grand Elizabethan mansion, Fountains Hall, and the 18th-century Studley Royal Water Garden, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Studley Royal Garden was the long-term project of John Aislabie, a grandee Parliamentarian who ruined his reputation and was expelled from public life after his participation in the South Sea Bubble scandal in 1712. He devoted the last 30 years of his life to transforming a wild, wooded valley into the present day Water Garden.

The National Trust owns Fountains Abbey and the pointed arches and roofless halls provide a romantic backdrop to the landscaped garden. For a magnificent view of the Abbey, walk up to Anne Boleyn's Seat. Walk in the other direction to reach Fountains Hall, two rooms of which are open to the public. Or follow the water course past a rotunda folly, the Temple of Piety and the Gothic Octagon Tower to the Studley Royal Tearoom, where you can congratulate yourself after a long walk with a delicious cream tea.

Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden