Fountains Abbey

Designated a World Heritage Site in 1986.

Fountains Abbey with Studley Royal Water Garden (www.fountainsabbey.org.uk/) can be found 4 miles west of Ripon in North Yorkshire. This 822-acre estate is owned by the National Trust and holds outstanding historic and aesthetic importance. With around 300,000 visitors a year, it's the National Trust's most visited pay-for-entry property.

The Abbey is England's largest monastic ruin. It was founded in 1132 by 13 Benedictine monks seeking a simpler life who went on to become the Cistercian monks. The Abbey flourished over the next few centuries until its life came to an abrupt end in 1539 by Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The Studley Royal Estate was a separate estate from Fountains Abbey until 1767. John Aislabie inherited the estate in 1693 and devoted the rest of his life to creating the famous Water Garden.
In 1767 John Aislabie's son, William, bought the abbey ruins and continuing his father's vision landscaping the abbey ruins into a picturesque and extravagant ornament to be viewed from the Water Garden.

If you visit the estate, you'll find year-round activities for families, fascinating walks and guided tours highlighting the history and beauty of this unique site, and special evening events, including concerts with fireworks, theatre and opera. In the autumn the Abbey is floodlit at weekends, with the sounds of choirs singing in the Cellarium.