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Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal

With RoadTour you can hear about Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal and over 1500 other UK Heritage sites via your SatNav or Mobile as you drive! Pub & Restaurant guides also available. Buy RoadTour now online for your vacation to the UK...

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“The Abbey was established by Benedictine monks seeking a simpler life after a dispute at St Mary’s Abbey in York. Although said to be "more fit for wild beasts than men to inhabit", it had all the essential materials for creating a monastery. There was shelter, stone and timber for building, and plenty of water. The monks joined the Cistercian order three years after its establishment, and the abbey prospered – so much so that it became anything but a simple lifestyle. At least until the 14th century when economic collapse followed a combination of bad harvests, Scots raids, and the Black Death. After the ‘Dissolution’, the Abbey buildings and 500 acres (202 ha) of land were sold by the Crown to a merchant, Sir Richard Gresham. The property passed down Sir Richard's family before being sold to Stephen Proctor, who built Fountains Hall in the 17th century- partly with stone from the Abbey ruins. John Aislabie later inherited Studley and his dream was to transform the wild and wooded valley. He was expelled from Parliament in 1721 for his part in the ‘South Sea Bubble’ scandal in which many rich and powerful people lost a lot of money – giving him the opportunity to spend the last 21 years of his life creating the Water Garden. His son, William was the one who completed the vision, buying the Abbey ruins in 1767, and landscaping the Seven Bridges Valley. ”

Address:

Fountains, Ripon, North Yorkshire
HG4 3DY
Visit Website

Opening Hours:

1 Mar-31 Oct: daily 10-5pm
1 Nov-28 Feb: Sat-Thu 10-4pm

Prices:

Adult: £7.50
Child: £4
Family: £20

Facilties:

See more Historic Homes in North of England:

“Brilliant information, have used several of the pubs and visited many of the properties. Some that I didn’t know were so close to home. Keep up the good work.”
Steve, UK

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Graham, London

“The content is good and the level of detail about right, enough to pique your interest but not so much that you feel you're attending a lecture.”
Sam, Manchester

“I've used the programme a few times now on my travels and it does add a good deal of value to a journey so I'm very happy with my purchase.”
John, UK

“The Audio commentary on the Garmin was well narrated and definitely had the feel of the audio guides you get when you are walking around the landmarks themselves”.
Linda, New Jersey

“Finding atmospheric pubs with good food is always a challenge when you don't know the area and can be stressful when you're hungry and tired!!”
David, Essex

“Road Tour has found us some great pubs which have made our journeys all the more enjoyable. Every place it's suggested has been a winner.”
Nikki, Cambridgeshire'

“The heritage commentary is really informative and entertaining – it’s great to discover the background to the brown tourist signs we normally whizz by on the motorway.”
Michael, Reading

“This is the perfect thing for history buffs - RoadTour really brings boring car journeys to life.”
Guy, London

“It doesn't intrude on the journey it complements it with just enough information if you are not stopping at the attraction.”
Robin, Scotland