If you want to visit historic and romantic places in England, you’ll be very pleased with this destination. Fountains Abbey is said to be one of the largest and best-preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England. This is also a place where nature offers a wonderful scene. The Abbey is located north of England, near Leeds, York and Lake District. It now belongs to the National Trust. There’s a lot of history there and I particularly enjoyed the walk in the magnificent gardens…

A long and tumultuous history

In 1132, after a dispute and riot at the Benedictine house of St Mary’s Abbey in York, 13 monks came at Fountains Abbey to start a simpler life. After enduring a severe winter in 1133, the monks applied to join the Cistercian order and in 1135 became the second house of that order in northern England. The monks subjected themselves to Clairvaux Abbey, in Burgundy (France), which was under the rule of St Bernard. And the group learned how to live in accordance with Cistercian practice.
Over 400 years later, Henri VIII asked for the closure of the Abbey, which offers now the most complete Cistercian Abbey that remains in England…
I felt overwhelmed by the religious past of the place and really impressed by the size of the buildings and the fields.

Magnificent Water Gardens

In the early 18th-century John Aislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1718, turned the wild and wooded valley into one of England’s most remarkable Georgian water gardens. Nature was then magnified, combining rigour and freedom to create wonderful gardens…
Everything is made for everyone to feel at ease: whether you like to follow the paths and look at the many viewpoints, or if you prefer to get close to the many water points and bathe in the sun quietly…

John Aislabie was inspired by the work of French landscape gardeners and he created the Water Garden with a formal and geometric design. He added also many classical statues you can see all along the paths.

You can easily spend the day there without noticing the time! And kids can enjoy large playing fields inside or outside the ruins…Kites were on hand for the occasion and we could feel a communicative joy the day of our visit, full of colours (with flowers and … kites in the sky!) and relaxed atmosphere (especially with kids and dogs running everywhere!).

I think the revival of the Abbey, through these visits and crowds, is the best thing we could think of for the Abbey. The spirit of joy and peace was everywhere…what better achievement after such a tumultuous history?
Have you ever visited Fountains Abbey? Leave your comments on this blog …