St Mary's Abbey, York

St Mary's Abbey first built in 1088.

These ruins are all that remains of one of the wealthiest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries in England. It was begun by William the Conqueror to reinforce his hold on the north after 1066 and ended by Henry the Eighth as a consequence of his Reformation of the church.

Today the Museum Gardens were very busy with hordes of folk enjoying the sunshine. I just managed to get a shot without people from where I was sitting enjoying a coffee.