A Grand Day Out!

Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal. National Trust. North Yorkshire.
It was the first time we have ever been here for a visit.
I absolutely loved it.
It’s only a 26 minute drive away from my sister’s.
It was designated a World Heritage Site in 1986.
The Abbey has been standing on the floor of the valley of the River Skell for more than 800 years. A thousand years ago most of the land by the river belonged to the Archbishop of York.
The monks found the valley when they arrived in December 1132 to start a new abbey. Centuries of history in those ancient bricks and stones, which I touched and ran my fingers over, wondering how on earth they managed to build it! Henry VIII has a lot to answer for after he came along and destroyed most of it!
We spent ages exploring the old ruins and reading the history of each section, with a guide that our friend loaned to us earlier in the week. He said “You’ll love it”.,
He was so right
You feel as if you’ve only scratched the surface even after a day’s visit. The adjacent Studley Royal Water Garden itself has so much to see that having visited the Abbey, even after a couple of hours walking round the beautiful wooded parkland there was still more to see.
Like one of the ladies at the visitor centre remarked “You really need two days”, after I’d said how much I had enjoyed our time there.
It made up for the disappointment of not being able to go to Bolton Abbey yesterday. (I hadn’t felt well the previous night).
It will be our last day here tomorrow and the intention is to go and see Harlow Carr RHS gardens which are fairly nearby.
I am behind with comments. I’ll catch up eventually.
Photo of the Cellarium, lockable storage for food and produce, in extras