Fountains Abbey

Fountains Abbey is approximately three miles south west of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England near to the village of Aldfield. Founded in 1132, the abbey operated for over 400 years, until 1539, when Henry VIII ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England.

The abbey is a Grade I listed building owned by the National Trust and part of the designated Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Read more about Fountains Abbey:  History, Architecture, Endowments and Economy, Post-monastic Development, Gallery

Famous quotes containing the words fountains and/or abbey:

    I’m hurt, hurt and humiliated beyond endurance, seeing the wheat ripening, the fountains never ceasing to give water, the sheep bearing hundreds of lambs, the she-dogs, until it seems the whole country rises to show me its tender sleeping young while I feel two hammer-blows here instead of the mouth of my child.
    Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)

    The Abbey always reminds me of that old toast, “Above lofty timbers, the walls around are bare, echoing to our laughter, as though the dead were there.”
    Garrett Fort (1900–1945)