Walking around Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal is a very pleasurable pastime with much to see. It is a World Heritage site and has ancient buildings, manicured lawns, a river walk, reflecting pools, follies, a deer park, a Church, two cafes, two shops, a lake, a valley with lots of little stone arched bridges crossing over the river Skell, the valley is imaginatively named ‘Valley of the Seven Bridges’. The one thing you may not expect to encounter as you wander around this wonderful place is two men, butt naked, fighting and wrestling on the lawn! Very cheeky! I photographed the sculpture from an angle that best preserves the modesty of the two chaps.

The walks are very gentle and mostly flat with one exception being the path up to High Ride where three follies can be seen, Anne Boleyn’s seat provides a superb view up the Skell to the Abbey, this is a favourite with wedding photographers. Temple of fame is a circular structure with a domed roof being held up by stone pillars. Octagon Tower is also a good viewpoint and from there you descend via the Serpentine Tunnel back to the main paths.

All in all Fountains Abbey is a very pleasant and interesting place to visit. It is a favourite with young families for picnics and somewhere the kids can run themselves into the ground. I find it best to visit midweek during school term time 🙂