Fountains Abbey - Studley Roger - Ripon - Fountains Abbey

Sam Roebuck

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Fountains Abbey - Studley Royal - Studley Roger - Ripon - Fountains Abbey

To quote National Trust's Fountains Abbey website:

'Yorkshire's first World Heritage Site is a huge estate of beauty, contrasts and surprises including the largest abbey ruins in the country and one of England's most spectacular Georgian water gardens.

The perfect place to escape from it all and enjoy a great, full day out, there's so much to see and do at Fountains. Set your own pace to explore over 800 acres of naturally beautiful countryside, with ten historic buildings to discover spanning 800 years of history and acre after acre of open space.'

You can start by exploring the abbey (National Trust members free, non-members please check the website for current prices), as an alternative to Waymarks 1 to 3, then continue with the walk from Waymark 4.

Soon after Waymark 4, we come across an obelisk (anyone know anything about the history of this?) beside the truly beautiful St Mary's Church and the Chorister's House. Now we're into the Studley Royal Deer Park and the route takes us down to the lake (used to hold a head of water for the abbey's famous water gardens.

The next leg of the walk takes us along the stunning, steep-sided gorge of the River Skell to the little estate village of Studley Roger, affording great views over Ripon Cathedral to the North York Moors (including the Kilburn White Horse).

After skirting Ripon itself, the return is on the higher ground above the abbey and the walk finishes with a great view down into the abbey grounds.

This walk is on the whole, quite dog-friendly.

For a shorter version of this walk, see Walk 5624.

England - North England - Yorkshire - Nidderdale

Features

Ancient Monument, Cafe, Church, Gift Shop, Great Views, Lake/Loch, National Trust, Public Transport, River, Stately Home, Tea Shop, Toilets, Woodland

3/4/2022 - JOHN MCCAFFREY

Did this walk 4 March 2022. We joined at waymark 10 and followed the route to the end, stopping off at Fountains Abbey for a short break. The weather was wet overnight and on the day of the walk so boots definitely recommended. A nice walk and all direction spot on.