Boston Flora

Tag: Fountains Abbey

  • Tuesday, October 17, 5:00 am – 6:30 am Eastern (but recorded) – Studley Royal Park, Online

    The Gardens Trust has created a seven part series on Tuesdays, beginning September 12, to mark 50 years of UNESCO World Heritage, £5 each or all 7 for £28. Starting with an overview of World Heritage values and the changing nature of the UK list, the series will aim to enthuse people about individual sites around Great Britain, highlighting what makes each one exceptional, the advantages and challenges of being inscribed on the list, and the issues around sustainable future management of these global assets. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards. Register for the complete series HERE, or follow the links on that page to sign up for individual sessions.

    Week Six covers Studley Royal Park. Studley Royal Park, including the ruins of Fountains Abbey, became one of the first places in the UK to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. It owes its originality and striking beauty to the fact that a humanized landscape was created around the largest medieval ruins in the United Kingdom. The use of these features, combined with the planning of the water garden itself, is a true masterpiece of human creative genius. The water garden is one of the few great 18th-century gardens to have survived well in its original form.

    The ruins of Fountains Abbey, the Jacobean Fountains Hall and Burges’s miniature neo-Gothic masterpiece St Mary’s Church unite with the water gardens and deer park to form one harmonious whole. Together, they illustrate the power of medieval monasticism and the taste and wealth of the European upper classes in the 18th century.

    Mark Newman MA MCIfA FSA has been the National Trust’s Archaeologist since 1988. A graduate of Birmingham University, he provides archaeological advice and support to around 75 NT properties in Yorkshire and the North-East. He is author of Wonder of the North (NT/Boydell, 2015), a definitive history of the estate (and is working on a new edition).

    Sarah France has been World Heritage Coordinator at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal since 2010. Before that Sarah spent almost 20 years working in planning and heritage for National Parks across the UK. Her current role is to coordinate delivery of the World Heritage Management Plan and deliver conservation projects. Recently she worked with Nidderdale AONB and other partners to develop the Skell Valley Project and the successful bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a £1.4m grant.

  • Thursday, June 1, 2:00 pm Eastern (Live), & Friday, June 2 – Friday, June 16 (Recorded) – Saving Fountains Abbey: Project Update, Online

    In 2020, Royal Oak donated $250,000 to preserve one of England’s most magnificent sites which was one of the first places in the UK to become a World Heritage Site in 1986.

    Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden is an awe-inspiring landscape, owned by the National Trust since 1983. Cistercian monks established the Abbey in 1132, manipulating the River Skell to harness its power for grinding grain into flour. Over time, the Abbey became one of the largest, richest, and most influential Cistercian sites in Britain until the Dissolution in the 1530s by Henry VIII.

    In the early 18th century, John Aislabie began transforming his nearby landscape garden of Studley Royal into a picturesque design that incorporated the entire wooded valley, and featured a huge water garden with lakes, grottos, canals, and cascades. Paths were created with viewpoints that centered on classical statues and follies.

    In 1767, his son William bought the neighboring Abbey ruins to incorporate them into the landscape and to create the ultimate vista or ‘Surprise View.’ Centuries later, the garden design is much the same, but this important landscape is often flooded from the River Skell. To save the site, the National Trust has partnered with conservation organizations, local farmers, and landowners to implement a natural flood management program.

    Justin Scully, the General Manager, will update Royal Oak members on the on-going progress of these efforts, including the planting of woodland and hedgerows, the creation of ponds and meadows to slow the water flow. He will illustrate the changes and explain the challenges faced by the preservation team. Additionally, he will talk about the surviving relics of the Chinese Garden and the wider 18th century and monastic landscape, as well as exciting discoveries in the historic archives. Finally, Justin will update us on how Fountains has responded to the post Covid world. The webinar is free to Royal Oak Society members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at https://www.royal-oak.org/events/spring-2023-lectures-and-tours/fountains-abbey/

  • Tuesday, April 20, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm – Finding Vanished Beningbroughs, Online

    Beningbrough Hall, 8 miles north of York, appears to the archetypal Baroque house, set in seemingly timeless, unchanging, parkland to match. However, over 30 years of National Trust archaeological research has and continues gradually to reveal how far that perception is from the truth, rediscovering the splendors and mysteries of medieval, Stuart and Georgian Beningbroughs no longer visible to the eye. Long term archaeological research, partly on its own merits but mainly arising from mitigation for the impacts of standard operational property needs, is the only available key to unlock the past of this estate with virtually no surviving archives.

    This ticket is for this individual session and costs £5, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions or you may purchase a ticket through Eventbrite for the entire course of 5 sessions at a cost of £20 via the link here.

    Mark Newman M.A., M.C.I.f.A, F.S.A., is the National Trust’s Archaeological Consultant for the east side of its North region, helping to advise and support the conservation of National Trust properties between Berwick and the boundaries of Great Manchester. He was first employed by the Trust on the project building the visitor centre at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal in 1988 and has advised (as well as avidly explored) the property ever since. Mark’s work for the National Trust covers an enormous range of development and research projects spread across approximately 75 properties, many concerned with the archaeology of parks and gardens. The long-term perspective of the organization sets the scene for developing an exceptionally curious and accumulative research approach, put to full use in advising conservation.

  • Wednesday, October 14, 6:00 pm – Saving Fountains Abbey, Online

    The dramatic abbey ruins at Fountains are the largest monastic ruins in Britain. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the buildings fell into ruin until the 18th century when the abbey became the heart of one of Britain’s grandest landscapes ever created, Studley Royal Water Garden. 


    The water garden at Studley Royal is one of the few great 18th-century gardens to have survived well in its original form. It was the creation of John Aislabie and later his son, William. They both had astounding vision for how they wanted this garden to look, working with the landscape rather than changing it. Their design ingeniously channels the winding waters of the River Skell past the abbey ruins and into moon shaped ponds and mirrored lakes, framed with formal bosquet hedges and laurel banks. 
    They pushed the boundaries of what was considered to be a garden and heavily influenced the typical “English” garden style. Experience this extraordinary place for yourself on October 14 at 6 pm live or later, online, with the Royal Oak Foundation. All proceeds from this event will be donated to Royal Oak’s 2020 Campaign in support of the National Trust: Saving Fountains Abbey. $35 to access recording – register HERE

    The evening will include:

    • Guided tours of this UNESCO World Heritage Site with Fountains staff and volunteers
    • A presentation and Q&A with General Manager, Justin Scully
    • Engaging panel discussions of the history and the challenges facing the property
    • Special Guest appearance from renowned British artist, Ed Kluz
    • Musical performance filmed at the Abbey exclusively for Royal Oak members 
    A view over the Half Moon Pond and weir of Studley Royal Water Garden towards Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire. Fountains Abbey, a Cistercian community of monks founded in the twelfth century, forms a picturesque backdrop to the water gardens created by John Aislabie and his son William in the eighteenth century.