Fountains Hall and Fountains Abbey, although unchanged at a first glance, are no exceptions. This year, we found that an orchard has been planted and made accessible (it probably was there already last year, but we didn't see any signs for it) where there used to be the orchard a long time ago.
What is interesting about this orchard - apart from it being so beautiful and quiet - is that the National Trust people who planted it did so in collaboration with an organization who is looking after old varieties of fruit and vegetables. Trees were chosen that would have been popular in the time when the orchard was still very much used by the inhabitants of Fountains Hall and their employees. On the National Trust website for Fountains Abbey, I found this information:
"Discover the orchard over the bridge from the herb garden. This collection of apple trees is in an idyllic location by the river and includes some heritage varieties such as Ribston Pippin and Forty Shilling."
Here are my pictures from August 17 (the day after our arrival).
Towards Fountains Hall, and then the herb garden:
View from herb garden to Fountains Hall, and the bridge to the orchard:
Fountains Mill can be seen at the far end of the orchard:
Inside the mill:
On the official website, it says: "Built by the Cistercians in the 12th century to grind grain for the abbey, Fountains Mill survived the closure of the religious house and continued to mill up to 1927. Now you'll find a hands-on exhibition inside and be able to have a go at grinding corn or join special waterwheel workshops." We didn't join any workshop, but had a good look at the new exhibition on the top floor that wasn't there yet last year.
Now off to the ruins of the abbey itself. This time, I have deliberately NOT taken a picture from what must be the most photographed spot here; the huge (empty) window in the main church building. Instead, I have tried to catch different glimpses through, between and out of the ruins.
On our way back out, my sister pointed this tree out to me. What made it grow so twisted, we were wondering?
The next day, Tuesday (August 18), turned out to be the only really rainy day of our entire stay. What did we do? You'll find out in one of my next posts :-)
Lovely pictures. I looked at this post and thought "this is how England ought to be" - and of course it often is. Well, makes up for looking out at the rainy old London street which is what I am doing now! :)
ReplyDeleteI think that wild flowers are particularly good at this time of year.
The day was more beautiful and sunny than the pictures make it look. We loved all the flowers, and the green, green, green everywhere! Germany, in contrast, looked mostly brown and yellow due to the long heat wave with as good as no rain.
DeleteBeautiful! And i love the idea of heritage varieties of apples growing in the orchard.
ReplyDeleteThere were signs next to each tree, not only giving the name of the variety but also what it would have been most used for: cooking, baking, cider-making and so on.
DeleteWonderful photographs, again. I love the idea that the changes at Fountain Abbey seem such good ones. A beautiful orchard of heritage apple trees. A workshop in the mill. I love the twisted weathered tree and the fallow deer. I am more than a bit of an Anglophile!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kristi! I am glad you enjoy my photos and descriptions. I am very much a Yorkshirephile :-)
DeleteNo wonder the grateful Mayor of Ripon sent you a cheque for three hundred guineas! Fountains Abbey is a lovely place to visit. When I was a kid in my village primary school we had two exciting school trips to Fountains Abbey. We had to take sandwiches and bottles of pop or flasks of tea. and we had to write things in our notebooks and make sketches. Back then I wasn't really aware of how influential religious orders were in the middle ages. It wasn't so much about worshipping God, more about making money and controlling the local populace.
ReplyDeleteTo think that, originally, Fountains Abbey was founded by 13 monks who wanted to get back to the simpler life they were missing in their wealthy, decadent abbey in York! They just about survived their first hard winter, nearly starving and freezing to death. Of course none of those original monks lived long enough to see their modest abbey rise to such importance that it became one of the wealthiest and largest ones in all of England.
DeleteApart from making money and controlling the locals, the abbeys also did a lot to promote agricultural, culinary, medical and (to an extent) historical science. They provided many jobs and an education to those who would have otherwise had no access to neither work nor learning.
PS: It is nice to imagine a little Yorkshire Pudding, armed with sandwiches and a notebook, coming to Fountains Abbey on school trips in the 1960s!
Delete1960's? Surely you mean the 1980's? Ripon seemed miles away from my village just east of Beverley* . There was much excitement and on the back seat I snogged with Susan Dean. It was my first ever proper kiss but I didn't write about that in my notebook!
Delete* Have you been to Beverley? The Minster, St Mary's, The Westwood and the marketplace are all worthy of a visit. And you can drink some beer in the amazing "White Horse" pub (Nelly's). I guess it would be an awkward journey from Ripon but maybe you could hire a car for a couple of days if either of you can drive.
No, I've never been to Beverley, but I've just looked it up on yorkshire.com and they called it "one of the best places to live in the UK" and "one of Yorkshire's best kept secrets".
DeleteI don't drive, but my sister can, and maybe she'll muster up enough courage next year to drive on the "wrong" side of the road, so that we can hire a car.
I know I've said it before when I've been reading your Yorkshire posts but I really must make the time to do some exploring. Your posts always inspire me when I read them and then real life kicks in again. Oh dear.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great compliment for me to know that my posts inspire you and make you want to do some exploring in the areas I describe. Life does have a habit to get in the way of our good plans and intentions sometimes, doesn't it!
DeleteFor some reason I always loved exploring old ruins. Lots of nice pictures here! :)
ReplyDeleteMe too, Monica. Abandoned/ruined places always hold a special attraction for me.
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