Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire Dales

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Ripon is ideally located on the edge of the Dales - close to the stunning Fountains Abbey which was once the richest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in England. Many of the original materials of stone, glass and lead were taken, but the majesty of the Abbey remains.

Although bleak in winter, the Abbey comes alive in Spring against a backdrop of the surrounding grounds of Studley Royal Park - 650 acres of woodland, deer park and ornamental gardens created as a form of compensation for the Abbot, who was hanged after the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII.

Also on the grounds is Fountains Abbey Mill, the only twelfth century Cistercian cornmill in Britain and one of only a few surviving in Europe. It was built originally as a huge monastic watermill and granary, but in its time it has also been a sawmill, a stine mason's workshop and even a generating station for electricity.

The building which has recently been restored and opened to the public has been in continuous use for over 850 years. Throughout its existence, the mill has remained in the same ownership as Fountains Abbey and it was spared at the dissolution of the Abbey in 1539 because it was able to generate an income for the estate of £3 per year.

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