Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens

	Address – Fountains Ripon North Yorkshire HG4 3DY
Phone	01765 608888
Opening times	Abbey and gardens 1 Mar–31 Oct 10–5 Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su 1 Nov–28 Feb 10–4 Mo Tu We Th Sa Su The deer park is open all year round
Collection/special features	the classic Temple and the excellent vistas cut through the landscape. The watermill grinds flour on several days a month.
Dog friendly?	Yes, on leads only
Child friendly?	Yes, although a ruined abbey might not sound like the ideal location, children simply love the water gardens.
Description	This World Heritage Site is the gloriously beautiful ruin of a twelfth century Cistercian abbey and monastic watermill, alongside an Elizabethan mansion and one of the best surviving examples of a Georgian water garden. Elegant ornamental lakes, canals, temples and cascades provide a succession of dramatic, eye-catching vistas and panoramas around a sequence of curved and semi-circular ponds, with the Temple of Piety and a number of classical statues set in front of the wooded hillsides, so that the visitor is encourage to follow the curving paths past other buildings and views down the valley itself. St Mary's Church, a Victorian addition, provides a focal point for the medieval deer park, which is home to 500 deer.

Fountains Abbey photograph by Xerones, used under a creative commons licence