Fountains Abbey

[Ken Rennie]

I was in Yorkshire on Wednesday and had a few hours spare so visited Fountains Abbey a ruined 12thC Abbey. At its height in the 13thC it house 400 monks and 800 lay brothers and even in its present ruined state it is awe inspiring. It was a very rich Abbey up until 1539 and the dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII when the lands were confiscated and the buildings plundered of anything valuable including roof beams and slates.

The undercroft where food and drink were stored is very impressive, still standing despite the weather and neglect.

Wednesday was our first day of real Spring with temperatures just creeping into the low 60s

 

[JimFox]

Awesome work Ken! I wish we had the same level of rich historical buildings here.

The light of that tree in the last one is superb!

It's a shame that a King could dissolve all of those monasteries and they could be plundered. Even in a plundered state they look awesome, one can only image how great they looked when they were intact.

 

[AlanLichty]

Beautiful looking buildings and grounds. I love your captures of this place. Bummer Henry VIII had such animus for the place - the monastery must have been a real stunner in its prime.

 

[Comet Hunter]

Very cool images