Fountains Abbey

Fountains Abbey, church and part of abbey

Lay brothers' latrines; the river was diverted to run beneath

them 

 

How to build an arch 

More of abbey

Church nave 

Lay brothers dorm area 

Cloisters

Cellarium

The gardens are mostly huge water features, artificial lakes,

water courses, etc. 

Only Americans, we were told, ask why this
is called the Anne Boleyn statue

Fountains Abbey is mentioned prominently and favorably in the 1938 Adventures of Robin Hood film, so, being in the neighborhood, we had to see it.

The Abbey was begun in 1132, a splinter group from York, fell in with the Cistercians in 1135, and went on to become one of England's richest and most powerful abbeys. The Black Death laid it and similar abbeys low, and Henry VIII finished them off with the Dissolution Act in 1539. Fountains Abbey languished, particularly after the royal plundering, until bought by a rich 18th century family that saw it as the perfect "ruin" for its estate garden. It's all National Trust now, being taken care of, another UNESCO World Heritage site.

Let's Roll, Dude

Pannini's fresco of Earth, Castle Howard

Castle Howard



Grounds view of Castle Howard

The Hercules fountain

The Temple of the Four Winds. What? Your house doesn't have

a temple of the four winds? 

Model of this ramshackle 17th century house (with later

additions) 

Brueghel in the bedroom? Vicki and I are still skeptical 

The sculpture hall, mostly 2nd century AD

Roman

Music room 

Dome in main building

Grounds; once a formal French garden affair, plowed under

when the late 19th century owners discovered what it cost to

maintain 

John Jackson painting of the grand hall 

200 years later 



Chapel; every great house has a chapel

York Minster

What can I say? The York Minster is the largest religious
building north of the Alps. No photo can convey its scale.
Above is a brass model in the yard outside the west doors 

Two towers

North side and crossing tower 

Nave; we toured on a Sunday afternoon, bells
peeling; later, I thought the giant organ, in a
choir rehearsal, was going to bring the whole
place down 

Nave from crossing

The east window facsimile...it is undergoing
renovation, and will be out of view for some
years; it is the largest there is, the size of a
tennis court 

West window, formerly largest, until the east 

window 

South window

South window rose

North window

Crossing ceiling

Choir

Love those Elizabethan memorials 

Roster of bishops, starting with Ebarius in 324 

Favorite window

And, if the sermon is boring, you can always review your
semaphor 

York minster/cathedral is 12th century, the largest north of the Alps, the most and best stained glass in England. We lingered. I went back the next day for pix. ("Minster" derives from "minister/missionary," connoting the church's very long history).

York

York is a very foot-friendly old city

I have put a lot of money into bookstores; at this
one I finally found a bargain: Julian Copes' out-of-print
Modern Antiquarian for 13 quid.

Constantine was at York (don't ask me) when he was named Emperor

 

Street scene in old York

 

More sagging half-timber

Porta Principalis Dextra: the old Roman northwest gate;
York is what became of Jorvik, after the Vikings settled
here in the 10th century

 

Part of the old city wall, Roman in origin

River and wall

Sic transit gloria mondi: centuries ago, an important bridge toll-house;
today, a sandwich shoppe

Sherwood Forest

 
"Welcome to Sherwood!"
 
"Welcome to Sherwood!"

Welcome to Sherwood

 The Major Oak tree; 33 feet in diameter, somewhere between 600 and 1,100 years old, they say

Robyn Hode statue

 
Note that "the little ones" don't do quite as well on this deal

From Grantham, we continued on north, getting as far as Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire. We could not resist camping in the great forest. Well, the visitor center parking lot. But we did watch the 1938 Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn, Olivia DeHavilland, Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains as bad guys; music by Korngold). And we kept thinking the Sheriff himself, or one of his deputies, might pay us a visit to tell us there was no over-night parking in the lot.

We spent the next morning walking around the Forest paths, reminiscing about our 1989 visit here with Rebecca and Rachel, how changed the place was. For the better, actually. And then, after a visit to the gift shop, we drove on.

Belten House

 
Belten House
 
From the garden
 
Great War re-enactors were re-enacting

Belten is another of the Great Houses on display all over the Island. Sadly, or maybe not, the National Trust does not permit interior pix.