Fountains Abbey - 12

Here we see one of the lakes in the grounds of Fountains Abbey.



The perfect complement to the Abbey is Studley Royal Water Garden, a Georgian masterpiece of an ornamental green garden adorned with Classical statues and follies.

Once wild and wooded, the valley of the river Skell was transformed into one of England’s most spectacular Georgian water gardens by the Aislabie family.

John Aislabie inherited the Studley Royal estate in 1693. A socially and politically ambitious man, he first became the Tory Member of Parliament for Ripon in 1695 and in 1718 became Chancellor of the Exchequer.

In 1720 disaster struck his career; disgraced by his part in the South Sea Bubble financial scandal, he was expelled from Parliament and disqualified for life from public office. Aislabie returned to Yorkshire and devoted himself to creating a landscape of often breathtaking and ground breaking vision.

After John’s death in 1742, his son William extended his father’s work by purchasing the remains of the Abbey. He also extended the landscaped area in the picturesque romantic style, contrasting with the formality of his father's work. Between them, the two created what is arguably England's most important 18th century Water Garden.