I'd like to be here... #4

I'd love another wander round the grounds of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, near Ripon in North Yorkshire. It's a National Trust property and a World Heritage Site. It gets packed with visitors so winter is the best time to visit - and there are masses of snowdrops along the banks of the River Skell. It's sadly off limits in this current lockdown, though I think it remains open for local people to visit.  

The Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, founded in 1132. The Cistercian order was an austere and devout order that originated in France.  A large lay brotherhood, working alongside the monks, cared for the buildings and farmed sheep and soon the Abbey was wealthy and influential.  It seems, however, that the enterprise grew too large for its monastic roots and economic collapse in the 14th century saw the monastery decline and some of its lands sold off.  A brief period of revival was cut short in 1539 by King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries (when he made himself the head of the Church of England and severed ties with the Roman Catholic Church).  In 1540 the estate was sold to Sir Richard Gresham and became the property of a succession of wealthy families, who built Fountains Hall in the grounds and landscaped the gardens.