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It
was a lovely fine bright autumn morning so we drove to
Studley deer park near Ripon. We parked in the pay-&-display
National Trust car park near the lake at map ref. SE 278691.
There is open access in the deer park and we headed roughly
northwards to the gate on one of the drives throught the
park at map ref. SE 278703 on the northern edge of the
park next to the B6265 (Ripon to Pateley Bridge road).
The tall iron gates at the end of the drive are locked,
but we turned left around the boundary wall for about
150m to a wooden gate through the wall near some cottages.
It's important to close the gate carefully otherwise the
deer could escape onto the road.
One of many sweet chestnut trees in the park
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Dead trees are allowed to lie where they fall
Fallow deer near an old oak
We crossed the road and walked back until we were opposite
the tall iron gates at the end of the park drive. Here
we turned left off the road and on to the drive to Low
Lindrick farm. The track skirted the eastern side of the
farm and led us to a track between high hawthorn hedges
and then beside ploughed fields to a minor road at map
ref. SE 270720
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The stable block, now a private house.
The rest of Studley Royal House was destroyed by fire
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Cottage by the River Laver
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At the road we turned left to walk along the road for about
250m until we reached a footpath on our left about 50m
on the far side of the River Laver.
River Laver
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Riders in the woodland by the River Laver
We followed the footpath along the side of the river for
about a kilometer to the bridge at map ref. SE 261711.
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Bridge over the River Laver
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We followed the track across the bridge and out of the woods
to High Lindrick farm and on to the B6265 at map ref.
SE 277702. Here we crossed the road and re-entered the
deer park through the same gate we had used earlier in
the walk.
Red deer stags resting in the shade with
only a couple
of weeks to go to the rut
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St. Mary's church
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We made our way around the boundary wall of the deer park
to the obelisk and St Mary's church. At the obelisk we
left the deer park and took the footpath to the Fountains
Abbey visitor centre at map ref. SE 272686. From the visitor
centre we went down to the Abbey (free with our National
Trust membership cards)
Fountains Abbey
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Abbey Church, Cellarium (living area) and Guest Houses at Fountains Abbey
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Fountains Abbey church
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The refectory with its amazing cross vaulted roof in tact
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Above and right,
Details of the refectory roof
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The cloisters at Fountains Abbey
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The abbey church seen from the chapter house area
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The abbey church seen from the chapter house area
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Temple of Fame
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We took some time to look around the abbey. At the eastern
end of the abbey in the infirmary area the river Skell
runs under the ruins and there is a path up the slope
to join the main path on the right hand side of the river.
We followed this track for almost a kilometer to the large
wide bend that is the start of the water gardens. Here
we took the path up the hill side to Anne Boleyn's seat
with a lovely view back up the valley to the abbey.
The octagon tower
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The serpentine tunnel
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Path to the water garden from the tunnel
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We continued on the high ride footpath to the Temple of Fame
and then on to the Octagon, before walking down through
the Serpentine Tunnel. It goes through a hairpin bend
and is quite dark in the middle. This path brought us
back down to the water gardens and the stepping stones
and footbridge over the River Skell as it enters the lake.
We crossed the footbridge and made our way back to the
car via the tea shop over looking the lake. It was a very
pleasant end to a very pleasant walk. The whole route
had been about 11km and had taken us almost 4 hours including
a good look around the abbey and a lunch stop.
Back to the lake at the end of our walk
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Oak tree by the river Skell
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