Lost at Fountains Abbey

My first day out was to Fountains Abbey. It's an amazing place, dear reader, and I'd really recommend getting there early before the ravening hoards.

This little chap was certainly caught by surprise and scurried away very quickly when he saw me. He was obviously looking for that last little bit of food before the people (and bears) started arriving.

This is the watermill at Fountains Abbey. It was built in the 12th century and restored in 2009 and is one of the finest examples of its kind in Europe.

Here I am at the exhibition of stonework in the watermill. As well as a mill and granary the building was also used as a stone mason's workshop.

The ruins of the Abbey itself are fabulous. Apparently it was started in 1132 and was closed in 1539 by Henry VIII. As you can see the stone is the same colour as me! Can you see me here on the bridge?

Sitting here I can't help but wonder what it would look like today if it had remained a Cistercian monastery. Certainly I wouldn't be sitting here having my photo taken!

Lastly, here I am at the Octagon Tower in the water gardens that now surround the Abbey.

Just after this picture was taken a little girl ran up shouting to her mother that she had found a bear. I had to tell her that I was not actually lost but was on my holidays. She was a little concerned that I was on my own but I reassured her and we went our separate ways.

I will leave my visit to Fountains Abbey with a titbit about the Cistercian order that founded the monastery.

Under Cistercian rules the monks lived a rigorous daily life, committed to long periods of silence, a diet barely above subsistence level, and wore the regulation habit of coarse undyed sheep's wool, which earned them the name "White Monks." Lastly, underwear was forbidden.

Ouch!