Studley Royal Water Garden

Studley Royal Water Garden, gardens in Yorkshire

Studley Royal Water Garden

Where is it – England, Yorkshire and the Humber

Who looks after it –  National Trust 

What is it –  Garden, World Heritage Site 

When is it from – Georgian

Studley Royal Water Garden is an enormous 18th century water garden formed from part of the once wild and wooded valley of the River Skell, adjoining Fountains Abbey. It is ostentatious and not to everyone’s taste, but is certainly impressive, with water features, statuary, follies and wildlife mingling together. At the opposite end to Fountains Abbey is a medieval deer park with red, fallow and sika deer – and don’t miss the high Anglican Victorian church there, St Mary’s.

The water garden was the brain child of John Aislabie, who inherited the Studley Royal estate in 1693. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer, but expelled from Parliament in 1720 due to his involvement in the South Sea Bubble financial scandal. So Aislabie devoted the rest of his life to his garden project (as you do) until his death in 1742. The project was completed by his son, William, who purchased the remains of the Abbey.

 


Address

Nr Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 3DY 

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