Fountains Abbey, the UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the National Trust’s leading attractions, is having a gentle re-awakening with a limit of 1,000 visitors a day allowed to visit the abbey ruins, parkland and Studley Royal water garden.
Since re-opening on 8th June, people have been able to pre-book on a Friday for a visit in the following week and the popularity of the site has seen it quickly booked up for all of the days that it has been open so far.
Entry is via the visitors centre from 10am until 4pm, with the site closing at 5pm.
A National Trust spokesperson said:
“We knew that once we started a gradual opening of our gardens and parklands, tickets for our places would be very popular; particularly with such fine weather. We’ve made careful decisions about which gardens and parklands can open, and we have limited their capacity to ensure everyone can adhere to social distancing to maintain the safety of our visitors, staff and volunteers, which remains our top priority.”
The spokesperson, added:
“We are so thankful that our members and supporters have stood by us as we work through these unprecedented times, and we ask for their continued support as we make this gradual transition a success so we can get back to offering nature, beauty and history for everyone.”
Further changes to social distancing announced by the government on Monday, have meant the National Trust is able to take bookings once more for the 14 holiday cottages and houses located on the Fountains estate.
Read more:
The abbey was founded by Cistercian monks in the 12th century. Following the dissolution of the monasteries ordered by Henry VIII, the site became the largest monastic ruins in Britain.
The Studley Royal water garden, with the river Skell running through it, was created in the 18th century by John Aislabie, – a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was expelled from the Whig Parliament in 1720 for his part in the South Sea Bubble financial scandal.
Brimham Rocks, the other National Trust owned property in the Harrogate district is now open daily from 8am until 9pm, although there is limited space available in the car park and the trust advises those who cannot find a parking space, to return at another time and not park on the roadside, to avoid blocking access for emergency vehicles.
Ripon Workhouse Museum to open gardens experience
No museums in the Harrogate district will be re-opening their indoor facilities to the public on 4th July, but there will be one new museum experience in Ripon from today (Friday 26th June).
The dates for re-opening of museums in Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and Nidderdale, are to be confirmed – in part because volunteers involved in the day to day running of the facilities need to be available.
However, Ripon Workhouse Museum, run by charity Ripon Museum Trust, will re-open its gardens to the public from today.
The ‘Inside Out Museum Trail’ will see the gardens of the former workhouse in Allhallowgate, open on selected days during June and July, with pre-booked timed slots to ensure that visits are spread out through the day so the site does not exceed a safe capacity.
The trail will help visitors discover features of the Workhouse Museum from the outside as well as an opportunity of enjoying the Front Garden, the Master’s Garden and the Victorian Kitchen Garden.
The Royal Pump Room in Harrogate remain closed
The museum buildings will not be open to the public, but a peak inside the windows will give a glimpse of how people lived in the workhouse. Some of the exhibits, photographs of life in the Workhouse and information boards have been moved nearer to the inside of the museum windows, so people can see them from the outside.
Director of Ripon Museum Trust, Helen Thornton, said:
“We wanted to open up our beautiful outdoor spaces at the Workhouse Museum for all to enjoy as soon as it was allowed and safe to do so. The Workhouse site has so much to tell us about how the poor lived and inspires us to think about these issues today.”
The Prison and Police Museum and The Courthouse Museum which are also run by Ripon Museum Trust, but re-opening dates are yet to be announced.
Read more:
There is also no opening date for the Nidderdale Museum in Pateley Bridge.
Museum chair Sue Welch, said:
“Our re-opening date is under discussion, but it won’t be July 4, as we have some matters to resolve first regarding staffing.”
A spokesman for Harrogate Borough Council, said that no dates have yet been agreed for the reopening of the Royal Pump Room, Knaresborough Castle and Courthouse Museum and Mercer Gallery.