Northern Road Trip: Day 3 – Studley, Rievaulx, Castle Howard, and York

April 23, 2023

It was a cloudy morning when Johnny and I arrived at the Studley Royal Park. We came before the ticketed part opened, so we wandered around a little, taking pictures of the pheasants and goslings before returning to the gate. Despite Studley being officially listed as a National Trust monument, I got free entry thanks to a local partnership between the NT and English Heritage. Studley Royal Park is home to the massive, ruined Fountains Abbey, which was among the wealthiest during its blossom. It stands on top of the stream and after reaching it from the southern bank, we crossed to the northern bank and walked back to the entrance along the more elevated pathway.

Ruined abbeys seem to be the specialty of Yorkshire, as our very second stop was the Abbey at Rievaulx. Interestingly, the glory days of Rievaulx Abbey were long gone by the time Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. From a peak of 140 monks in the 13^th century, the abbey declined to only 21 in 1538. Its financial ruin was caused by the trifecta of sheep scab, Viking raids, and the black death, which all either throttled the abbey’s income or killed its inhabitants.

On a lighter note, our third destination for the day was Castle Howard. Though the interiors had closed to visitors by the time we arrived, the grounds were extensive. In front of the castle stands a fountain featuring the titan Atlas, who has been consigned to carry the heavenly spheres while a bunch of mermen unhelpfully blow water at him through their silly conch-like trumpets. Further from the entrance is the picturesque Temple of the Four Winds, and at the end of the park, one can see the mausoleum in the distance. As far as I could tell, the mausoleum cannot be visited by the public, which is a shame because it seems like a very impressive building.

It was still bright out when we got back to York, so we decided to climb the old town walls and walk from Bootham Bar in the west to Monk Bar in the east. Despite their sometimes being known as “the Roman Walls,” the town’s defences as they stand today were built in the 13^th and 14^th centuries and restored during the Victorian era; not much of the stonework from the Roman walls remains.