Battle of the Abbeys: Fountains Vs. Rievaulx

Fountains: Found just outside the small city of Ripon, Fountains Abbey is easily accessible from the A1(M). It is easy to locate, and with two major entrances (“Studley Royal end” and “Studley Roger end”) it’s fairly quick to get inside. The Roger end is through the acres of deer park and alongside the ornamental lake, with a small café; whereas the Royal end features a large restaurant and gift shop, so it depends what vibe you’re going for.

Rievaulx: Rievaulx is more difficult to get to. Found in the hills above Thirsk, you either have to go up Sutton Bank (a very windy steep hill), or another slightly less well known windy road, before heading off down narrow country lanes to reach the Abbey itself. You might find your journey held up by a rural traffic jam (a.k.a sheep in the road), no exaggeration this has indeed happened to me on my way to Rievaulx, but it means you can slow down and enjoy the scenery.

There is only one entrance into Rievaulx, with a small café and giftshop.

Fountains: Fountains Abbey is set within glorious acres of cultivated parkland, alongside a Victorian water garden (that was used for filming The Witcher Netflix TV Series). The River Skell runs through the grounds, ending up in a large ornamental lake. Woodland surrounds the Abbey, with various short walks going off into the woods to explore.

Rievaulx: Rievaulx has a much more natural feel. Set adjacent to Rievaulx village (much of which was built from the stones of the abandoned Abbey), there is a sense of wonderful wildness at Rievaulx, the unkempt grassy edges and sprawling wildflowers adding to its extensive charm. Again there is much woodland surrounding the site, although not on land owned by English Heritage (unlike Fountains), but there are plenty of walks leading away from the site to enjoy the beautiful countryside of the surrounding area.

Fountains: The site is very accessible, with tarmac walking paths looping around the grounds and to all the major points of interest within them. Due to the nature of the site, there are some areas that are inaccessible to wheelchairs and buggies due to stone steps, protruding stones, and uneven surfaces.

The entry price (without membership) is £21 for an adult, £57.80 for a family (2 adults, 3 children).

Rievaulx: Lots of the site is accessible, and all effort has been made where possible to open pathways and accessibility routes, but by its very nature there are areas that a wheelchair will not be able to navigate, similar to Fountains.

The entry price (without membership) is £16.30 for an adult, or £40.90 for a family (2 adults, 3 children). You can save up to 25% of the ticket price by prebooking online.

Fountains: There’s no two ways about it; Fountains Abbey and the surrounding grounds are huge. In visiting the site, there’s not “just” the Abbey (which in itself is monumental), but also Fountains Hall, the Water Gardens and sculpture park, the valley of the seven bridges, St Mary’s Church, as well as various exhibitions held in restored outbuildings. You could easily spend an entire day exploring the Abbey and grounds, and still not see it all.

Rievaulx: Rievaulx Abbey is also pretty big, but much more contained than Fountains. There is also a purpose built museum building that takes you through the history of the Abbey, from it’s founding through to the Reformation in the 1530s. The Abbey buildings are grand and beautiful, but the grounds themselves can be explored in an hour or two, with an additional couple of hours for the museum and Abbey itself.

Fountains: The ruins of Fountains Abbey are incredible. There’s a reason that it’s an UNESCO World Heritage Site. They are vast and reach above visitors heads, towering toward the sky. There’s many nooks and crannies, tunnels and offshoots, all leading in different directions. There’s almost a feeling of overwhelm, as one tries to imagine what this place would have been like in its prime, with monks, lay brothers, and others working throughout.

One of my favourite areas is the under croft, where the gothic vaulted ceiling remains intact and gives a feeling of medieval immediacy. It’s also very cool down there, which is perfect if you’re visiting on a hot day! The last time I visited, the undercroft was also home to several species of bat. Naturally they weren’t out and about in the day time, but it was awesome to know that they were there.

Despite its monumentality, there is actually a huge amount of Fountains Abbey missing. It was actively destroyed by Cromwell’s men in the late 1530s/early 1540s, so the entire second floor is missing, and plenty of buildings are only seen by stone outlines, or shadows of doorways.

Rievaulx: The ruins of Rievaulx Abbey are beautiful. Where Fountains is monumental, Rievaulx has a sort of grace to it that the other is missing (only in my opinion!). Despite the Nave being just as large, there is a certain lightness to Rievaulx that Fountains doesn’t have.

As a historian, one of the things I love about Rievaulx is that there are still Medieval secrets to find within the ruins, such as tiles on the floor of the cloister, and paint still on the pillars, which breathes an immediacy of life into the surroundings. This is because the Abbey wasn’t destroyed per se, it was simply left to rot. The roof was taken off, and then the buildings were left to the elements. As I mentioned earlier, much of the stone of various outbuildings was pilfered by the villagers over the years to build their own homes. As such there is a feeling of graceful decay about Rievaulx, as opposed to the monumental effigy feel of Fountains.

Fountains: Fountains is a busy tourist destination. There are times when it is less busy; outside of the school holidays and in the middle of winter for example, but you are never going to feel alone at Fountains Abbey. There are often events going on as well, which draw people from near and far into the beautiful setting. One of the most popular of these is “Fountains by Floodlight” held in the autumn, where lights are strategically used to light up the Abbey buildings in dramatic and illustrative ways. Even the local Parkrun uses the Abbey grounds every Saturday morning!

There is naturally a sense of awe at being in such a beautiful location, but it can be difficult to find a peaceful spot away from people and noise to really soak in the beauty of the monument, if that is what you’re seeking. I always leave Fountains feeling awed and grateful that such a monument has survived the centuries, but it is a different vibe entirely to that which I find at Rievaulx.

Rievaulx: Thanks to its off-the-beaten-track location, Rievaulx is significantly less busy than Fountains. Of course, it does have its busy days, and during school holidays and on sunny weekends, there will be plenty of people about, but I have found there is always a more profound sense of peace at Rievaulx. There is a sort of quiet warmth I’ve felt there, which often leaves me feeling deeply content if I spend an hour or two in the grounds.

I don’t know, maybe there’s a sort of personal sentimentality that I feel at Rievaulx, but I do really love it there for the peace.

There’s a signpost on one of the lawns saying “Caution: Echoes of the Past can be heard here” and I always think that is so true at Rievaulx. There are historic monuments where the past seems awfully close, and I think this ruin is one of them.