Saving Fountains Abbey: Project Update
In 2020, Royal Oak donated $250,000 to preserve one of England’s most magnificent sites which was one of the first places in the UK to become a World Heritage Site in 1986.
Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Garden is an awe-inspiring landscape, owned by the National Trust since 1983. Cistercian monks established the Abbey in 1132, manipulating the River Skell to harness its power for grinding grain into flour. Over time, the Abbey became one of the largest, richest, and most influential Cistercian sites in Britain until the Dissolution in the 1530s by Henry VIII.
In the early 18th century, John Aislabie began transforming his nearby landscape garden of Studley Royal into a picturesque design that incorporated the entire wooded valley, and featured a huge water garden with lakes, grottos, canals, and cascades. Paths were created with viewpoints that centered on classical statues and follies.
In 1767, his son William bought the neighboring Abbey ruins to incorporate them into the landscape and to create the ultimate vista or ‘Surprise View.’ Centuries later, the garden design is much the same, but this important landscape is often flooded from the River Skell. To save the site, the National Trust has partnered with conservation organizations, local farmers, and landowners to implement a natural flood management program.
Justin Scully, the General Manager, will update Royal Oak members on the on-going progress of these efforts, including the planting of woodland and hedgerows, the creation of ponds and meadows to slow the water flow. He will illustrate the changes and explain the challenges faced by the preservation team. Additionally, he will talk about the surviving relics of the Chinese Garden and the wider 18th century and monastic landscape, as well as exciting discoveries in the historic archives. Finally, Justin will update us on how Fountains has responded to the post Covid world.
Justin Scully, General Manager, Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Water Gardens, National Trust
Justin is General Manager of the Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal WHS.
The site is one of the busiest properties in the National Trust welcoming in excess of 600,000 visitors per year: attracting significant domestic & international visitors as well as from all across the North of England. Justin has worked for the National Trust for 14 years and in his 6 years at Fountains has overseen multi-million pound investment in visitor infrastructure & conservation, as well as the Skell Valley project, a £2.5m Landscape scale conservation project.
Prior to the Trust Justin worked in the charity sector in the UK & Africa, after a 10-year career in the private sector.
