Day tours

Thursday 6 January

Ripon Town and Minster, Brimham Rocks, and Fountains Abbey
Cost per person: $32
(accompanied children 5-16 $20)

Ripon has a long history, with early medieval settlement discovered during excavations. The Minster is a fine medieval building, but still has its Anglo-Saxon crypt which you can visit. There is a large selection of internal memorials of the 17th to 19th centuries, and some modern art commissions.

Brimham Rocks are natural formations which became a tourist attraction from the late 18th century when a purpose-built house was constructed on the dge of the site for the use of visitors. It outcrops were seen as a form of wild landscape better known in North America, but which the British could savour closer to home!

Fountains Abbey has beautiful ruins which form one of the best-preserved medieval monastic complexes in the country, and is a World Heritage site. There is a mill which continued in use until recently, and this has been restored and interpreted for the public. In the grounds lies an Elizabethan hall which is partially open to the public.

The ruins and the grounds of Fountains Abbey were used to create the famous landscape of Studley Royal in the 18th century, to which feaures such as the church were added in the 19th century.