Today, we visit Rufford Abbey, one of the most beautiful Abbeys that we have here in the Midlands area. The Abbey is 871 years Old! It is truly amazing that it is still standing!
"In 1146 Gilbert de Gaunt, Earl of Lincoln, founded the Cistercian abbey of St Mary the Virgin. The monks of this order, also known as the ‘white monks’ because of their habits of undyed wool, believed in the value of an austere life based upon prayer and hard work. Rufford Abbey was moderately wealthy and able to sustain a community of monks between its completion in about 1170 and its suppression in 1536."
(Source http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/rufford-abbey/history/)
WE shall start at the beginning. After parking up (It is free parking during a weekday btw), we started towards the Abbey. I happened to look behind me and spotted the beautiful Gate House, which I have never noticed before on the many occasions I have been here!
Next, we headed towards the Abbey.
Before entering the Abbey we had a wander around the quaint front gardens...
There is a coat of arms above the entrance to the Abbey...
Inside the Abbey, there are huge windows and lots of freaky looking gargoyles...
This one particularly creeped me out...
The view from these huge windows was awesome. The biggest tree I have ever seen was proudly on display...
We exited the main hall via the rear entrance steps, to the main gardens...
Whilst wandering the immense gardens, we stumbled upon some unexpected modern sculptures...
We then discovered a maze! At the centre of the maze is a fortune teller, so of course I had to try to get to him...
I wanted to see his face, so I got up-close and personal... Scary eh?!
Such a great place to visit with surprises around every corner. I would definitely recommend a visit if you are in the area! Rufford Abbey is part of the English Heritage organization.
I hope you enjoyed our journey together around Rufford Abbey, Nottinghamshire, England!
The pictures were taken using my Fujifilm Finepix S9900W and edited using PhotoScape software.
Some of my other posts you may be interested in reading are:
https://steemit.com/photography/@beautifulbullies/900-year-old-church
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Thank you for looking! Much love, 
!steemitworldmap 53.175846 lat -1.035719 long Rufford Abbey, 870 years old! d3scr