Because it’s taken me nearly 10 months to post all my photographs from our trip to the Yorkshire Dales back in November 2021, I’ve brought them all together again in one gallery below. Yorkshire is blessed with some magnificent ruined abbey’s, so if you like that sort of thing then this post is definitely for you:
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
We visited Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens last November and although the weather wasn’t great it was still showing off some spectacular Autumn colours.
The Abbey was founded in 1132 and it was one of the largest and most important Cistercian monastries in England for much of it’s 407 year existence. By the early 16th Century it was also one of the wealthiest and therefore a prime target for Henry VIII and the dissolution of the monastories in 1539.
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
There are a number of ruined abbeys in and around the Yorkshire Dales. I’ve already posted about Bolton Abbey, and I have a post on Fountains Abbey to come. Today though is the turn of Jervaulx Abbey.
Like many religious houses in England and Wales, the 12th Century Cistercian Abbey at Jervaulx was ravaged by Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monastries circa 1540.
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
A few shots of Richmond and it’s 11th Century Castle:
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
The 12th Century fortress of Barnard Castle sits above the River Tees in County Durham:
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
Not as popular or well known as it’s more famous neighbour Wensleydale, Swaledale is no less beautiful:
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
The 12th Century Augustinian Priory lies at the heart of the Bolton Abbey estate near Skipton on the Southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales:
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
Built in the early 19th Century, the faux-medieval castle of Penrhyn stands overlooking the Menai Straits near Bangor in North Wales.
Although it’s an impressive piece of architecture, it’s important to point out that the Pennant family who built it, made their vast fortune in both Welsh slate and Jamaican sugar, the latter from plantations using slave labour. So like many other country house estates it’s a monument to the uncomfortable legacy of Britain’s colonial past.
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
Apologies for not posting over Christmas and New Year and wishing you all the very best. Unfortunately my work for the NHS has gone through the roof again with the rise in Covid cases and admissions to hospital, and the festive period was particularly busy for me.
Anyway, below are a few images of Glynllifon Park near Caernarvon in North Wales. The park is run by the local council, although the rundown country house is privately owned.
© Mark Simms Photography (2022)
The small village of Porthdillion on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales:
© Mark Simms Photography (2021)
Mark Simms Photography 