Bolton Abbey

Mum decided to take advantage of the scenic drive over from the Lakes to visit us in Skipton. So we decided to take advantage of their wheels and asked for a trip out to visit Bolton Abbey.
I’d not been before and thought it was just the ruins of an old monastery .

Bolton Abbey
Bolton Abbey

Well I guess to some extent it is, but there’s oh so much more. Bolton Abbey is really the whole estate village, owned, run, and cashed in on, by the Duke of Devonshire and his family.

Bolton Hall

There is an active church known as the priory still attached to the ruins which is a place of beauty in its own right, with stunning stained glass

Pugin’s Victorian stained glass

And the most unusual painted alter wall, depicting Madonna Lilies and other symbolic plants.

We could have sat and absorbed the peace that flowed through this building despite its turbulent past, being partially destroyed during Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries, but the outside was calling us

Bolton Abbey

And as we sat to enjoy the view

We had to have a family photo

Those grey clouds were getting ominously closer so we decided to take a drive through the estate where we were able to stand in the ancient oak woodland and look down onto the River Wharfe and over to the Priests house in the distance

The River Wharfe towards the Priests house

The whole area of Wharfdale is stunning, and I was so lucky to be taken for a drive through it. Even though its so close, its quite different from the views we get from the canal.