One of the most enjoyable day-trips from Bradford during our recent trip to the UK was our visit to the Bolton Abbey Estate.
This massive 33,000-acre estate - that's 134 square kilometres - is owned by the Cavendish Family, one of the richest and most influential aristocratic families in England. Most of it is open to the public and makes up part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
The structure you can see in the photo above is the Bolton Priory - a church where Christians have worshiped continuously for over 850 years.
One of the most stunning things for any American (or Australian for that matter) is the depth and richness of history throughout England. Construction of the church began in the 12th century and continued for a few hundred years. The east and south parts of the building are now in ruins.
I did manage to snap a few family selfies, setting my phone up on someone's old gravestone and using the timer.
The architecture and stained glass from the inside of the church is pretty stunning.
One of the coolest things about these old churches are the graveyards beside them. On the north side of the Priory you'll find plenty gravestones going back hundreds of years.
A little farther toward the north runs the River Wharfe, the perfect spot to skip some rocks.
Crossing the river, you can pick up a trail for a nice little hike.
As you can see, there was quite a bit of water flowing - not surprising considering how much it rains in the UK. This was one of the few sunny days.
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Here's a beauty of a shot looking back toward the Priory after heading a little ways down the trail.
There were plenty of spots to stop for a photo. This stone wall would have been here for a few hundred years, at least.
Quite a few little fun activities were strategically spaced along the trail for the kids.
Here were a few of my other favourite spots along the trail.
Heading back toward the Priory...
Finally, here's a photo of the old parsonage, looking back toward the Priory from the south side. It's not a bad place to live if you're the vicar.
Stay tuned for more UK Adventures to come...
!steemitworldmap 53.983651 lat -1.888103 long Bolton Abbey Estate d3scr
Jason Staggers
Wow, awesome place, thanks for sharing your wonderful trip with us, I hope someday to visit, regards @jasonstaggers. :)
This is a nice travel post @jasonstaggers. I definitely think you should add it to http://steemitworldmap.com. As one of the editors for the daily #traveldigest, I am always on the look-out for quality travel posts to promote.
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Sorry I missed part 1 or I would have told you about it then.
Excellent, thanks for letting me know :)
Looks awesome and I'd never heard of it, thanks for teaching me something new about my own country!
Pleasure mate! Appreciate you stopping by.
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Great post and photos Jason. We’re heading over next year. Really looking forward to sights like this. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks mate. Do you know which cities you'll be visiting yet? I hope to return to Yorkshire someday in April or May when the heather is in bloom. There are some amazing spots that time of year especially.
We’ll be there in June/July. London for a couple of days then down to Cornwall. From there we’re wandering around a bit so no real plans at the moment. Heading to Finland to see my bro @tarazkp as well. We’re still planning it out to be honest. So keen to get there though. Been to Europe a lot but never to UK.
I'm a big fan of the North. The rolling hills and stone walls are beautiful. If you weren't keen to head too far north you could always check out the Peak District. It's amazing too.
I think the plan is to spend a week with our friends in Cornwall then explore our way around the south west and south east if we have the time. We will fly out of Gatwick to Finland for a week and then back to Heathrow, Singapore and home. My wife is addicted to those Escape to the country shows out of the UK so she's got it in her head to stay off the Motorways and find the country lanes. I agree with her. We are looking forward to bringing some TEAMAUSTRALIA to their pubs! :) I doubt we will book accommodation really, except for London. We'll just play it by ear and come up with a grand symphony of life!
Sounds excellent to me. My wife on the other hand would probably struggle with the uncertainty of such a grand symphony :)
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Thanks and you're welcome :)