Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden
Our work
Conservation projects
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Repairing the upper canal
We've had to repair the canal and river walls due to the damage caused by severe flooding.
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Coming soon: Bathing House excavation
This summer we'll be excavating the site of the Bathing House, built in 1730 and demolished in the 1850s.
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Conserving the icehouses
This year we're working on a project to discover more about the 18th century icehouses in the deer park. Follow the blog
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Installation of ground source heat pump
Soon we're installing energy-saving ground source heat pumps to provide heating for the Visitor Centre.
This is how the garden should look once the project is completed
© Steve Tomlinson
Restoration of an 18th-century garden feature
Last year we began a 30-year project to restore an 18th-century garden feature known as a bosquet, helping to bring the garden back to its 1781 heyday and reflecting John Aislabie’s earlier works and his son William Aislabie’s later additions.
This moment in time has been identified in our World Heritage Site management plan as the period to shape our landscape conservation around.
What is a bosquet?
A bosquet is a group of trees planted in a straight line or geometric shape, often surrounded by hedges or paths of gravel.
This element of garden design was influenced by late 17th-century French fashions and used throughout the garden at Studley with English yew used as the hedging plant.
This key garden feature has been lost over time at Studley as the yew trees have become overgrown and unstable.
Spring - Autumn 2012
Work started in the garden. We saved as many of the existing trees as possible, but had to fell some trees which had become unstable and overgrown.
We began reshaping the land and repairing the eighteenth century culverts which have been damaged by flooding.
Towards the end of summer and into autumn we started to prepare the land for new planting.