Studley Royal is one of the few great 18th-century gardens to survive substantially in its original form and is one of the most spectacular water gardens in England.
The landscape garden is an outstanding example of the development of the ‘English’ garden style throughout the 18th century, which influenced the rest of Europe.
It was designed around the equally spectacular ruins of Fountains Abbey, one of the few Cistercian houses to survive from the 12th century and providing an unrivalled picture of a great religious house in all its parts.