Fountains Abbey near Ripon, North Yorkshire, is a World Heritage Site that is managed by the National Trust and boasts over 800 acres of beautiful countryside and 800 years of history.
There are two car parks, one at the bottom of the valley and another at the top, both of which have parking spaces for disabled visitors. From the bottom car park you can access the main grounds of the abbey, whilst from the top you can call into the visitors centre, café, shop and use the WC facilities. There is a large tactile frieze depicting buildings on the estate in the Visitor Centre foyer.
If you choose to park at the visitors centre you can use the abbey’s free accessible minibus to get to the main grounds. The abbey also has a number of manual wheelchairs and Batricars (electric scooters) that are available for disabled visitors. To book these facilities please call 01765 608888 at least 24 hours in advance.
As part of Fountains Abbey’s commitment to ensuring access for disabled people the National Trust allow a companion of a disabled visitor to access the site free of charge.
More information can be found on the Fountains Abbey website.
The route shown in the video is from the visitors centre at the top car park which then descends into the valley bottom and the grounds of the abbey itself. This route is not recommended by the National Trust due to steep gradients and adverse camber on the pavements.
The route then continues from Studley Hall past Fountains Abbey in an anticlockwise direction passing through the Water garden before returning to the abbey.
Most of the surfaces around Fountains Abbey are in good condition although there are some steep gradients. There are also plenty of benches for people to rest on and audio guides that can be downloaded from the website.
A full map of the route shown in the video below is available from the Fountains Abbey visitor centre.