A walk by the Wharfe
Jun. 3rd, 2026 06:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustI thought I remembered Bolton Abbey from our weekend at Beamsley Hospital in 2022; we didn't visit, but we kept driving past and being intrigued. From the high price for parking, I got the impression it was some sort of stately home - Abbey as in Northanger Abbey, and not something we were in the mood to visit right now. So on Sunday, settled in our hotel and considering the options for Monday, I looked at the internet and (not for the first time) was confused.
Here we were at the Fell - formerly the Devonshire Fell - hotel, which was on the Bolton Abbey estate, but there was no sign of a great house or stately home, just lots of glorious countryside. We had, apparently, access to the estate, and various riverside walks were recommended. Further, as guests at the hotel, we were entitled to a pass which gave us free parking at all the estate car parks - and, actually, the parking was otherwise expensive enough that my previous misapprehension began to make sense
So, just to be absolutely clear: Bolton Abbey Estate, a great swathe of beautiful walking territory along the riverside in Wharfedale, includes a ruined abbey/priory, and a village called Bolton Abbey. Nowhere near Bolton; not even a palindrome. It is the property of the Duke of Devonshire (but not actually in Devonshire, not even in Derbyshire, which is where you also find the Cavendish family, at Chatsworth). And on Monday morning after breakfast we ignored the forecast rain, and set out to explore.
It was a quarter hour's drive to the village of Bolton Abbey, where we flourished our card, parked in the big car park near the village shop, and took the path down to the valley bottom and along the river to the abbey. This picture gives a better overall impression than any I managed to take (it's by Kate Lycett, whose work I have admired in the past. As we made our way through the graveyard up to the ruins, we metdurham_rambler's brother and sister-in-law, on their way to join the gathering at the hotel: we chatted briefly in the not-quite-rain, before we took refuge in the priory church, which they had already seen.
Although the eastern end of the priory is ruined - that great empty window facing the river, and some fine Norman arcading,very reminiscent of Durham cathedral - the western end of the nave still stands, and this is now the parish church (dedicated, also like Durham cathedral, to Saints Mary and Cuthbert). The south wall is a great expanse of nineteenth century stained glass, designed by Pugin: impressive, but too detailed for me to enjoy the detail. I loved the east wall, though:
Also nineteenth century, by a local artist, George or Thomas Bottomley (I've seen both) and full of the sort of iconography I really enjoy decoding.
We took the higher path, looking down onto the river and passing an ornate fountain before plunging down to the next car park, where we found sandwiches for lunch at the Cavendish Pavilion. And I stayed here whiledurham_rambler walked back along the other side of the river, and returned with the car.
And back to the hotel, where he joined the gathering in the bar, and I recovered with my book and a cup of tea. The rest of the evening was food and drink and company.
Here we were at the Fell - formerly the Devonshire Fell - hotel, which was on the Bolton Abbey estate, but there was no sign of a great house or stately home, just lots of glorious countryside. We had, apparently, access to the estate, and various riverside walks were recommended. Further, as guests at the hotel, we were entitled to a pass which gave us free parking at all the estate car parks - and, actually, the parking was otherwise expensive enough that my previous misapprehension began to make sense
So, just to be absolutely clear: Bolton Abbey Estate, a great swathe of beautiful walking territory along the riverside in Wharfedale, includes a ruined abbey/priory, and a village called Bolton Abbey. Nowhere near Bolton; not even a palindrome. It is the property of the Duke of Devonshire (but not actually in Devonshire, not even in Derbyshire, which is where you also find the Cavendish family, at Chatsworth). And on Monday morning after breakfast we ignored the forecast rain, and set out to explore.
It was a quarter hour's drive to the village of Bolton Abbey, where we flourished our card, parked in the big car park near the village shop, and took the path down to the valley bottom and along the river to the abbey. This picture gives a better overall impression than any I managed to take (it's by Kate Lycett, whose work I have admired in the past. As we made our way through the graveyard up to the ruins, we met
durham_rambler's brother and sister-in-law, on their way to join the gathering at the hotel: we chatted briefly in the not-quite-rain, before we took refuge in the priory church, which they had already seen.Although the eastern end of the priory is ruined - that great empty window facing the river, and some fine Norman arcading,very reminiscent of Durham cathedral - the western end of the nave still stands, and this is now the parish church (dedicated, also like Durham cathedral, to Saints Mary and Cuthbert). The south wall is a great expanse of nineteenth century stained glass, designed by Pugin: impressive, but too detailed for me to enjoy the detail. I loved the east wall, though:
Also nineteenth century, by a local artist, George or Thomas Bottomley (I've seen both) and full of the sort of iconography I really enjoy decoding.
We took the higher path, looking down onto the river and passing an ornate fountain before plunging down to the next car park, where we found sandwiches for lunch at the Cavendish Pavilion. And I stayed here while
durham_rambler walked back along the other side of the river, and returned with the car.And back to the hotel, where he joined the gathering in the bar, and I recovered with my book and a cup of tea. The rest of the evening was food and drink and company.
