Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal
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Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal World Heritage Site Management Plan Progress Report July 2019 Welcome Our World Heritage Site Along with our focus on delivering Management Plan is now in conservation projects in the World Heritage its fourth year and this progress Site we’ve been developing a set of draft attributes of the Outstanding Universal report celebrates the work Value of the World Heritage Site to help of the National Trust and our manage and protect the site. We are also partners over the last year. delighted to see progress on the Ripon Neighbourhood Plan and Harrogate District In September 2018 we had the great Local Plan, both of which include policies news that our first round bid to the to protect the World Heritage Site and National Lottery Heritage Fund for the its setting. Skell Valley Project had been successful. We worked closely with Nidderdale Area Infrastructure continues to be a major of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) challenge. Our car parks, ticket offices, and communities living and working along toilets and café areas have been struggling the river to develop a range of projects to to cope with the growing number of visitors. manage flood risk, improve water quality Following the refurbishment of the visitor and habitats for wildlife and restore centre this year our big focus for 2019/20 neglected historic buildings and landscapes. is the Studley Lake entrance. The project will also extend links between Ripon and the communities upstream to We couldn’t deliver any of this without improve access and explore the stories the support of our partners, local which have shaped the landscape. The communities, visitors and the staff National Lottery grant helps fund a project and volunteers who help care for manager and community participation the World Heritage Site. assistant who over the next year will be Sarah France working closely with farmers, landowners World Heritage Site Co-ordinator and local groups to develop those project ideas further. Tony Earnshaw Chair of the World Heritage Site Steering Group 2 World Heritage Management Plan Progress Report July 2019 The abbey cellarium Who we are The World Heritage Site is managed with the support and advice of the World Heritage Site Steering Group. Tony Earnshaw — Assistant Director Operations, North Region, National Trust and Chair of the Steering Group Justin Scully — General Manager, Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, National Trust Keith Emerick — Inspector of Ancient Monuments, Historic England Mark Douglas — Properties Curator, English Heritage Trust Liz Small — Heritage Services Manager, North Yorkshire County Council Peter Goodchild — International Council on Monuments and Sites Tracey Rathmell — Executive Officer Policy and Place, Harrogate Borough Council Temple of Piety World Heritage Management Plan Progress Report July 2019 3 Theme 1: Overall Management Approach Defining the attributes What are attributes? of the World Heritage Site Attributes are the qualities that express the OUV of the World Heritage Site All World Heritage Sites have Outstanding and which contribute to and enhance Universal Value (OUV). This is a cultural and/ understanding of the OUV. They can be or natural significance which is so exceptional physical qualities or fabric but can also as to transcend national boundaries and to be processes associated with a property be of common importance for all humanity. that impact on physical qualities. The Statement of Outstanding Universal Value (SOUV) for Studley Royal Park, The key purpose of identifying attributes including the ruins of Fountains Abbey World is so they can be protected, managed and Heritage Site was approved by the UNESCO monitored. They are needed for assessing World Heritage Committee in 2012. the impact of planning proposals on the OUV of the World Heritage Site and when developing project ideas ‘ Situated in North Yorkshire, the and other interventions. 18th century designed landscape of Studley Royal water garden The list of attributes is not intended and pleasure grounds, including to be a full description and history the ruins of Fountains Abbey, of the designed landscape at Studley is one harmonious whole of Royal and Fountains Abbey. buildings, gardens and landscapes. This landscape of exceptional merit and beauty represents over 800 years of human ambition, design and achievement.’ The SOUV informs all our decisions on the conservation and management of the World Heritage Site. A full copy can be viewed on our website: nationaltrust.org.uk/fountainsabbeywhs 4 World Heritage Management Plan Progress Report July 2019 A landscape garden of exceptional beauty and harmony Attributes for Fountains Range of buildings illustrating patronage, Abbey and Studley Royal status and influence — Octagon Tower World Heritage Site Historic England, the National Trust and Harrogate Borough Council have compiled a set of draft attributes of the Outstanding Universal Value of the World Heritage Site. The next stage will be to identify a set of components of each attribute to help understand them further. How can you help? We’ll be doing a formal consultation The draft attributes are: on the draft attributes on our website over the summer. We’ll be seeking — A landscape garden of exceptional your views on: beauty and harmony — Whether the attributes we’ve — The ruins of Fountains Abbey identified are the right ones — Accretion of designed landscape — Help identifying any attributes which enhances the natural we’ve missed landscape — Immaculately designed views and — Putting together a list of key vistas using the landscape both components for each attribute within and beyond the boundaries Our website address is: of the garden nationaltrust.org.uk/ — Range of buildings illustrating fountainsabbeywhs patronage, status and influence The attributes also extend beyond the boundary of the World Heritage Site. Designed views and vistas extend across the surrounding landscape and to distant landmarks such as Ripon Cathedral and Blois Hall Farm. The World Heritage Site inscription only covers part of a greater designed landscape which extends beyond The ruins of Fountains Abbey current World Heritage Site boundaries and includes How Hill prospect tower, Spa Gill landscaped carriage drive and Chinese Wood, a large and early Chinese Garden. World Heritage Management Plan Progress Report July 2019 5 Visitor infrastructure The next big challenge, and one which was tested this Easter, is improving improvements traffic flow and capacity in our car parks. We’ve now submitted the first stage of The visitor centre, first opened in 1992, planning permission for an extension to is an Edward Cullinan designed, award the overflow car park to provide additional winning building. It combines a modern parking spaces. We hope that the project aesthetic with traditional building materials will start in September. of stone, steel, lead, glass and wood. Since 1992, internal alterations have responded to the business needs of the property, Easter weekend 2019 the latest of which have been a series in numbers of changes to the admissions area, retail, offices, restaurant and toilets. Visitors: 18,254 Our visitor centre restaurant needed Memberships purchased: a modern refresh and better infrastructure 405 to improve visitor flow on busy days. Acoustic baffles have helped to reduce Food and beverage sales: the echoes and the seating areas are £65,337 more clearly defined. The redesigned welcome area Retail sales: £19,042 For the first time an item from the collection has been introduced to the Holiday cottages: space: the remains of a classical sculpture of Priapus, rediscovered in 1995 in one of fully booked the garden valleys and kept in storage for many years. Priapus was the protector of gardens and a god of fertility and is part Our team set a new record over Easter of the collection of eighteenth century by recruiting 113 National Trust members lead and stone statuary from the gardens in one day. The week as a whole also broke at Studley Royal, being introduced in the a record; for the first time Fountains Abbey 1730s. The statue formerly stood behind and Studley Royal welcomed more than the Banqueting House, along the family’s 20,000 visitors in one week, making it the private route to and from the gardens. third busiest pay for entry property in the The newly refurbished restaurant Priapus was one of several features on this Trust. As a charity we rely on the income side of the garden which evoked a more from members and supporters to fund sensory atmosphere. The limestone statue our conservation work and the income has been cleaned and mounted by Cliveden generated by every visit, cup of tea and Conservation to enable us to bring this purchase in the shop helps us to look piece of the gardens to the visitor centre. after the World Heritage Site. 6 World Heritage Management Plan Progress Report July 2019 The Ripon Key policies and actions in the — Policy supporting tourism Neighbourhood Plan Neighbourhood Plan relevant by encouraging new hotels to the World Heritage Site and protecting existing ones We work with the community to ensure — Landscape Character Policy — — Policy and action plan to protect policies are in place to protect the development should protect the and improve footpaths World Heritage Site and its setting. landscape setting of Ripon in the River Ure, Skell and Laver Valleys — Policy, cycling strategy and action After several years’ work the Ripon plan to support facilities for cyclists Neighbourhood Plan (previously