Rufford Abbey is a Cistercian monastery that dates from the 1100s and that was transformed into a Jacobean home and hunting fields after the monasteries were dissolved. The property is set in acres of grounds, parkland, and a nature reserve in Nottinghamshire. The monastery was never a very large one, and the building was repurposed into a home. Today, the parkland around the abbey is popular for visitors as there are gardens to explore with various activities and sculptures, boating, and a couple little shops selling gifts, souvinirs, and ice cream. The abbey is maintained by English Heritage and the Nottinghamshire council. It is also rumoured to be haunted.
Due to coronavirus, I was unable to go inside the ruins. It was not clear on the English Heritage website at the time of my visit in late July that the ruins were not open, but the grounds are open and are a popular place for families to visit. The stables next door to the abbey contain a gift shop and ice cream shop, and there is seating behind the building.
A quick walk around the grounds revealed an orangery and sculptures.
Sculptures were dotted around the gardens. Below is one called "The Hand", designed by schoolchildren based on Makaton, which is language that uses pictures and symbols to communicate.
Below is a walled garden with sculptures and a seat, known as the Girlguiding of Nottinghamshire Centenary Seat. It was designed by girl guides.
There is also a maze and a memorial wall inside the gardens.
The monks were very strict at this abbey and spent most of their time in prayers. In the early 1500s, only 16 monks lived at the abbey, so it was a small community.
Outside the abbey is the "Queen Mother's Walk", which was dedicated to the Queen's Mother in 1981 for her 80th birthday.
The ghosts include the "Black Monk" (I assume a monk in a black cloak), the ghost of a baby that snuggles up to female visitors, and the "White Lady", who was rumoured to be a lady who met her death at the Tower of London. There are also rumours about another lady dressed in black. The reports of these ghosts have been told by many people. The ghosts have been blamed on one of the previous owners as he experimented with black magic. There was also a loose flagstone at the bottom of stairs that revealed a grisly discovery of a skeleton with a bullet hole through its skull. With so much history and a terrible murder, it is no wonder why this place has its ghosts.
The gardens in front of the abbey were beautiful and in full bloom during my visit. An information panel about roses was located in the gardens and explains the origin of the rose probably having originated in China before being used as a symbol in ancient Egypt and then brought from the Middle East to Europe in the middle ages where it became a symbol.
The rose garden was redesigned in 2009 for the abbey, and a new variety of rose planted here is named "The White Lady" after one of the famous ghosts of the abbey.
Information board about the monastery and life in a monastery were located in front of the abbey.
I will have to return to Rufford Abbey as soon as it is open to the public again.
After visiting Rufford Abbey, I visited Laxton. Laxton is the last place in England where the open fields are maanged as they would have been years ago. Hedges do not mark barriers, and the farmland is managed into strips for each farm in different areas. The Dovecote Inn is located in the village and opposite a little tourist information room (not open during my visit) where I had dinner. The Dovecote Inn is known for good fish and chips.
I had the gammon, which was good, followed by the chocolate dessert. Unfortnately, I forgot to take a photograph of the pub on the way out.
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