World Heritage Day Events
Welcome to Yorkshire.....England's biggest and most glorious county. Yorkshire is extremely lucky and proud to have not just one but two World Heritage sites, Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal in Ripon and Saltaire in Bradford
World Heritage Day, otherwise known as the 'International Day for Monuments and Sites' is celebrated on 18th April every year to raise awareness about the diversity of global cultural and natural heritage and the efforts that are required to protect and conserve it, so make sure you do your part by paying a visit to these unique worldly renowned sites and learn more about their past and find your own special part of Yorkshire.
On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 April the National Trust at Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal will be celebrating international World Heritage Day. The World Heritage Site near Ripon in North Yorkshire are offering visitors a chance to enjoy finding out more about the estate's designation with exhibitions, tours, trails and live archaeology.
The National Trust is also offering free entry to all of its places this weekend, so admission will be free to the Fountains estate on both days, on production of a voucher downloaded from the website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Visitors will be able to see archaeology in action at the Abbey with geophysical surveys taking place on the west green. Archaeologists will use the technology to determine the precise location and form of the "missing" third guesthouse which once stood on this site. The exciting discoveries will be available to view over the weekend on laptops at the Abbey.
The technology of geophysics has advanced hugely since the first survey of this type was carried out on the guesthouse 20 years ago and the results will significantly help with our understanding of the abbey and its place in history.
Special guided tours exploring why the estate became a World Heritage Site, and opportunities to view parts of the Abbey and grounds usually closed will take place throughout the weekend.
Families will be able to enjoy treasure hunting in dig pits by the abbey and joining in with activities at the exhibition marquee by the Visitor Centre.
The beautiful eighteenth century temples and buildings in the Water Garden will be opened up; giving visitors a rare opportunity to take a look inside and imagine life as an elegant Georgian listening to music and trying on the costumes.
A self-led garden trail will also take visitors around some of the most stunning parts of the designed landscape.
Why are Saltaire and Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal World Heritage Sites?
UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific & Cultural Organisation) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. There are 911 World Heritage Sites worldwide, 704 of which are cultural, 180 natural and 27 both cultural and mixed. Famous World Heritage Sites include the Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China and the Great Barrier Reef.
What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional is its universal application. World Heritage Sites belong to everybody in the world, irrespective of which country they are located.
Studley Royal Park including the ruins of Fountains Abbey, was designated a World Heritage Site in 1986. It combines into one harmonious whole buildings, gardens and landscapes constructed over a period of 800 years. The eighteenth century water garden, Cistercian abbey, Jacobean Fountains Hall and Victorian High Gothic church are all important in their own right and have been integrated into a landscape of exceptional beauty. Although many may think that the Abbey is the reason the estate is a World Heritage Site in fact it is because a humanised landscape of exceptional value was created around the largest medieval ruins in the United Kingdom.
Saltaire was designated a World Heritage Site in 2001 due to it being an exceptionally complete and well preserved industrial village of the second half of the 19th century. Built by Victorian philanthropist Titus Salt to house the workers for his alpaca mill, Saltaire was a stark contrast to the other 'dark satanic mills' of the age. The town planning and social welfare ideas manifested in Saltaire were influential in the 19th century garden city movement in the United Kingdom and ultimately internationally.
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