Scenes from South Yorkshire

6. Roche Abbey

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Roche Abbey is beautifully set in a quiet valley apparently landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century.

Roche Abbey: The Gatehouse of Roche Abbey, a Cistercian monastic settlement.

Roche Abbey: The roof vaulting and interior of the gatehouse.

Roche Abbey: Another view of the Gatehouse.

Roche Abbey: The attractive building housing information centre, ticket office and gift shop.

Roche Abbey: The most impressive part of the ruins is the east end of the church built in the new Gothic style around 1170 and lies close to the limestone cliffs of stone it was built from.

Roche Abbey: This is a wonderful peaceful setting and a great place for a picnic.

Roche Abbey's main drain was economically placed to carry away the waste from the kitchen and rere-dorters - the latrines at each end of a dormitory.

Roche Abbey: The fast flowing stream still rushes through the conduits of the monastery once dependent on its swift flow - a remarkable survival of ingenious medieval engineering.

Roche Abbey has one of the most complete 'ground plans' visible in terms of the bases of walls of any Cistercian monastery in England.

Roche Abbey: Some of the magnificent pointed arches.

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Roche Abbey: The capitals of some of the pillars.

Roche Abbey: Magnificent stone vaulting and corbelling.

Roche Abbey: All it needed was a bit of 20th century pointing!

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The bases of the columns of the nave.

Roche Abbey: The story of the pillaging of Roche Abbey at the Dissolution of the Monasteries was vividly documented by the son of an eye-witness f the terrible events in 1538 when the monks were dismissed from the abbey. The abbey was largely destroyed in the process.

The property is excellently maintained by English Heritage.

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