St Mary’s Abbey, York

St Mary's Abbey, York tickets: which one to buy

The ruins of Saint Mary's Abbey stand in the Museum Gardens in the centre of York, near the River Ouse, and the gardens and ruins are free to enter during opening hours. The gardens are a popular green space, and the Yorkshire Museum, which charges admission, stands beside the ruins. Walking tours of York include the abbey along with York Minster, the city walls, the Shambles, Clifford's Tower and the Viking centre.

The ruins are a short walk from York railway station and from the Minster. Every few years, the York Mystery Plays have been performed in the abbey ruins, using them as a stage. The gardens are open daily, with shorter hours in winter. The abbey ruins are fenced but visible from all sides, and information boards explain the history. Guided walks of York, including free ones, often start at the Art Gallery beside the gardens.

Visiting St Mary's Abbey, York: what to see

The Benedictine abbey was founded in 1088 by William II, on the site of an earlier church, and it became one of the wealthiest and most powerful monasteries in the north of England. The church was rebuilt in the Gothic style from 1271. In 1132, a group of monks left the abbey in protest at its lax discipline and founded Fountains Abbey, which became a Cistercian monastery. The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539, and its buildings were used as a royal residence and then quarried for stone. The main ruins are the north wall and the western part of the nave of the church, with tall Gothic arches and windows. The Yorkshire Museum displays carved stones and statues from the abbey.

The abbey's walls, gatehouse and the hospitium, a guesthouse, also survive in the gardens. The surviving arches of the nave rise high above the lawns, and the remains of the abbey's cloister and chapter house can be traced on the ground. The Yorkshire Museum's cellars incorporate parts of the abbey buildings. Carved capitals and sculptures found in the ruins show the high quality of the abbey's decoration. The abbey's walls, with towers, run along Marygate and Bootham, and they are among the best preserved monastic walls in England. The ruins were excavated in the nineteenth century by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society, which created the gardens. Botanical plantings in the gardens include rare trees.

St Mary's Abbey, York opening hours and the best time to go

The Museum Gardens are open daily from morning until evening, with shorter hours in winter. York is busy all year, especially in summer and during the Christmas markets in December, when the city fills with visitors. The gardens are pleasant for picnics in summer, and the trees change colour in autumn. The York Mystery Plays and summer theatre productions are occasionally staged in the ruins. The riverside walk along the Ouse starts nearby. Allow about twenty minutes for the abbey ruins, and combine them with the Yorkshire Museum and a walk on the city walls. The York Art Gallery, just outside the gardens, holds paintings and a large collection of British studio ceramics.