An entirely appropriate sculpture in the Museum Gardens, York, is this Monk, since the site was part of St Mary's Abbey.
Parts of the north and west walls of the abbey nave still stand, and the layout of the rest of the abbey church can be made out quite easily. The Yorkshire Museum contains quite a number of artefacts from the abbey and is well worth a visit.
The original church on the site was founded in 1055AD and dedicated to Saint Olaf. After the Norman Conquest the church came into the possession of Alan Rufus who granted the lands to Abbot Stephen and a group of monks from Whitby. The abbey church was refounded in 1088AD when the King, William Rufus, visited York in January or February of that year and gave the monks additional lands. The following year he laid the foundation stone of the new Norman church and the site was rededicated to the Virgin Mary. That church was badly damaged by fire, so a new church was built from 1271AD. It is the ruins of that church which can be seen today.
St Mary's became the largest and richest Benedictine establishment in the north of England and one of the largest landholders in Yorkshire when it was valued in 1539AD, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII; it was closed and subsequently substantially destroyed. The monks at St Mary's were pensioned off in 1540 and some of the abbey buildings were converted into a palace for the King when he visited York.
I had hoped for a foggy day to get shots of the sculptures, but the weather forecast is predominantly for rain, so it looks like that might be a 'might have been' idea.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
It is quite amazing how effective a mesh sculpture can be. I'm very impressed by the work the sculptors have done here.
Ian
thanks for sharing
fav
Thank you all. I love these sculptures. Such a shame that they are only a temporary display
Ian
Thank you Vesna. I have been back to see them again, but after this weekend they are due to be removed.
Ian