Rufford Abbey & Edwinstowe. Part 1, Rufford Abbey.

Rufford Abbey.

“Rufford Abbey is a country estate in Rufford, Nottinghamshire, England, some 2 miles (4 km) south of Ollerton. Originally a Cistercian abbey, it was converted to a country house in the 16th century after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Part of the house was demolished in the 20th century, but the remains, standing in 150 acres of park and woodland, are open to the public as Rufford Country Park. Part of the park is a Local Nature Reserve.[1][2]
The house itself is constructed of rubble, brick, dressed stone and ashlar with ashlar dressings and plain tile roofs.[3] It is Grade I listed and scheduled as an Ancient Monument.”

The above information is by courtesy of Wikipedia.

I had an excursion outside the county of Lincolnshire when we visited Rufford Country Park, the site of Rufford Abbey. We also visited the town of Edwinstowe, just a few miles away.

Around the gardens are some permanent sculptures. 

Rufford Abbey is in the centre of what was the Nottinghamshire Coalfield with mines

throughout the area.  There are no more deep coalmines left working in the UK and this is a statue

celebrating the British coal miner. 

There was a coalmine nearby at Ollerton until it's closure in 1994.