Rufford Abbey Country Park pictures

Some of my Nottingham relatives and I visited Rufford Abbey Country Park exactly one week ago. We had an enjoyable morning and afternoon at this country estate in north Nottinghamshire. Here are four pictures:

A view of Rufford Abbey's front plus its south-facing side. Rufford Abbey was built in the first half of the 12th century and was originally a monastery before being converted into country house in the 16th century.

A view from within Rufford Abbey's court. There was not much to look at inside the court beyond the architecture and the ruins, but it immediately reminded me of the court where Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

This structure is the ice house. During the Victorian Era, these buildings stored ice — but not food and drink, as commonly believed. Instead, the ice was transported to homes and used to chill any perishable items stored there. The invention of freezers and refrigerators in the 20th century rendered ice houses obsolete.

This is a mother swan with her cygnets; I have rarely, if ever, seen cygnets and it was a treat to see them. The swans lived in the same area as some ducks; while the cygnets were larger than the biggest adult duck, the mother swan was highly protective of her young and didn't hesitate to show aggression towards any duck that swam in her vicinity.