Millennium Sampler #5

This is part of the Millennium Sampler I finished on 1 January 2000. This section shows Fountains Abbey and celebrates the exploration of Australia by Captain James Cook.

Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved ruined Cistercian monasteries in England and celebrates the role of the monastic orders in our history. It was founded in 1132, and it operated for over 400 years, until 1539, when Henry VIII ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

Captain Cook was one of the greatest navigators of all time. Voyaging back and forth across the Pacific and the southern hemisphere, Cook became the first to chart the coasts of New Zealand, much of Australia and many remote islands. By the time of his death at the hands of Hawaii natives, he had won a reputation as a meticulous explorer.