Gezicht op de binnenplaats van de ruïne van Furness Abbey before 1880

Alfred Pettitt captured this view of the Furness Abbey ruins as part of a book of photographs. The image transports us to the cloisters where monks of the middle ages lived and worked. These ruins are silent witnesses to the dramatic transformations in religious, political, and social life that swept through England. The dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII meant more than the destruction of buildings. It impacted the very fabric of society, displacing people and redistributing wealth and power. Pettitt's work is a testament to time's relentless march, and offers a window into the ways in which the past continues to haunt the present. The Abbey stands ruined, a reminder of the complex dance between destruction and preservation, power and vulnerability. Consider the emotional weight carried within these crumbling walls. What does it mean to witness the slow decay of something once considered immutable?