Kirkstall Abbey, Kirkstall, Leeds, West Yorkshire

Photograph taken 1896 - 1920 © Reproduced by permission of Historic England Archive ref: AA97/08058

Kirkstall Abbey was founded in 1152 by a community of Cistercian monks from Fountains Abbey. It gained its wealth from keeping sheep for the wool trade. Monastic life for the 31 monks came to an end in November 1540 when the abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII as part of the dissolution of the monasteries. Although a few buildings were cleared to ground level most were left standing and used for agricultural purposes. This is perhaps why Kirkstall is now the most complete set of Cistercian ruins in Britain. The church still stands to roof level. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the road from Leeds to Skipton ran right through the nave! The abbey is now in the care of Leeds City Council (2011).

Location

West Yorkshire Leeds

Period

Medieval (Middle Ages) (1066 - 1484)

Themes

A nunnery was first documented here in 603. A monastery was founded during the abbacy of Aldhelm (c675-705). It became Benedictine in the reign of Edgar (959–975) and remained so until dissolved in 1539. The final Abbey Church was built circa 1160-70 and had 13th/14th and 15th century additions. The 431 feet (131 m) tall spire, collapsed in a storm around 1500. The west tower fell around 1550. As a result of these two collapses, less than half of the original building stands today. The abbey was closed at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 by Henry VIII. It was sold, with all its lands, to William Stumpe, a rich merchant. He gave the abbey church to the town for continuing use as a parish church, and filled the abbey buildings with twenty looms for his cloth-weaving enterprise.
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Kirkstall Abbey, Kirkstall, Leeds, West Yorkshire

Location

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