Kirkstall Abbey
| Cistercian Kirkstall Abbey | |
|---|---|
 View of the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey from the southeast |
|
| location |
 United Kingdom England West Yorkshire |
| Coordinates: | 53 ° 49 '15 " N , 1 ° 36' 28" W |
| Serial number according to Janauschek |
231 |
| founding year | 1147 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment |
1539 |
| Mother monastery | Fountains Abbey |
| Primary Abbey | Clairvaux Monastery |
Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian abbey in the north English city of Leeds in West Yorkshire . It is located on the Aire River in the Kirkstall district. The ruin has been used as a motif by many artists, such as William Turner , over the years.
Construction began in 1152 and was completed 30 years later. In 1539 the abbey was dissolved on the orders of Henry VIII , as a result of the separation of the Anglican from the Catholic Church, and it fell into disrepair. Nevertheless, it is now one of the best-preserved examples of medieval monastery architecture in Great Britain , largely thanks to the protective measures introduced in the late 19th century.
history
founding
Legend has it that the Norman nobleman Henry de Lacy , Baron de Pontefract , swore to God during a serious illness that he would help the Cistercian monks of Fountains Abbey build a new abbey if he were to recover. In fact, he recovered and in 1147 gave the monks a piece of land in Barnoldswick ( Lancashire ), who wanted to build a daughter monastery there under Abbot Alexander. Due to disputes with the local village population, a bad harvest and several robberies, the new location was soon abandoned. Henry de Lacy agreed to help them find a new piece of land and was finally able to convince one of his feudal men to give the Cistercians a piece of land in Kirkstall near Leeds . On May 19, 1152, the monks moved to the current location of Kirkstall Abbey. In the same year they started building the abbey. The area was home to both stone deposits and extensive forests, while the River Aire provided excellent opportunities for transporting building materials. Henry de Lacy financed the construction. In 1182, the year Abbot Alexander died, most of the complex was completed.
Economic development
Kirkstall Abbey was under more than 30 homesteads, including in Headingley (now a district of Leeds) and other places in the vicinity of Leeds as well as in the villages of Cliviger (near Accrington , Lancashire), Oldfield (near Keighley , West Yorkshire ), Thorpe ( south of York , North Yorkshire ), Darrington (near Pontefract , West Yorkshire), Hooton Pagnell and Bessacar (both near Doncaster , South Yorkshire ). Barnoldswick, Henry de Lacy's original gift, also belonged to the abbey. The economic basis of the monastery was the sale of wool .
King Heinrich II confiscated the Micklethwaite farm in 1173/74, which had once belonged to opponents of the English crown. All attempts by Abbot Ralph Haget to get the king to return Micklethwaite were unsuccessful. His successor, Abbot Lambert, exchanged the Cliviger estate for the Accrington parish. The residents of Cliviger were expelled but returned, burning the estate and killing three lay brothers . Only Henry de Lacy's son, Robert de Lacy, was able to restore order by forcing the peasants to beg Abbot Lambert's forgiveness. In 1205 it was possible to get Micklethwaite back from King John Ohneland at a high price . Up until around 1210, Kirkstall Abbey was able to significantly expand its land holdings, mainly thanks to numerous donations, which, however, declined noticeably after 1210.
Economic difficulties increased in the course of the 13th century. As fewer and fewer farmers wanted to enter the service of the Cistercian order, the number of lay brothers who were responsible for cultivating arable land and keeping animals fell. As a result, the abbey was forced to lease more and more land to farmers instead of using it itself. In addition there was mismanagement of the abbots. In particular, the habit of selling wool years in advance turned out to be a serious mistake if one could not deliver the promised quantities of wool due to unfavorable weather conditions or devastating animal diseases. A mountain of debt piled up. When Hugh Grimston took office as the 15th abbot since the abbey was founded in 1284, Kirkstall Abbey had 115 cattle and 21 donkeys, but not a single sheep. The residue was 5248 pounds . To cope with the debt burden, Grimston gave the Earl of Lincoln many of the estates and farms in exchange for a guaranteed annual payment. The measure proved successful, so that in 1301 the abbey was able to show 618 cattle and around 4500 sheep. The debt had been reduced to £ 160. From the late 13th century, Kirkstall Abbey expanded its trade relations to Lucca, Tuscany .
Around the middle of the 14th century and around 1380 the plague struck the monastery and claimed many lives. In 1381 only 16 monks and six lay brothers lived in the abbey, which was now barely able to look after itself and therefore had to lease even more land to outsiders.
Importance and Influence
As one of the largest landowners in England, Kirkstall Abbey and its chiefs played an increasingly important role in church and state affairs. In 1265 the abbot was one of the delegates to Simon de Montfort's parliament. The cooperation between the abbots and the archbishops of York was of extraordinary importance , for example during the suppression of the Templar Order in 1311. In times of war, the English kings often made demands on the abbey, such as one-off payments or the provision of provisions and horses for the army. In the 15th century, several abbots served as royal plenipotentiaries.
Dissolution in 1539
After Henry VIII (1509 to 1547) broke with the Catholic Church , he had all the monasteries in his country inspected. In 1536 the parliament approved the dissolution of the smaller monasteries and transfer of their properties to the king. Then a Catholic uprising broke out in northern England, which Heinrich put down. He now accused the larger abbeys that did not fall under the resolution of 1536, including Kirkstall Abbey, of supporting the uprising. All English monasteries were dissolved by 1540. In Kirkstall Abbey, the abbot and the 31 monks met for the last time on November 22, 1539 in the chapter house and handed the abbey over to a royal official. Each monk received a severance payment according to the time he had lived in the monastery. Popularly, the last abbot John is said to have spent the rest of his life in the abbey's gatehouse.
After the dissolution
After the abbey was dissolved in 1542, it became the property of Thomas Cranmer , Archbishop of Canterbury . After his execution in 1556 it fell to the English crown, which it subsequently leased out. In the meantime, the complex was left to decay. Furniture and other furnishings were stolen within a short time, as was the lead roof tiles. Soon farmers used some of the buildings as barns and stables, while the cloister served as an orchard. The structure itself remained undisturbed immediately after the dissolution, but church records from 1583 show that workers were paid to get building materials from the abbey for repair work on a bridge in Leeds. Compared to other former monasteries in England, the abuse as a building material supplier was limited. But wind and weather hit the abbey heavily. In 1746 the roof and the west wall of the former abbey church collapsed. Most of the tower collapsed in January 1779 after severe storms. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, a thoroughfare ran right through the nave of the church. For this purpose, the presbytery with the east window had to be torn down. It was not until 1827 that the road that now bypasses the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey to the north was moved.
Restoration measures and current use
Since the 17th century, Kirkstall Abbey belonged to the Earls of Cardigan, who in 1889 sold it to industrialist and entrepreneur John North for £ 10,000 for lack of money. North showed great interest in preserving the ruins and handed them over to the City of Leeds that same year. Between 1892 and 1896 this had extensive restoration work carried out. The remains of the tower and parts of the wall threatened by collapse were supported. The area around the abbey was given the shape of a public park, which was opened in 1896. Further repair, renewal and protection measures followed in the 1920s, 1980s and late 1990s.
Today, Kirkstall Abbey is considered to be one of the best preserved early Cistercian monasteries in Britain. The ruins are open to visitors all year round, and guided tours are offered in summer. A visitor center has been set up in the former latrine house of the lay brothers. A year-round permanent exhibition provides information about the history of the abbey and the order as well as everyday life in the monastery. A model shows the original condition of the entire building complex. You can also see various finds that were discovered during excavations on the site. The former gatehouse houses the Abbey House Museum , which offers a glimpse into Victorian Leeds.
Monument protection
The abbey as a whole, including the surrounding areas, has been listed as a Scheduled Monument since February 8, 1915 . In addition, several buildings were designated as Listed Buildings in September 1963 : the main complex in the highest category I, the gatehouse with the museum in category II * and the foundation walls of the guest house and Vesper Gate in category II.
Building history
From foundation to dissolution
Most of the construction work begun in 1152 was done by the monks and lay brothers, while the difficult stone carving work was done by hired craftsmen. The various buildings were laid out around a central cloister . Priority was given to the construction of the presbytery of the abbey church north of the cloister, so that regular services could take place, and the conversational house for the lay brothers in the west to create living space. Later the kitchen, refectory and warming room followed in the south as well as the chapter house and the monks' bedrooms east of the cloister. All buildings were initially covered with stone slabs and clay roof tiles. By 1182 the main buildings had been completed. The gatehouse to the north of the abbey also originates from this early construction phase.
The abbey church was completed around 1170. Then the interior was set up. After its completion, the church underwent only a few structural changes. In the 15th century, a Gothic window that took up almost the entire east wall replaced the original rose window . The church tower was raised under Abbot William Marshall (1509 to 1527) and a bell chamber was added.
In the first half of the 13th century a number of important additions were made, including a new refectory in the south. The abbot's adjoining accommodation was built around 1230 and redesigned and an oriel was added in the 15th century. The infirmary was also built in the first half of the 13th century in the southeast. It has been rebuilt and enlarged several times. In the cloister a wall originally separated the monastery area accessible to the Cistercian monks from the area of the lay brothers. However, when the number of lay brothers living in the abbey decreased more and more in the 13th and 14th centuries, the partition wall was removed. The arcades around the cloister were also redesigned later.
Since the monks were originally strictly forbidden from eating meat and only the sick were allowed to eat meat, a meat kitchen was added to the refectory in the 15th century. At about the same time, lead shingles replaced the original clay roof tiles of the church and the eastern monastery buildings.
restoration
In 1892 the city council of Leeds began building work to preserve the abbey, which had fallen into ruin after its dissolution in 1539. She had the only partially preserved tower and walls in danger of collapsing supported, walls covered, cracks and crevices in the masonry closed, trees felled in the monastery area and other plants growing over the remains of the wall, especially ivy , removed. The approach of the city administration was by no means undisputed, since many contemporaries found the ruin in its badly dilapidated state as romantic. Further protective measures followed in the 1920s that had not been tackled thirty years earlier. Errors in the previous restoration were also corrected, including the removal of the unsightly wall coverings.
The masonry was re-grouted in the 1980s. The presbytery was given back the roof it had removed when the abbey was dissolved, in order to protect the vault from waterlogging and the risk of collapse. For the same reason, the side aisles and the chapels of the transepts were re-roofed in 1999 .
building
The floor plan on the right shows the central building complex of Kirkstall Abbey as it was in 1539. The room layout can still be traced today, as the foundations of the heavily dilapidated buildings are mostly still there. The monastery is structured as follows:
| 1 | Main ship | 10 | Abortion |
| 2 | tower | 11 | kitchen |
| 3 | presbytery | 12 | refectory |
| 4th | Transepts | 13 | Warming room |
| 5 | Monastery area with cloister | 14th | Meat kitchen |
| 6th | Library | 15th | Novices' quarters and dormitory |
| 7th | Chapter House | 16 | Abbot's lodging |
| 8th | Parlatorium (consulting room) | 17th | Guest house for representatives of the mother monastery |
| 9 | Konversenhaus (accommodation for lay brothers) | 18th | Infirmary |
A number of other buildings belong to the monastery grounds. West of the main complex was the abbey's former guest house with its own kitchen and stables. The former gatehouse is north of the main complex, from which it is separated by a road. It is the only structure from Kirkstall Abbey to be preserved in a habitable state. All buildings were connected to an underground sewage system, which was extremely advanced for the time.
Abbey church
The Romanesque abbey church, built from 1152 in around twenty years of construction, rises north of the monastery area. Although only preserved as a ruin, it is considered to be one of the finest and most complete examples of early Cistercian architecture in Great Britain. In accordance with the regulations of St. Bernard of Clairvaux , the church was deliberately kept simple and unadorned.
The main portal on the west side consists of a simple, unadorned round arch . Above it was originally a large round window, which was replaced by two round-arched Gothic tracery windows in the 15th century . Around the same time, the gable and the square, two-story turrets were built on the two walls of the gable.
From the west portal you can now look through the entire nave to the east wall in the presbytery. Originally the interior was more structured. The lay brothers were only allowed to stay in the western part, while the monks in the eastern part attended mass while sitting . High, strong round arches separate the main nave from the side aisles, the roofing of which was restored in 1999.
A narrow doorway leads from the north transept to the former cemetery . Except for the gable, which, like almost all gables, was renewed as part of the new roofing in the 15th century, and the turrets that border it, the almost completely preserved transept reflects the original state of construction of the 12th century. In the south transept, a staircase connects the choir with the former bedrooms of the monks and novices , which they only used at night to take part in the vigil (night prayer). It is therefore called the “night staircase”. The gallery above was also connected to the dormitory . From there, elderly and sick monks could attend the service. On the east side of the transepts there are three chapels for private prayer. In each chapel there is a wall niche in which bread and wine were provided for the Lord's Supper , with a basin for cleaning the mess utensils.
The presbytery to the east was the most important part of the church. Here was the high altar , which was stolen shortly after the monastery was dissolved. In the 12th century, the east wall was provided with three arched windows and a large round window above. In the 15th century it was replaced by a Gothic pointed arched window decorated with tracery. This represented the most extensive structural change to the abbey church. The window plinth was removed in the 18th century to make way for a street that led directly through the nave. It was not until the 1890s that the Leeds City Council had it rebuilt.
The tower has not stood the test of time, it collapsed in 1779 during a winter storm. Originally it only reached the height of the ridge of the steep church roof. Today only the initials of Abbot William Marshall on the buttresses that caused the establishment of a bell house remind of the increase in the beginning of the 16th century .
Monastery square
To the south of the abbey church, the monastery area opens around which the most important buildings of the abbey are arranged. To the east are the library, the chapter house and the parlatorium. In the south the farm buildings border on the Klostergeviert, in the west the Konversenhaus. At the beginning, a wall paralleled the east wall of the Konversenhaus separated a narrow passage for the lay brothers. The actual, exactly square inner courtyard was reserved for the monks. However, the partition wall was later removed, so that the courtyard now takes the form of an unequal-sided rectangle, with the north and south borders being slightly longer than the east and west walls. The semicircular arcades of the cloister consisted of light limestone in contrast to the other buildings, for which dark sandstone was used . They are no longer preserved today.
Library
The library was set up in a tiny, windowless room northeast of the courtyard between the abbey church in the north, the sacristy in the east and the chapter house in the south. The only access is from the cloister. The books in the monastery library were kept by a former monk after it was closed and some of them have been preserved to this day.
Chapter House
In the chapter house , which goes off to the east of the monastery courtyard, the monks gathered daily for the so-called chapter, the name of which is derived from the reading of a chapter from the monastic rule of Saint Benedict of Nursia . The chapter began with a reading from the Martyrology to commemorate the saint whose name day was being celebrated. This was followed by a section from the Rule of Benedict. On Sundays and public holidays, rules of the order or the statutes of the general chapter of the Cistercians were read and interpreted. At the end the dead were remembered. Then the monks could confess their sins in front of the assembled community, after which they fell on their knees, asked for forgiveness and awaited a judgment. Those who did not come forward to confession were “accused” and judged by the others in order not to divert them from the path of salvation. The usual punishments were fasting, demotion or whipping, but in serious cases also expulsion from the monastery or - since the resolution of the General Chapter of 1206 - a prison sentence. Corresponding punishments were carried out immediately. Afterwards, affairs of the abbey could be discussed, announcements and letters read out and important decisions made. The chapter house was therefore the second most important room in the monastery after the church. Lay brothers were only allowed in on certain holidays when sermons were being delivered. After the dissolution of Kirkstall Abbey, farmers from the area used it as a cattle shed.
You enter the chapter house coming from the cloister through a large double round arch in the middle of the eastern boundary wall of the monastery area. It consists of two merging rooms: a vestibule, the vaulted ceiling of which is supported by bundles of pillars and round arches, and the actual chapter house with Gothic ribbed vaults and lancet windows . The latter dates from the 13th century, when it probably had to be rebuilt due to a previous collapse. At the same time, some stone sarcophagi were also added to the east wall. It is unclear whether these ever contained corpses or were only integrated for reasons of stability.
Parlatorium
At Kirkstall Abbey there was a general duty of confidentiality. The only room in which the monks were allowed to talk to one another for a limited time was the parlatorium on the east side of the monastery courtyard. The entrance originally consisted of a large round arch, but in the 15th century a lower arch with a small window above was built into it. The passage south of the parlatorium leads from the cloister to the dormitory.
Konversenhaus
Apart from the western front of the abbey church, the approximately 50 meter long Konversenhaus , in which the accommodations of the lay brothers working in the abbey were set up, takes up the entire western side of the monastery. In the 12th and 13th centuries it housed up to 75 people. Today only the east and north walls remain, the other two walls collapsed in 1746. A central row of columns once divided the ground floor into eleven bays . The corbels on the east side that supported the vault can still be seen today. The five southern bays formed the refectory (dining room), which connected a hatch to the kitchen. Through the middle yoke a corridor led from the outside to the cloister. The four yokes north of it served as a pantry and storage room for wool and animal skins. In the northernmost yoke, the monks could meet friends or outsiders and discuss business matters. The lay brothers' bedrooms took up the entire first floor. In 1825 the false ceiling collapsed under the load of large amounts of snow.
The small south-western porch is free today, but was originally attached to the Konversenhaus until its south and west walls collapsed. This was where the lay brothers' washrooms and toilet were located, which already had an ingenious flush. Under the toilets on the first floor, water flowed from a collecting basin through a brick pipe. Today a visitor center has been set up here, which provides information about the history of the abbey and the Cistercians as well as the everyday life of the monks.
kitchen
The kitchen was in the room to the east of the Konversenhaus and southwest of the monastery area . In the middle of the room, fish and vegetables were cooked on two large fireplaces. Meat was initially forbidden to the monks and was only allowed to be prepared in a specially built kitchen from the 15th century. Each friar had to take turns preparing meals for the community. To the west, a wide corridor led from the outside into the narrow strip of the courtyard open to lay brothers. When the number of lay brothers continued to decrease in the 15th century, a malt house and a bakery were set up in the corridor . The cellar master, to whom all lay brothers were subordinate, used the space above.
refectory
The refectory is a north-south facing room almost 30 meters long to the east of the kitchen. In its current form it dates from the early 13th century, after the previous building had proven to be much too small. Around 1240, the floor was laid out with large sandstone slabs under tables and benches, while in the center aisle, on the other hand, with tiles of different colors, which resulted in geometric shapes and ornaments. On the west wall a small staircase led to a pulpit , from which religious texts were read at every meal. It was replaced by a fireplace in the 15th century when a wooden false ceiling was put in so that meat could be served in the lower room, while the upper room was reserved for eating meatless meals. The tall Norman windows were split at the level of the wooden ceiling.
In winter the monks only ate one meal a day in the refectory, in summer there was also a light dinner. Drinks were served several times a day. Strict table manners prevailed in the monastery. Nobody was allowed to get up or leave the room while eating. It was not allowed to speak. When drinking, the monks always had to hold their cups with both hands.
Warming room
The warming room accessible from the cloister was, apart from the kitchen and the sickroom, the only room that was heated in winter. It has been rebuilt several times. Important documents were kept in the room above.
Meat kitchen
It was not until the 15th century that the General Chapter relaxed the strict dietary regulations of the Cistercian order and allowed meat to be consumed, but on the condition that it was prepared in a separate kitchen. For this purpose, the meat kitchen was built south of the warming room. A small courtyard was left free between the two rooms. Kirkstall Abbey had meat three times a week.
Dormitory
The dormitory offered space for 80 to 100 monks. It consisted of a 50 meter long room on the first floor. Stairs connected it to the cloister and the abbey church. There was a toilet at the south end. The library, the chapter house and the parlatorium were located on the ground floor under the dormitory, while the room to the south, which collapsed in 1825 , housed either the novices' quarters or a work room, possibly the scriptorium .
According to the rule of St. Benedict of Nursia , the monks slept in full clothing so that they did not have to change clothes for night prayers. They slept on mattresses filled with straw, with black or white bed linen. Originally, the abbot also slept in the same room with the other friars, but later moved to his own accommodation. In the 14th century the general chapter of the Cistercians allowed the priors and subpriores to separate their own, lockable rooms within the bedroom in order to offer them a retreat. At that time, the other monks were probably also allowed to delimit their beds with curtains or something similar. In the dormitory not only speaking but also sign language was forbidden. There were no chimneys or stoves.
Abbot's lodging
According to the rules of the order, the abbot should spend the nights with the other monks in the dormitory. Around 1230, however, a house was built in the southeast especially for the abbot, one of the earliest of its kind in Great Britain. It consisted of three floors. The abbot's servants lived on the ground floor, the first floor served as a reception room for guests, and the abbot's actual apartment was on the second floor. The latter comprised a large living room, a hallway and a bedroom with a changing room. While the ground floor only had small rectangular windows, the two upper floors each had two large windows, divided by a graceful column, which let in plenty of light. The stairwell to the east was illuminated by a bay window. The abbot's house was much more comfortable than the monks' quarters. The walls were plastered, the floors were wood, and each floor had a fireplace. A narrow passage connected the abbot's apartment with its own latrine in the west, which was separated from the monks' bedroom.
Further to the northeast are the remains of the guest house where representatives of the mother monastery Fountains Abbey stayed during visits. Within the Cistercian order it was customary for the abbot of a mother monastery or his deputy to pay visits to the daughter monasteries every year to inspect their location. The two-story guest house from the 13th century underwent fundamental changes in the 15th century. At that time, a large bay window was added. Today only the foundation walls are preserved.
Infirmary
The infirmary was located in a large, rectangular building from the 13th century in the east of the abbey grounds, presumably in place of an older wooden structure. Originally a 25 meter long and 14 meter wide hall, it was subdivided in the 14th century by two arcades. The side areas were divided into small cells, most of which also contained a fireplace. There was also a small chapel. In the 15th century an extension with a kitchen and scullery was added.
Both older monks and sick younger friars were housed in the infirmary. In addition, each brother had to endure bloodletting four times a year .
Guest house
There were probably several guest houses on the grounds of Kirkstall Abbey. Most of the guests were probably accommodated in a hostel north of the abbey, the exact location of which is unknown. Important visitors, such as members of the De Lacy family , the founder of the monastery, stayed in a guest house built in the early 13th century west of the abbey, directly opposite the church. The foundation walls of this building are now exposed, so that the arrangement of the rooms can be understood. It had a central hall, a large chamber in the north, a utility wing with a kitchen, pantry, sideboard and cellar in the south, as well as latrines. The utility rooms and the stables built to the southwest were arranged around a small courtyard.
Gatehouse
In the past, you entered the abbey grounds through a large gatehouse north of the church, which, however, did not survive the centuries. From there a path led about 300 meters to the still existing inner gatehouse, which was built during the time of the first abbot (1152–1182). Here guests were received and alms received. The gatehouse essentially consisted of two parts: a vestibule and a large hall. A room for the porter was set up on the floor above the hall, probably a later construction. The street originally ran through the house. Carriages could pass through a large archway, while a smaller gate was open to pedestrians.
The inner gatehouse is now the best-preserved part of the abbey, as it continued to be used after it was closed. John Ripley, the last abbot, is believed to have lived here until his death in 1568. Various changes are ascribed to him, such as the closing of the two gates, the addition of several rooms and the opening of additional windows. The gatehouse was still inhabited until 1925 when its owners sold it to the City of Leeds. Since 1927 it has housed the Abbey House Museum , which today recreates streets and shops from the Victorian era . There are also some paintings by Kirkstall Abbey and tiled chimneys depicting scenes from the history of the abbey.
Vesper Gate
On the edge of the site, about 280 meters northwest of the building now used as a museum, there was a gate, the Vesper Gate . From here, a mile and a half walked through the woods from Hawksworth to Horsforth Woodside. The structural remains consist of a corner structure comprising nine layers of sandstone blocks , which are attributed to the late Middle Ages or the 17th century and the upper part of which was rebuilt after the destruction. One side, which was the reveal of the gate, has a bevel in the top five layers , the design of which dates from the 17th century. The other side includes a short piece of what was once an adjacent wall.
Kirkstall Abbey in Art
With the advent of Romanticism in the second half of the 18th century, the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey became a popular subject for romantic painters such as Thomas Girtin , Joseph Mallord William Turner , John Sell Cotman, and Moses Griffith . Numerous oil paintings, watercolors and sketches were created , many of which are now exhibited in the Leeds Art Gallery . Many poets and writers, including Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford , Thomas Gray and Robert Southey , also visited the picturesque ruins and let their imagination fly.
literature
- Brian Sitch: Kirkstall Abbey. A Guide to Leeds' Cistercian Monastery. Leeds City Council, Leeds 2000.
- Guy D. Barnes: Kirkstall Abbey, 1147-1539. An historical study. Thoresby Society, Leeds 1984, ISBN 0-900741-20-1 .
- Mary Simpson: Kirkstall Abbey. Its story, its monks, its architecture. JW Bean, Leeds 1910.
Web links
- Kirkstall Abbey on the server of Leeds City Council , the owner of the abbey
- Cistercians in Yorkshire: Kirkstall Abbey
- Kirkstall Abbey Walking Tour, History of the Abbey and the Cistercians
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Kirkstall Abbey and precinct including a prehistoric cup and ring marked rock. Historic England website , accessed April 16, 2018
- ↑ Kirkstall Abbey. Historic England website, accessed April 16, 2018
- ↑ Gatehouse at Kirkstall Abbey (Abbey House Folk Museum). Historic England website, accessed April 16, 2018
- ↑ Kirkstall Abbey Guesthouse. Historic England website, accessed April 16, 2018
- ↑ a b Vesper Gate at Kirkstall Abbey. Historic England website, accessed April 16, 2018
