Kirkstall Abbey

Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in the outskirts of Leeds in Yorkshire, set in grounds on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c. 1152 and was over seventy five years in construction. It was closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry VIII. The ruins have been painted by artists such as J.M.W. Turner. Photograph of Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds, UK. Date 13 July 2003, 21:13 Exposure time 1/40 sec. ... Photograph of Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds, UK. Date 13 July 2003, 21:13 Exposure time 1/40 sec. ... The Order of Cistercians (OCist) (Latin Cistercenses), otherwise Gimey or White Monks (from the colour of the habit, over which is worn a black scapular or apron) are a Catholic order of monks. ... Leeds is a city in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire in the north of England. ... The White Yorkshire rose. ... The River Aire is a river in West Yorkshire, England. ... Events March 4 - Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of the Germans Eleanor of Aquitaine has her marriage to Louis VII annulled May 18 - Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Henry of Anjou Church of Ireland acknowledges Popes authority Almohad Dynasty conquers Algeria Establishment of the archbishopric of Nidaros (Trondheim), Norway... The Dissolution of the Monasteries (referred to by Roman Catholic writers as the Suppression of the Monasteries) was the formal process, taking place between 1538 and 1541, by which King Henry VIII confiscated the property of the Roman Catholic monastic institutions in England and took them to himself, as the... Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... Rocky landscape with ruins, by Nicolaes Berchem, ca. ... J. M. W. Turner, English landscape painter The fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, painted 1839. ...

The English Cistercian houses, of which there are such extensive and beautiful remains at Fountains, Rievaulx, Kirkstall, Tintern, Netley, etc., were mainly arranged after the same plan, with slight local variations. As an example, below is the groundplan of Kirkstall Abbey, one of the best preserved. Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire is a Cistercian monastery first founded A.D. 1132. ... Rievaulx is a small village near Helmsley in North Yorkshire and is located in what was the inner court of Rievaulx Abbey, close to the River Rye. ... Kirkstall is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, north of Leeds and on the River Aire. ... The River Wye viewed from a former railway bridge with Tintern village in the background Tintern is a village on the River Wye in Monmouthshire, Wales, close to the border with England, at grid reference SO500054. ... Netley is a village on the south coast of Hampshire, UK. Its main place of interest is Netley Abbey, an old abbey that has been used as a hospital durin the World Wars Categories: UK geography stubs | Villages in Hampshre ...

The church here is of the Cistercian type, with a short chancel of two squares, and transepts with three eastward chapels to each, divided by solid walls (2 2 2). The whole is of the most studied plainness. The windows are unornamented, and the nave has no triforium. The cloister to the south (4) occupies the whole length of the nave. On the east side stands the two-aisled chapter-house (5), between which and the south transept is a small sacristy (3), and on the other side two small apartments, one of which was probably the parlour (6). Beyond this stretches southward the calefactory or day-room of the monks (14). Above this whole range of building runs the monks' dormitory, opening by stairs into the south transept of the church. Full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram. ... Triforium is an architectural term. ... Cloister of Saint Trophimus, in Arles, France A cloister (from latin claustrum) is part of cathedrals and abbeys architecture. ... A chapter house is a building or room attached to a cathedral or collegiate church in which meetings are held. ... A sacristy is a room for keeping vestments (such as the cassock and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels and church treasures. ... Parlour (or parlor), from the Fr. ...

At the other end were the necessaries. On the south side of the cloister we have the remains of the old refectory (11), running, as in Benedictine houses, from east to west, and the new refectory (12), which, with the increase of the inmates of the house, superseded it, stretching, as is usual in Cistercian houses, from north to south. Adjacent to this apartment are the remains of the kitchen, pantry and buttery. The arches of the lavatory are to be seen near the refectory entrance. The western side of the cloister is, as usual, occupied by vaulted cellars, supporting on the upper story the dormitory of the lay brothers (8). Lay brothers are Catholic religious occupied solely with manual labour and with the secular affairs of a monastery or friary. ...

Kirkstall Abbey layout

 1. Church. 2. Chapels. 3. Sacristy. 4. Cloister. 5. Chapter-house. 6. Parlour. 7. Punishment cell. 8. Cellars, with dormitories for conversi over. 9. Guest-house. 10. Common room. 11. Old refectory. 12. New refectory. 13. Kitchen court. 14. Calefactory or day-room. 15. Kitchen and offices. 16-19. Uncertain; perhaps offices connected with the infirmary. 20. Infirmary or abbot's house. 

Extending from the south-east angle of the main group of buildings are the walls and foundations of a secondary group of considerable extent. These have been identified either with the hospitium or with the abbot's house, but they occupy the position in which the infirmary is more usually found. The hall was a very spacious apartment, measuring 83 ft. in length by 48 ft. 9 in. in breadth, and was divided by two rows of columns. The fish-ponds lay between the monastery and the river to the south. The abbey mill was situated about 80 yards to the north-west. The millpool may be distinctly traced, together with the gowt or mill stream. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

External links

• Kirkstall Abbey Photogallery, July 2003