The above photograph shows a view of Kirkstall Abbey built by cistercian monks. Kirkstall abbey was founded in 1152 as a daughter house of Fountains Abbey, now in North Yorkshire, near Ripon. I say now in North Yorkshire because until modern times there was just one Yorkshire.
Henry VIII disolved the monastaries and in 1539 the monks were forced out. The buildings were stripped of windows, roofs and furnishings to prevent to monks returning. Eventually the buildings fell into disrepair and many of the builings were used to house livestock.
At one point the estate was owned by the Earls of Cardigan most famous perhaps for the 7th Earl Lieutenant General James Thomas Brudenell KCB(16 October 1797 – 28 March 1868) commanded the Light Brigade of the British Army during the Crimean War.
Who in England cannot recall the famous poem entitled The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, whose lines have made the charge a symbol of warfare at both its most courageous and its most tragic. Also the cardigan, woolen garment. Sorry I digress..
Following the sale of the Cardigan estates in 1889, the abbey and its immediate lands where purchased by Colonel John North who donated it to the City of Leeds Corporation. The abbey was opened to the public by The Lord Mayor of Leeds and the Bishop of Ripon on 14th September 1895.
The photo above shows part of the visitor centre that now welcomes visitors to this romantic ruined abbey. In the photo you can see at the rear a clothes hanging on a rail that children can dress up in to give them a feel for the period.
Kirkstall abbey, Leeds is just the other side of the A65 leeds road from the Abbey House Museum from earlier posts on the Leeds photo daily, around 3 miles from leeds city centre.
There will be more views of Kirkstall abbey on the Leeds daily photo over the next few days. I used to see a view of Kirkstall abbey daily on my commute into the city but I had not visted it for many years. Since I started the Leeds photo daily I have become a tourist here in Yorkshire daily. I was nearly 30 when I first moved to yorkshire from the south of England and in many ways I will always be an outsider, but that is fine because I can look at things perhaps with more than one glance.
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I love the Abbey, its so pretty to walk around. I moved to Leeds in 2003, and I have stopped noticing things now as a resident.
ReplyDeleteWhen my mum came up to stay we had a touristy week going around all of the museums and galleries. It was really refreshing and different to see things again as a visitor.
I like all the history you provide with your pictures! How nice that they let children dress up in the clothes. What fun!
ReplyDeleteOne day we'll accept you as one of us.
ReplyDeleteNobody will tell you when, you'll just know ;-)