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Kirkstall Abbey: history
The history of Kirkstall Abbey, Yorkshire, begins
with its foundation in 1147, when a group of twelve monks from
Fountains Abbey, under the guidance of their prior, Alexander,
colonised the site at Barnoldswick. In 1152 the community relocated
to the present site of Kirkstall, and remained here until the dissolution
of the abbey in 1539. The abbey buildings escaped the wholesale
destruction and plunder that occurred elsewhere; 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.
While the abbey is now embedded in the industrial quarter of Leeds
and the site bisected by the A65 Kirkstall Road, during the Middle
Ages - and up until the late eighteenth century - this was a secluded
spot in a rural setting. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries the main thoroughfare to Leeds actually ran through the
nave of the church.
Kirkstall was founded by Henry
de Lacy, baron of Pontefract, who
was one of the leading landholders in the North. The abbey’s
coat of arms, however, is actually based on those of the Peitivin
family, who gave the monks the site at Kirkstall. Like most other
Cistercian abbeys in England, the twelfth century was for Kirkstall
a time of growth and expansion, when the community developed the
abbey precinct and acquired lands and holdings. From the thirteenth
century patronage waned and the history of the abbey was marked
by highs and lows. The Kirkstall monks, like their Cistercian contemporaries,
were embroiled in legal wrangling over their own lands and rights,
they were caught up in business relating to the state and the Order,
and were affected by social and economic problems that swept the
country such as the Black Death, wars and taxation. Nevertheless,
the monks made a significant contribution in the areas of trade,
industry and technological innovation.
Extensive archaeological work has been undertaken at the Kirkstall
site and much is now known about the buildings here and the life
of the community during the Middle Ages. This knowledge is complemented
by the survival of a number of documentary sources, including
charters and a chronicle of the house, as well as an array
of artefacts
such as seals, pottery and metalwork.
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