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The gatehouse (1)
The entrance to the abbey precinct was via a
great gatehouse that stood to the north of the monastery, but
which
no longer survives. From here a lane ran some 300 metres to an
inner gatehouse, built c. 1152-82, which gave access to the inner
court.
It was here that the porter of the house, a monastic official of
some standing, officiated between Lauds
and Compline each
day receiving visitors and administering alms. Buildings would
have
stood to either side of the gatehouse.(2)
The inner gatehouse comprised two parts: a large
rib-vaulted porch (the gat-porch) was in the northern part and a
vaulted hall in the southern part. The hall had an upper level which
contained a small chamber for the gatekeeper, although in the early
days he would have returned to the cloister after Compline and slept
in the dormitory with the rest of the community. This chamber was
accessed by a stone stairway. A road originally ran through the
gatehouse and there were two archways through which traffic could
pass a large archway gave access to vehicles, a smaller one
to those on foot.
The inner gatehouse at Kirkstall is well-preserved
for it has been in constant use since the dissolution of the abbey
in 1539. John Ripley, the last abbot of Kirkstall, was said to have
lived here until his death in 1568, and was responsible for various
alterations - he closed the gateway, added rooms and inserted windows
in either end. Thereafter the gatehouse was used as a residence
and in June 1925 it was sold to Leeds Corporation. Since then the
gatehouse has accommodated the Abbey House Museum.
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