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The abbey site and lands (4/5)
Kirkstall is the most complete set of Cistercian ruins in Britain. Following the surrender of the abbey, the buildings were stripped of lead, which was greatly valued, and the furnishings and roof timber were ripped out. Lead roofing, gutters and water pipes were removed and melted down; a furnace was uncovered several centimetres below the ground, just within the west doorway, where the lead was melted into fodders.(15) The abbey otherwise escaped relatively unscathed and did not suffer the wholesale destruction and plunder that occurred elsewhere, as, for instance, at Roche. Most of the buildings were left standing and used for agricultural purposes; an orchard was planted in the cloister. The gatehouse, which now houses the abbey museum, was converted into a farmhouse and many of the other buildings were used as barns; the east side of the chapter-house was probably knocked down by farmers to allow their cattle to enter.
Whilst there was no great plundering of the abbey stone at the time of the dissolution, this gradually disappeared over the years and was used for building and repair work, and the steps leading to Leeds Bridge are said to have been made from stone taken from the abbey – the 1583 accounts of the churchwardens of Leeds show that labourers were paid sixpence a day to remove material from the abbey for repairs to the bridge at Leeds; this was probably taken from the infirmary.(16) Although most of the buildings survived the Dissolution, weathering, neglect and the growth of vegetation took their toll. The western range fell in 1746, severe storms in January 1779 caused the partial collapse of the abbey tower and in 1886 snow melting through the floor of the monks’ dormitory led to the loss of the southern part of this building. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the main thoroughfare to Leeds was directed through the nave of the church, which necessitated the destruction of the east window; the base of this window that can now be seen is the work of Victorian restoration. In 1827 the road was redirected; the A65 Kirkstall Road still bisects the site. |
