A Visit to Kirkstall Abbey

We drove into Leeds to see Kirkstall Abbey ruins. It's a Cistercian abbey, founded in the 12th century by Benedictine monks who desired to live a stricter life of silence, prayer, manual labor, and seclusion from the world. They raised sheep and sold the wool to support the abbey. The monks were called White Monks because of the white color of their undyed wool robes.

King Henry VIII dissolved the abbeys in the 1500s and plundered anything of value, especially the lead roofs. So the rest of the building fell into ruins. In the 1800s the road to Leeds actually went through the front (west) door of the church and out where the large east window was. During the Victorian era, people wanted to preserve it, so they rerouted the road and rebuilt the east wall to prevent traffic from going through.Read more