Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery to the west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, set in grounds which are now a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c.1152 and was over seventy five years in construction. It was closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry VIII. The ruins have been drawn and painted by artists such as J.M.W. Turner, Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman.
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Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery to the west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, set in grounds which are now a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c.1152 and was over seventy five years in construction. It was closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry VIII. The ruins have been drawn and painted by artists such as J.M.W. Turner, Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman.
The English Cistercian houses, of which there are such extensive and beautiful remains at Fountains, Rievaulx, Kirkstall, Tintern, Netley, etc., were mainly arranged after the same plan, with slight local variations. As an example, below is the groundplan of Kirkstall Abbey, one of the best preserved.
The church here is of the Cistercian type, with a short chancel of two squares, and transepts (4) with three eastward chapels to each, divided by solid walls. The whole is of the most studied plainness. The windows are unornamented, and the nave ...
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