Saturday, September 09, 2006

Kirkstall Abbey

I hope you enjoyed today's warm sunshine as much as
we did. It was one of those gorgeous autumn days,
that's great to be outside in. Leeds was at its best
today, with a nice fresh air feel to it.

We went up for the day to visit our daughter S, who
lives in Kirkstall, up the hill from the Abbey. She
did Music at Leeds Uni, and is a classical guitarist.
She does some teaching and performance on the guitar,
and while she's waiting for this work to build up,
she's doing some admin work at the Uni to make ends
meet.

We spent the afternoon pottering around the Abbey,
after which we did a short riverside walk to the
huge Morrisons nearby for a little veg shopping.

There were some helpful display notices in the Abbey.
One of them said that the main road (the old A65) used
to run straight through the middle of the Abbey, until
the end wall on the south side was rebuilt in Victorian
times. I was amazed - to think of all the traffic going
through the middle of a church - it ceased being so in
about 1539, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

Below is a view of the main aisle where the road was.
The second photo is of one of the smaller aisles along-
side the main one.

3 Comments:

Blogger steve said...

its been years since I was there a very nice place to visit right next to the river how different it must have looked when it was occupied.

11:52 am  
Blogger justin said...

Yes, Steve -- it must have been a hive of activity, given all their religious, community and farming activities.

8:16 pm  
Blogger Jean said...

Ooh, an old haunt of mine - many memories! Thanks for the photos.

6:25 pm  

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