Mosaic tile detail, Kirkstall Abbey

Most of the floor of Kirkstall Abbey is earth, gravel or grass and I was surprised to find these tile fragments in one small cell. The cell (in a row of two or three similar small rooms, though the others had no tiles) had what appeared to be a washing area in the wall, so may have been where the monks washed before meals or prayers. (I may be completely wrong!) 

I don't know if the tiles are medieval originals or a later addition - they looked a bit random - but I thought they had a certain charm. So much of Kirkstall's structure has been damaged over the years, though some vaulting and pillars survive. 

Green oasis

You might be forgiven for wondering why the monks of Kirkstall Abbey chose the spot for their monastery, as it is now swallowed up in the urban busyness of Leeds. Hundreds of years ago though, it would have been a tranquil, rural estate nestled alongside the River Aire. Even today, a few steps away from the visitor centre, amid the trees beside the river, it is a little green oasis of peace, with just a few jackdaws to keep you company.

This seemed a good photo on which to meditate on a Sunday.

'He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul.'

Psalm 23:2-3

May your day be peaceful and your soul be refreshed today.

Kirkstall Abbey

We had a camera club outing to Kirkstall Abbey, so I had a happy time (not!) grappling with my tripod. I'm really not sure if using it makes much difference unless the light levels are very low...
Anyway, here are some of the resulting images.

Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Leeds. It was built of local millstone grit between 1152 and 1182 for the monks of Fountains Abbey, as a gift from Henry de Lacy, in thanks for his survival from a serious illness. Like most of our great abbeys, it was surrendered in 1539 to the Henry VIII's commissioners at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It passed into private hands. By the 18th century, after much of the stone was reused in other buildings, it was a picturesque ruin, painted by the likes of JMW Turner. In 1889 it was passed to Leeds City Council, who made it safe and opened it as a visitor attraction, as it still is today.

The view below of the nave of the abbey church is perhaps the most photographed view. At one time, a main road into Leeds ran right up the nave between the pillars and out through the west window! The road was diverted in Victorian times and the west window was closed by a stone wall.

Although the ruins themselves are fenced in and entered through quite a nice visitor centre, the abbey suffers a little from being so close to the centre of the city. There is a fair amount of litter (why do people do that?) and it can get rather busy, with excited children clambering over the stones. It doesn't quite have the appeal of some of the more rural ruined abbeys, but nevertheless it's an important monument with a rich history.