Today's lovely thing for free? A walk around Kirkstall Abbey
How did I get that? It's always free - go for it!
I am a walker, it's my joy and my escape. I'm lucky enough to live on the edge of the Peak District so beautiful walks are easy to come by. Last weekend, though, I fancied seeing something new. Kirkstall Abbey is a place I've driven past several times but I have never ventured in. A quick check on the website for opening times and I find it's free - perfect for the blog!
An hour's drive later (with some classic prog to accompany me) and I pull up at the FREE car park. A quick visit to the Abbey House Museum shop (cos it has FREE, very clean toilets) and it's across the road to the Abbey.
The Abbey was founded in 1152 by the Cistercian order and the building was largely completed by 1182. How good is it to live in a country where buildings nearly 1000 years old are still in abundance all over the land and in some cases are completely free to enter?
Kirkstall Abbey is one of the best preserved Abbeys in Britain. Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries removed the power of the houses and the buildings were sold off to fund military campaigns. Some were converted into private houses, others left to ruin or to have the stone taken away for other purposes (bits of Kirkstall went to bridge building in Leeds), yet Large elements of Kirkstall have survived.
Once the main road into Leeds |
Being free this is a popular site for families. It's been a wet and windy few weeks so the play area was too soggy to coax kids onto it but who needs it when hide and seek is there? The whole site is surrounded by a fence so children will get a bit lost, but can't leave the ruins themselves. With so many walls and rooms around there were quite a few hide and seek games going on.
Hide and seek |
The people of Leeds are very lucky to have all this on their doorstep.
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