The Abbot's Lodging

The Abbot's Lodging. Kirkstall Abbey. According to Cistercian rules the leader of the community, the abbot, was supposed to sleep in the dormitory with the monks. But already, by the 1230s, the abbot not only had his own bedroom, but a whole house to himself!, This building, the abbot's lodging, has a basement, a first floor to welcome guests, and a private bedroom on the second floor. A staircase gives access to the different floors. The main drain runs underneath and a chute took away sewage from the abbot's rooms above. Next door is a chapel or kitchen. The remains of a roofed walkway leading from the cloister to the hospital and abbot's lodging can still be seen. Accommodation for the abbot of Fountains Abbey is also nearby, for when he made his annual inspection of Kirkstall Abbey., (Top left:) Many people think this Gingko bilobo tree outside the abbot's long has medicinal properties. Long known from fossils, it was rediscovered by missionaries in China. It was only planted in the late 19th century., (Top right:) Not everything you see at Kirkstall Abbey is Medieval! This photograph shows the balcony at the top of the staircase in the abbot's lodging after the Victoria conservation. The architect J.T. Micklethwaite was criticized for his restoration., (Above:) This early photograph shows the Abbot's lodging before the Victorian conservation when there was a pond right outside the railings!, (Left:) Abbot Alexander, the first abbot of Kirkstall Abbey as depicted on Victorian tiles at the Abbey House Museum.