The East Range

The East Range. Kirkstall Abbey. During the Middle Ages, this room may have been used for teaching trainee monks or novices., Many novices would have been young men of noble birth, but they had to carry out the same work as the monks. After a year they would make their vows in the Chapter House and become fully-fledged choir monks., The choir monks' sleeping room or dormitory was on the first floor above. The columns, arches and vaulting survived for many years after the Abbey was closed, and were used by local farmers to shelter their animals!, The artist J.M.W.Turner visited Kirkstall Abbey in 1798 and 1800 and his sketches of the scene were turned into a beautiful Romantic engraving. By 1823 the vaulting had collapsed and lay in ruins. In 1892-6 the Victorians rebuilt the fallen columns and some of the vaulting to give an idea of the construction of the room., (Top:) Reconstruction of monks in the dormitory, which was on the first floor of the east range., (Above:) Cows happily chewing the cud where once the novices were trained! Painting by J.M.W. Turner (1798)., (Left:) Illustration from a medieval manuscript showing a Cistercian novice in the branches wearing a red tunic. From the second half of the 12th century onwards, novices had to wear the same habits as the choir monks, except for the cowl.