Summary : The monument includes the inner gatehouse at Kirkstall Abbey, situated to the north of Abbey Road and to the east of Abbey Walk. The inner gatehouse provided access between the inner precinct, in which the core ecclesiastical buildings were located, and the wider outer precinct. The gatehouse was constructed in the 12th century of coursed squared gritstone with a stone slate roof. The ground floor is three bays deep and forms a vaulted passage which would have provided the main access to the inner precinct. Upper rooms were reached by a stone spiral staircase on the south west corner. In the 15th-16th centuries a new wing was built to the south west and after the Dissolution the gatehouse was converted to a dwelling house. Further additions were made in the early 20th century. The building now houses the Abbey House Museum and is a Grade II* Listed Building. |