Or ee hart i tal eel 
Se 
a ae 
AMONG THE YORKSHIRE ABBEYS. 89 
that of Fountains, the Abbey is well worthy of a visit. The 
remains of the choir are probably interesting. In its interior 
are nine niches of each side, which were the stalls of the canons, 
and above them is a series of arches with a profusion of varied 
capitals. Beyond there is a tier of lower stalls for the conversi, 
who were lay brethren of a college of canons. On the south side 
are four sedilia, with carved bosses, where the officiating priests 
rested at intervals during the service. The nave of the church 
is still complete, and is used regularly every Sunday for divine 
service. In fact it is reported to have been in continuous use 
from 1150 to the present day. The tower, which, unfortunately, 
was never completed, is a massive and imposing structure, was 
begun in 1520. The arms of the Cliffords and of the Priory are 
introduced into the spandrils of the doorway, and on the first 
stage of the south-west buttress stands the figure of a pilgrim in 
a cap and gown, holding a short staff in his right hand and a 
shield under his arm, while at his feet is an old sun-dial. The 
greatest attraction, however, of the nave is the door, at once 
massive and elegant, but rather hidden, by the gateway of the 
tower. There are no fewer than fifteen mouldings on the door- 
way, and they are almost perfect. 
The next building to be described was Kirkstall Abbey, in 
Leeds, which was built between 1147 and 1153 by Henry de 
Lacie, Baron of Pontefract, for Monks of the Cistercian order. 
To-day it is a picturesque and beautiful ruin extending over an 
area of 340 feet by 440 feet. The principal portion seems to 
have belonged to the church, a cruciform building, of Transition 
work, and, like nearly all the abbeys visited, its tower was the 
leading feature, being lofty and square,*and said to have been 
built in the reign of Henry VIII. 
In a corner of the gardens of the Yorkshire Philosophical 
Society at York are situated the remains of St. Mary’s Abbey, at 
one time a Benedictine Monastery, in point of wealth and influ- 
ence the most important in the north of England. The founda- 
tion-stone was laid by William the Second, who also gave it a 
number of grants and privileges, by which it quickly rose to an 
important position. At the Reformation it shared the fate of 
other religious houses, and was surrendered to the crown. From 
1540 onwards the buildings were used as quarries for material for 
other buildings, but in 1872 the society to whom the ruins now 
