Kirstall Abbey, Leeds, West Yorkshire: Watching Brief

An archaeological watching brief was carried out by CFA Archaeology Ltd in July 2023 at Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds. The watching brief was undertaken during the groundworks to move the café from the museum to the Visitor Centre. Archaeological remains were identified over the course of the watching brief with artefacts dating from the medieval to post-medieval period. The majority of deposits identified related to the deposition of waste material. The north-western area of the site was disturbed by post-medieval to modern activity and services The watching brief was undertaken to fulfil requirements of the planning condition placed on the installation of drainage for the addition of a café to the Visitor Centre at Kirkstall Abbey. The aim of the watching brief was to identify and record any archaeological remains which may have been located within the development area. 19 contexts were assigned within the site boundary. The majority of dateable artefacts were from the medieval to early post-medieval periods with some residuality or disturbance shown in the mixture of dates from Contexts 03, 08 and 14. The northwestern extent showed disturbance in the 19th to 20th century. It is likely that Contexts 03 and 8 date from the early post-medieval period.