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The presbytery
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The east-end presbytery, the oldest part of the
church, was unaisled and comprised two bays. It was set apart from
the monks choir by several steps, emphasising that this was
the liturgical heart of the church and the most sacred part of the
precinct - it was here that the High
Altar was situated, the Mass
celebrated and Communion
received.
The High Altar stood slightly apart from the
east end wall and was made of white freestone; the altar survived
until the early eighteenth century when it was reputedly destroyed
by three localmen from Bramley.
A light before the High Altar burned throughout
the day and night; this was financed by a grant in 1159 from the
abbeys founder, Henry de Lacy.(2)
The altar was otherwise simply adorned or, at least in the early
days, for an ornate alabaster altarpiece may have later hung above
it. An altarpiece showing the Entombment of Christ, with eight gilded
statues attached, said to have been from Kirkstall, was stored until
the late seventeenth century at Horsforth Hall but has since been
lost.
To the south of the High Altar a canopied seat,
the sedilia,
was carved in the wall. It was here that the officiating clergy
sat upon a stone bench, which was later replaced by a timber one.
Remains of the sedilia show quite clearly that it extended from
the floor to form a wide semi-circular arch. Two niches in the wall
adjacent to the sedilia were for the piscina, a drain where
the holy vessels were washed, and the credence table, where the
chalice was prepared for the altar. The Cistercians strictly prohibited
the use of gold, silver and jewelled vessels yet we know that Kirkstall
had a golden chalice in the twelfth century, for this was amongst
the abbeys treasures that Abbot Ralph (1182-90 ) gave to Henry
II, in an attempt to win the kings favour and recover the
abbeys lands at Micklethewaite.(3)
At Lent the High Altar was screened off from the rest of the church
by a large curtain, the Lenten veil, and the holes from which this
was hung can still be seen at Kirkstall. At Abbey
Dore in Herefordshire the actual hooks from which the curtain
was hung have survived.
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