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Tours > Robin Hood's Yorkshire > Kirklees Priory
 Kirklees Priory
At Hartshead, a mile east of Brighouse, West
Riding (171223)
There is almost nothing left today of the old priory at Kirklees, the home of the wicked Prioress who murdered the unsuspecting Robin Hood, literally in cold blood - he bled to death. The priory church and cloisteral buildings were demolished soon after its dissolution in 1538 and the stone used to build Kirklees Hall which stands on the same site. What does remain, however, is the priory gatehouse, some fifty yards away.
Now sadly reduced to a ruin after one hundred years of neglect, this stone and partly timber-framed listed building is of controversial date. Some architectural historians have suggested it is an Elizabethan rebuilding of the original monastic structure, though it is popularly thought to be mostly late 15th century. The upper room in which Robin is traditionally thought to have breathed his last, and presumably incorporated from an earlier building, is approached by an outside staircase and there are interesting ornamental foliated work carved into the beams which include an appropriate hunting scene with stag and hound.
The priory gatehouse, and Robin's Grave, only six hundred yards away, are, unfortunately, on the private Kirklees Estate and not open for public viewing. However, close to the estate boundary only half a mile away, is the Three Nuns Inn. This pub was built on the site of former hostelry run by three nuns from the Priory following the Dissolution.
Next Stop: Robin Hood's Grave, Kirklees, West Riding
Click to review The History of Robin Hood
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